---> Cooking Club is coming up soon, and now that I'm blogging, I want to share these moments but I thought I should play catch-up first. So without further ado, here (and in more posts to come) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!
#12 June: Finger Food
The Menu:
Appetizers
Tomato, Watermelon and Basil Skewers
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Savory Parmesan Bites
Dessert
Vegan Raspberry Scones
This month Kelly finally got to pick the theme. She got a bunch of cookbooks over the Christmas holiday and wanted to do an appetizer theme....which became a finger food theme...and then Kelly and her girls couldn't make it. But we thoroughly enjoyed her theme for her.
I came across this fun skewer recipe--actually I have no idea where I got this dish--I just know I've had it for a while. And it includes all of the things I love:
Cherry tomatoes (I eat these like they're candy, God's candy they are), check.
Watermelon (one of the reasons I love summer), check.
Basil (my favorite herb), check.
Balsamic vinegar (love and will put it on almost anything), check.
Even in bad lighting, these ingredients look delicious. I can smell the basil and taste the vinegar syrup as I type. I'd make these today if I didn't have to sell my right arm for the ingredients.
Trust me, you won't stop at just one, or two.....or five.
So, soooo good.
Tomato, Watermelon and Basil Skewers
Serves 8
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
scant 1/4 c sugar
1 (4-5 lb) watermelon, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
32 small basil leaves
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
16 wooden skewers (about 16" each)
Combine vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and set aside to cool. Starting with watermelon squares, push a square to very tip of skewer. Then skewer a basil leaf, then a tomato half. Continue layers until skewer is full. Continue with remaining skewers. Drizzle skewers with balsamic syrup and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and serve. (I even like mine with a little freshly ground black pepper.)
Even though there were only three of us this month, we have one, two, three, four...yes, four recipes. Jessica and I stumbled upon this Vegan Raspberry Scones recipe while killing time at work one day, and decided immediately that these qualified as finger food. We split the cost of ingredients and made these tasty little things as a combined effort.
(However, ours didn't turn out as dark as theirs...)
I was able to score some beautiful raspberries.
Jessica and Jenny might have consumed more than went into the batter. I, however, am not of the fresh-raspberry-liking crowd.
These were so flavorful with a different texture than your average scone. Great for breakfast, warmed with a tiny drizzle of honey, and cup of hot tea.
*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are more to come as I try to play catch-up before this month's meeting. I hope these themes, and even Cooking Club itself, inspire you to gather with your friends and family in the kitchen, and make sweet moments (and delicious food) of your own.
**I've
only included the recipes to the dishes I made. Only because I'm unsure
of where everyone got theirs...and hey, we gotta give credit where
credit is due. If you have any questions about the other dishes, I'll
ask the other members where they got their recipes and pass it along!
Check out our previous meetings!
Cooking Club #1-4
Cooking Club #5-8
Cooking Club #9
Cooking Club #10
Cooking Club #11
[Update: Just the previous Cooking Club links!]
With Love and God Bless,
Brindi
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