Re-Visited: Cooking Club #14

[Original post date Dec. 2011. --Updated 4/7/15: original separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

#14 August: Special Diet

The Menu:
       Appetizers
Green Stuffed Appetizer Shells (Vegetarian)
Barbecued Baguettes (Vegetarian)
Party Stuffed Pinwheels (Vegetarian)
       Main Course
Italian Zucchini Pie (Vegetarian)
       Side
Coleslaw (Sugar Free)
       Dessert
Vegan Cupcakes

Jessica had the theme for this month. Lately, we had been talking about trying more vegan and gluten-free recipes because some of our family members have special diets. However, the ingredients for "special diets" can be quite on the expensive side. And when you're on a tight budget, it's not the easiest to do. Hence the reason most of us chose to go vegetarian for this month's menu. [Isn't it amazing what a few years can do? These ingredients are nowhere near as expensive now. Awesome.]

I was excited to skim through my vegetarian recipes, hungry to try something new. After much consideration, I chose the Italian Zucchini Pie, out of The 1,000 Best Recipes.

My husband and I have been on a huge zucchini kick lately. I've used it shredded, fried, baked, in patty form and, Mr. B's personal favorite, Zucchini Chips (<--- find this recipe here).

Zucchini and cheese in a pie, yes please. It sounded delicious. It looked delicious. It smelled delicious. The filling was delicious...the crust...was a little hard.

I'd make this again in a heart beat, but with a different crust recipe.

Italian Zucchini Pie
*adapted from The 1,000 Best Recipes

Serves 6

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp
1/3 c olive oil
1 egg, beaten + 3 eggs & 1 egg, lightly beaten for glaze
3-4 Tbsp iced water
1 1/4 lb zucchini, grated
5 oz provolone cheese, grated
4 oz cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp finely chopped basil
pinch of nutmeg

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt and make a well. Combine oil and beaten egg, and almost all of the water and add to flour. Mix until mixture comes together in beads, adding more water if needed. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Heat a baking sheet. Grease a 7" pie dish. Toss zucchini with 1/4 tsp salt and place in colander for 30 minutes to drain. Squeeze out any excess liquid with your hands. Place in a large bowl and add cheeses, 3 eggs, garlic, basil and nutmeg. Season well and mix thoroughly.

Roll out 2/3 of the pastry until large enough to line base and side of pie dish. Spoon zucchini filling into pastry shell and level surface. Brush exposed rim of dough with lightly beaten egg. Roll out remaining dough to make a lid. Cover filling with it, pressing edges together firmly. Trim edges. Crimp rim. Prick top all over with a skewer and brush with egg.

Bake on hot sheet for 50 minutes or until golden.

My other favorite this month was Jenny's Coleslaw. I usually like my coleslaw a little thicker and not as sweet, but I found it to be quite tasty.

[Oh, and if you couldn't tell by now, I forgot my camera. I don't have any of the other tasty dishes. Fail.]

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. I've finally caught up! 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 #9-12
Cooking Club #13

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Library Displays 101

One of the new additions I've been meaning to share on Sweet B's this year is focused on my work as a Youth Services Librarian. As I laid out earlier in this post, it's been something I've really wanted to bring to my readers. I get asked, and often, about things I do daily, and I felt maybe I should share more than a look-in to my day every few months. Therefore, my plans are to give a more detailed insight to my programs, displays, bulletins. school-visits, and any other adventures I may be up to. For now, I'd like to bring on these posts once a month and then eventually once a week.

But, of course, I must start from the beginning. (It's my OCD way.) Since that was almost three years ago, I have quite the catching up to do. Yet, before I delve into weekly programs and past Summer Reading plans, I'd like to kick off this series with a glance back at my first few displays at the library.

At my branch location, there is a small glass display case which sits by the front desk, but faces the children's department. Hence, it's the Youth Services (YS) staff's responsibility to make sure it's never bare. My department's assistant manager shares my office, and while she is more focused on the teen area, we share this display case responsibility. Sometimes we rotate. Sometimes we see if the other had plans for the next month or season. We try to change it up every two months, correlating with the weather, season, up-coming program, holiday, community, school assignment, or a popular form of entertainment going on in library world.

This was one of my first Halloween displays. Using our AccuCut Dies, I created the background title, "Lose Your Head In a Good Book." I then filled the case with books whose covers feature headless people, whether half missing, fading, or gone completely. Also, I added a few Halloween decor items, like the Frankenstein treat bag and some pumpkins (also using the AccuCut). Patrons could check out the books and we'd continue to fill in any empty spots daily. This display ran from the end of September through the week of Halloween. Something simple the tweens really enjoyed.

Below is my "Green Spring" display, perfect for, you guessed it, SPRING! Using various shades of green paper and animal AccuCuts, I was able to create my own decor which I taped to the sides of the case. I lined both shelves with different green-colored scrap book paper, and decorated the back by tacking up tissue paper at various angles. I added some colorful Easter eggs and a green pickup truck that had landed on my desk a few weeks ago, yet no child claimed. The final touches were picture books with predominately green covers. VOILA! SPRING. This was on display March through the end of April.

*A side note: at my library, whenever books are displayed in the case, on shelves, etc., I go into our catalog and change the title from "on shelf" to "DISPLAY." That way, in case a patron is looking for that particular book, we're not running around looking through the stacks because it's not on the shelf where it should be. We know where to look.

This last display ran during the month of August and was a back-to-school theme. (The first picture in this post is a side view look at this same display.) During the summer, I had a few puzzle picture books donated to the children's department. They were in great condition, probably brand new. Instead of putting them in the book sale, I decided to run a contest and used the books as the prize. Again, using the alphabet AccuCuts I created the "Back-to-School Jungle" title (since the puzzle book featured animals of the jungle habitat) and some jungle-themed bulletin board boarder to frame it. We have this really neat alligator visor AccuCut, so I cut out two and hung them from the first shelf, and taped a few animal AccuCuts to the shelves. I found a big parrot in the bulletin board jungle bag and taped it to the one side of the case (you can sort of see it in the first photo above). But for the bananas...I got creative. We have the regular visor AccuCut as well, so I just cut out a few pieces using yellow paper and stapled a few together, and there you have it. BANANAS.

For the contest, using Microsoft Publisher, I decorated a box (which I set on top of the display case), and I asked the kids "What is your favorite thing about going back to school?" I provided slips where the children could supply their information and answer. There were about two dozen entries and, of course, the most popular response was "seeing my friends again," along with a few "school clothes shopping," "recess," and one "English class because I like to read." (<--- that would have been my winner right there!) I asked one of the staff members to reach into the box and pull out a winner. That child received the displayed jungle puzzle book along with another surprise truck puzzle book.

There are many more display ideas to come, so stay on the look out.


For bulletin board inspiration, check out that crafty post over here.

**If this is of interest to you, or you work in a library, or you see something you like that may fit your library, classroom, party....feel free to borrow and use. It's why I love this profession. Why re-invent the wheel?! We're a friendly community with ideas to share galore. Feel free to adapt and/or share what you did or worked for you, and if you see something you really like. I welcome feedback.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #15

[Original post date Dec. 2011. --Updated 11/10/14: original, but separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

#15 September: 5-Ingredient Fix

The Menu:
          Appetizer
Homemade Apple Butter on Toast
          Side
Orzo with Parmesan and Basil
          Dessert
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I'm not sure who came up with this month's theme, but the stipulation was the recipe could have no more than five ingredients. Unfortunately, I missed this Cooking Club (so I don't have pictures of the other dishes), but I was able to try the recipes the next day at work. Later on, I brought the recipe I had intended to make into work for everyone to try. I made my homemade apple butter in the crockpot. The apples slow-cooked their way to a chunky mess of butter-like goodness.

Apple butter is my absolute second favorite topping on toast, right behind cinnamon-sugar. Growing up there were always jars of this stuff in our refrigerator. And we usually purchased ours from the Amish Country. But as I've grown, the apple butters I've had recently are just too sweet. The last jar I purchased back in April actually hurt my teeth. I've never had apple butter as smooth as butter. I like mine a little chunky. And I've been meaning to try my hand at it for a few months now.

So when I was given the 5-ingredient only assignment, I went to work in my kitchen to make a delicious apple butter. But my main concern was the sweetness. I did not want mine sweet. I decided to pass on adding actual sugar, and replaced it with maple syrup. Added some spices, cinnamon (well, because apples and cinnamon, duh) and nutmeg (which is my favorite spice), and juice, and a couple of hours later I had a tasty, luxuriously, chunky apple butter for my morning toast.

Homemade Apple Butter

4-5 lbs apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1/2-3/4 c apple juice
1 c maple syrup
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker. Cook on low 5 1/2-6 hours. During the last 2 hours, stir the mixture every half hour to break up the apples. After cooking, if apples need broken down any more, use a potato masher. Then cook on low another 1/2 hour with the lid off, stirring frequently, or until desired consistency is reached. (If you like yours sans chunks, break out the hand blender or wait until cooled and place in a blender; puree until smooth.) Store apple butter in containers in the fridge. Enjoy!

P.S. I definitely plan on canning and sharing this homemade apple butter with family and friends. It makes a great housewarming/hostess gift.


*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. I've finally caught up! 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 #9-12
Cooking Club #13
Cooking Club #14

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #12

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 10/29/14: original, but separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #11

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 10/14/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

#11 May: Pizza

The Menu:
Cheddar-Apple Dessert Pizza
Berry Batch Brownie Pizza
Fruit Pizza


I apologize.

I failed.

I completely forgot to charge my camera, and it died during my first attempt at taking pictures during this month's Cooking Club.

But that won't stop me from telling you how ah-mazing this pizza is!

It's definitely my kind of dessert pizza...not too sweet, but just right. Apples and cheese always go together perfectly to create the most mouth-watering bite. (One of my go-to lunches is an apple and Munster grilled cheese....yum.) So this pizza did not disappoint. The cheddar made a delightful crust, and paired with the apple-sugar-and-spice topping.... Let's just say I love nutmeg.

You must make this ASAP!

I think this would be great for a brunch, or even more perfect as another the-day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast.

Update: With all of the above being said, I have made this dessert pizza quite a few times since that cooking club and have made many changes since, making it my own recipe. The biggest adaptation is turning the pizza into a rustic galette. For some reason I can't seem to get the pizza crust as sturdy as that first day, and have now just enjoyed making this dessert a tad rustic and crumbly. I changed up the cheese, replaced the butter with coconut oil, and have omitted half of the sugar.

Rustic Munster-Apple Galette

*adapted from Taste of Homes recipe

Serves 8

1 1/4 c flour + 1/3 c (mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flours)
1 tsp salt +1/4 tsp
1/2 c shortening
1 c shredded Munster cheese (I think any cheese would work here, so choose to your liking)
1/4 c ice water
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 c coconut oil
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine 1 1/4 c flour with 1 tsp salt. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add cheese and toss lightly. Sprinkle ice water gradually over mixture, then shape into a ball with lightly floured hands. Place dough in center of large baking sheet (or round pizza pan) and roll outward from center to cover pan (or until big enough to your liking).

In a bowl, mix sugars with 1/3 c flour, spices and 1/4 tsp salt. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture over crust. Cut coconut oil into remaining sugar mix until crumbly and set aside. Arrange apple slices in overlapping rings on crust, leaving a 2" edge. Sprinkle with lemon juice, then with sugar-butter mix. Fold over the 2" edge of dough onto the galette topping, creating an overlap of crust along the edges of the galette and sealing in the apples.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until apples are tender and crust is browned around edges. Serve warm cut into squares, slices, or whatever your heart desires. But be ready to eat more than one piece!

Add a steaming cup of Joe and this is brunch perfection, sweet friends.

*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


[Update: Recipe adaptations, along with mouth-watering pictures, and previous cooking club links.]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #10

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 10/6/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

#10 April: Secret Ingredient

The Menu:
        Main Course
Oven-Lime Pork Fajitas (Lime)
         Side
Green Tea Couscous (Tea)
         Dessert
Blondies with Maple Syrup (Maple)

Jenny and Jessica decided it would be fun to do secret ingredients this month, sort of Iron Chef style.

So we all chose an ingredient, wrote it on a piece of paper and threw it in a hat.

Enter mass confusion.

After everyone drew, they started sharing what ingredient they had. Hello? I thought it was a secret!
 
Apparently the "secret" part already happened. The "secret" was we didn't know what ingredients were in the hat. Huh? Everyone was confused, there were questions if we should come up with new ingredients and redraw.....ai yi yi. We finally decided on just finding a recipe to go with our assigned ingredients.

I put in maple and drew tea. (Actually, I put both maple and espresso on my slip, allowing the receiver to decide. I thought I'd be sneaky like that.) So I went home and skimmed through my cookbooks. When nothing caught my eye, I headed online and found two recipes, a dessert and a side. I was craving couscous, and decided to go with the side, Rachael Ray's Green Tea Couscous.

Tea is definitely a favorite. As I was steeping my green tea, I was sooooo excited for my dish. After adding in honey and a hint of fresh mint (not a huge mint fan), I couldn't wait to taste this couscous! And then there were pieces of cucumber and lemon and lime.....and oh.my.goodness.

Giada's is still my favorite. But this was light, refreshing, and delicious. I realized I do actually like mint, but fresh mint only.

The nutritional information, via My Fitness Pal, per serving (this recipe, I feel, makes a good 6 side dish servings): 101 calories, 2 fat, 2 protein, 1 fiber, 8 sugar

Actually, this was a fantastic Cooking Club meal (even though we were quite small this month). Everything was perfect and just the right amount. Jenny's Oven-Lime Pork Fajitas were mouth-watering, and I have made them for Mr. B multiple times since. So good. I'm not a blondie fan, but Jessica's maple dessert was pretty tasty as well.

Definitely a success!

[Oh, and it seems that if you can make it to Cooking Club, great. If not, we'll see you next month. So we never know how many people are going to be there!]

*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

[Update: Just previous Cooking Club links!]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #8

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 9/22/14: original, but separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.] 


---> 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 other posts) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!

#8 February: Soup

The Menu:
Potato, Broccoli and Coriander Soup
Steak Chili Soup
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Quick French Onion Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Ham and Cheesy Potato Soup


With it still being winter and all, Jenny thought it would be a great month for a soup-themed Cooking Club. Soup is one of my favorites, and I am always game for some soup --even in the summer.

Who doesn't love a bowl of steaming hot soup? Oh right, Mr. B is not a fan. (Crazy.) I guess he'll be making his own meals during these chilly months.

Again, my trusty cookbook, The 1,000 Best Recipes, came through with an eye-googling soup recipe, Potato, Broccoli and Coriander Soup. As I mentioned in my Broccoli-Cheddar Soup post, broccoli in my soup is a favorite. Add in potatoes, garlic, onions, a dash of cumin, some delightful coriander and you have a super healthy winter dish.

Once all of the potatoes and broccoli were chopped, they took a swim in this pan, full of chicken broth. And then this gorgeous soup, once pureed, turned into this!

With all of the soups, we had a lot of downtime while everything was simmering. Yet the kitchen was filled with a mixture of intoxicating aromas, and we couldn't wait to grab our bowls. I LOVED it! This was by far one of my favorites, along with our Thanksgiving and Cobbler months. However, while I enjoyed the other soups, they weren't enough for me to grab the recipe cards, and the photos didn't turn out all that appetizing.

Please, please invite some friends and/or family over for a soup-themed gathering!

Potato, Broccoli and Coriander Soup
*adapted from The 1,000 Best Recipes

Serves 6

1 lb broccoli
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander (note: I had coriander kernels and used a coffee grinder to ground)
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cubed
2 small chicken bouillon cubes
about 4 c water (or you can forgo the cubes and water and substitute chicken or vegetable broth)
1 1/2 c skim milk

Lightly spray large pot with cooking spray, place over medium heat and add onions and garlic. Add 1 tbsp water to prevent from sticking. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened and is lightly golden. Add cumin and coriander and cook 2 minutes. Add potatoes and broccoli to pot, stir well and add stock cubes and water. Slowly bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Allow to cool slightly. Blend soup in batches in a food processor or blender (or if you have an immersion blender---I want one so bad---use that) until smooth. Return to pot and stir in milk. Slowly reheat, without boiling. Season well before serving.

Nutritional Information
Per serving: Calories 340; Fat 18; Fiber 5; Protein 10

Pssstt. This is also a favorite during our many Baking Extravaganzas! It's a simple, grab-and-go dish, easily prepared the day before.

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are many 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
Cooking Club #6
Cooking Club #7

[Update: Just the previous Cooking Club links!]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #7

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 9/15/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.] 


---> 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 other posts) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!

#7 January: Pasta

The Menu:
Blue Cheese Gnocchi
Chicken Paprikash
Pesto Chicken Pasta
Rice Noodles with Pork
Garlic-Based Red Sauce with Homemade Linguine
Shrimp/Chicken Pasta
Ham and Cheesy Mac

Someone decided pasta would be a great theme for this month's Cooking Club. And I agreed. Like, two hands up agreed.

Now that we have Andrew back, we lost Jessica's sister. She apparently wasn't as enthused about cooking as one needs to be for Cooking Club. (Cough, I'm sure it had nothing to do with last month's 9-hour cookie disaster baking, cough.)

Mmm. Pasta. I LOVE pasta. There are so many ways to eat pasta. But I definitely wanted to try something new. Gnocchi sounded amazing and I've always wanted to try it. So I thought, what's better than trying gnocchi first-hand homemade?

I went to my trusty over-the-top-fancy recipe book, The 1,000 Best Recipes, which I bought for my husband (then boyfriend at the time) when he first moved into his own apartment. I thought he might learn to cook, more so than the freezer-to-oven meals, and pork chops and a can of green beans. He took one look at this cookbook and tossed it aside (more like heaved it aside; this book is ridiculous). He prefers simpler meals, not ones with fancy ingredients and multiple steps. (Although he did brave this cookbook to make this chicken in a paprika and mushroom sauce, check out this post for the recipe, ...it is to die for. But that's it. He won't try any other recipes.)

Anyhoo, when I saw these beautiful pasta pillows drowning in a white cheese sauce, I was a goner. I didn't need to look any further. Nothing else would satisfy. I counted the days until our next meeting so I could make this amazing dish.

And it did not disappoint.

Oh, and this is such a simple recipe. Only five ingredients total in the entire dish! Potatoes and flour are all you need to make this tasty gnocchi.

Yet, I had no idea that making gnocchi from scratch would be so time consuming, and did I forget to mention a MESS! (I've never made any form of pasta from scratch, and Jessica did warn me it was messy. Uh, understatement.)

But it was so worth it. I'd stop writing this post right now just to get my hands caked with flour and potatoes in order to taste one sweet pillow-y gnocchi. Maybe I should add this to our dinner menu for next week....

However, this dish did require some patience. That yummy sauce up there eventually thickens upon standing and oh.my.goodness. Holy frijoles. (I can't wait to see Puss in Boots. That cat cracks me up.)

I think I have a new pasta favorite. Move over lasagna. My palate is too mature for you.

Oh, and a whole meal with tons of carbs...yeah, we didn't think this one through. We were stuffed and miserable by the end, but quite enlightened and satisfied.


Blue Cheese Sauce
*from The 1,000 Best Recipes

Serves 4 (with salad, but if not I could devour half myself)

10 oz cream [I used canned evaporated milk, plus 1 1/2 t xanthan gum to thicken]
4 oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, chopped
gnocchi, homemade or cooked according to package directions

In a small pan, bring cream to a boil. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes, or until reduced by one third. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over gnocchi. Scatter chives over top and serve immediately. ****I never use all of the cream called for. Place leftovers in container and store in fridge, using with other pasta, like linguine....yum.

If you have the time and ambition, make the gnocchi yourself. For a quicker version, pick up some while you're at the store. Hurry home and make this sauce!

Includes gnocchi and all of cream:
Nutritional Information per serving from cookbook
650 calories, 44 fat, 20 protein, 1.5 fiber

Nutritional Information per serving (with my adaption)
296 calories, 6 fat, 45 carbs, 14 protein, 4 fiber, 9 sugar

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are many 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
Cooking Club #6

[Update: Previous Cooking Club links have been updated, as well as the cookbook link on Amazon. More pictures coming, and the nutritional information has been updated. This is sort of perfect timing since, it's National Linguine Day. Get in your kitchen and make some homemade goodness!]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #6

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 9/8/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.] 


---> 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 other posts) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!

#6 December: Cookie Exchange  

The Menu:
Apricot [& Raspberry] Pinwheels
Chocolate Chip Spritz
Cream Cheese Spritz
Caramel Press Cookies
Chocolate Cookies
Mocha Madness
Eggnog Sandwiches
Cookie Pops
Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies


Christmastime is here....so we thought, why not a cookie exchange? After all, a few of my close friends and I get together every season to spread the cookie cheer. We gather and bake cookies and belt Christmas carols and gossip and talk about our college days and how much we miss each other because life has taken over and we're crazy-busy. You know, girl stuff.

So when Cooking Club decided to make cookies its monthly theme, I was giddy with joy. I LOVE baking around the holidays! In fact, I had four (!) so-called gatherings scheduled for this season: one with my close friends, one with my mother-in-law, Cooking Club, and I always have one at home in case I didn't get a chance to make everything I wanted. [Trust me, my list contains so many recipes, I rarely get to them all.]

For this meeting, I had planned on making another cookie, but after that failed when I did a test run during my baking session with my mother-in-law, I chose to try the Apricot Pinwheels instead. Score! I found this recipe in a Betty Crocker pamphlet my mother-in-law picked up for me two years ago.

These were a lot of fun to make (especially when I got out my ruler and was all precise with my measurements to make sure I got the exact amount of cookies---because I'm OCD like that) and were even more delicious. I wanted to make a double batch, so when I ran out of apricot preserves, I substituted my favorite, raspberry. Ah-Mazing!

These little pinwheels are so yummy that they are now on my "Must-Make-Every-Christmas" cookie list (which is quickly becoming a very looong list). I even took some of these tasty treats home for my family Christmas, and my grandpa enjoyed them so much I had to promise to make him a special batch next year.

OK, so back on topic. We were one member down, again, this month. I guess Andrew isn't into the whole baking thing. "It's too girly." But Jessica made up for his absence because she decided to try three cookie recipes. Yay! More cookies!

Hmmm...or so I thought.

I guess an all-day baking extravaganza wasn't fitting for Cooking Club, especially with two young teenagers who became bored about two hours in. And decided to skip out and relax in the living room for the rest of the day. And brought the most complicated cookie recipes. Yeah, that happened.

Nine hours later, we were exhausted. We watched the day-light hours fade through the window as we continued mixing and baking and covering the kitchen floor in flour and forgetting that the oven temperature does continue to rise after it's been on for hours and hours, sadly burning the Mocha Madness batch.

Yeah, no more Cooking Club cookie exchanges. There really is an art to an all-day cookie baking event. Definitely not for rookies or the faint-of-heart.

Check out my pinwheels! (Above left, the Eggnog Sandwiches & above right, the Chocolate Butterscotch Chips)

However, you must try these pinwheels! They are so cute and fun to make, AND I promise they will be a hit at your next Christmas party. (If not, look me up, and I'll take them off your hands.)

P.S. The Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies were awesome. Easily enough, the recipe was on the back of a Nestle Toll House bag of butterscotch chips. However, I can't seem to find the link for that exact recipe, but here is the web site. (Remember that episode of FRIENDS where Monica tries to duplicate Phoebe's grandma's cookie recipe? Hee hee. BTW, I LOVE FRIENDS, best show ever. I own all the seasons, watch them all the time, and I'm sure you will become tired of my FRIENDS references. But that is just something I cannot apologize for.)

Apricot Pinwheels
*inspired by a Betty Crocker recipe

Makes 4 dozen

1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese, softened (maybe next time try plain Greek yogurt?)
1 c butter (or go half with coconut oil and half butter)
1/4 c sugar, or sugar substitute (like Stevia)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c apricot preserves (or whatever you prefer, like raspberry. YUM.)
1/4 c almonds, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and salt. Cover and refrigerate, about 30 minutes or until firm. Preheat oven 350 degrees and lightly grease cookie sheets with shortening. (If your oven preheats quickly, I'd wait until you have your first tray ready to go in, then preheat as you work on the next one.)

On a generously floured surface, roll dough into 16x12" rectangle. Cut rectangle into 48 2"-squares, 8 rows by 6 rows. Use metal spatula to place squares 1" apart on sheets. Spread each square with about 1/4 tsp preserves. On each square cut from each corner to 1/4" from center. Bring every other point to center and press together to form a pinwheel. If using, sprinkle each with almonds.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from sheet to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information
Original recipe, per cookie: Calories 80; Fat 5; Protein 1

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are many 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

[Update: I included a few helpful tips for the Apricot Pinwheels recipe, and added a link to the Toll House recipe site. Maybe you'll have better luck at finding the butterscotch recipe than I did. However, there are some other great options when it comes to using those butterscotch morsels. The two Spritz Cookies and the Caramel Press ones, those recipes came with Jessica's cookie press tool, which she purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond, I think.]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #4

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 8/25/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

Jenny and I putting the final touches on the cupcakes.

#4 October: Interpretation of Orange

The Menu:

         Beverage

Orange Dream Delights

         Main Course

Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

Ma Po Tofu

        Sides

Apricot Kielbasa Slices

Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Sauce

Orange Rice Skillet

        Desserts

Peaches 'N Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

Mandarin Orange Fluff Dessert

I'd like to announce that Cooking Club now has eight members! Apparently my co-workers love to cook, which is awesome. This month our fellow co-worker, Kelly along with her two teenaged-daughters, Angelica and Rosea, and Jessica's sister Melanie joined. There was so much fun and craziness going on in Jessica's small kitchen. We actually had to make our dishes in shifts, but that just meant more hands to help. 

And this month's theme, not sure where it came from, but it left the guidelines wide open. We could either use an actual orange, or any ingredient that was the color orange.

Remember how I went on and on about peaches and them being my favorite fruit and all in the cobbler Cooking Club post, well guess what I brought this month that was orange?

PEACHES. Yes. 

Again, I spent hours going through cookbooks (I have a plethora; I guess it's something I collect) trying to find the perfect "orange" recipe. Nothing satisfied, and I remembered that I had marked some recipes online. Enter Peaches 'N Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes.

Another thing you need to know about me: I.LOVE.CHEESECAKE. There aren't even the right words in our English language to describe my love for this sinful dessert. Every year on my birthday, instead of cake, I get CHEESEcake. I'm so in love. Mr. B understands. I love cheesecake like he loves pretzels. However, I never keep it in the house because I too will devour it in its entirety.

Cheesecake + peaches = perfection.

So imagine my disappointment when these failed. Jessica said she thought they were great and was planning on making them again the following week, but I disagreed. I know cheesecake. And there was just something about the way these set up that wasn't cheesecake-worthy.

My recipe looks yummy.

Ugh.

Everything else was tasty, except the Mandarin Orange Fluff Dessert. It had pineapple. I hate pineapple. I can detect it in anything. [Trust me, my family has tried to pull one on me here and there. But I always know.] Alas, that is another Cooking Club rule: You must take at least one bite of every dish. (However now, after my strong fight to worm my way out of tasting, we all know who doesn't like what and we adjust our recipes accordingly. Of course, this excludes any allergies, or insensitivities, which we aim to avoid any way.)

This month my favorite recipe was the Apricot Kielbasa Slices that Rosea made. Quite tasty, and I think my hubby would even approve. Also, we had our first Cooking Club mishap. Apparently Andrew's pan was a little too hot, and when he added the chili oil, the kitchen was engulfed in spicy fumes. We were all gasping for fresh air!

Apricot Kielbasa Slices

Andrew's Ma Pa Tofu cleared the kitchen.

The spicy fumes were so much, we all ended up outside gasping
for fresh air. My lungs were burning!

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are many 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
Cooking Club #2
Cooking Club #3

[Update: I've included the link to Jessica's homemade pumpkin ravioli recipe, and a few more pictures of my favorite tasty dishes recreated at home.]

Pssst...In honor of National Peach Month, here are a few of my favorite peach dishes, including a great morning smoothie, a family favorite cobbler, and a mouth-watering tart. What's your favorite peach dish?

With Love and God Bless,

Brindi

Re-Visited: Cooking Club #3

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 8/18/14: original, but separate, content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> 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!

#3 September: Ingredient Apple

The Menu:

           Main Course

Braised Pork and Apple Stew

Israeli Couscous with Apples, Cranberries and Herbs

Mango Apple Curry      
           Desserts

French Apple Tart

Spiced Apple Stir-Fry

Look at that tasty fall stew. Yum-0

Cooking Club is expanding! Our new member is actually Jessica's boyfriend and a fellow co-worker. Welcome, Andrew!

It was Jenny's turn to decide on a theme and she chose apples (because of their abundance lately), which means we must have that ingredient somewhere in our recipe. This month I chose to make Giada's  Israeli Couscous with Apples, Cranberries and Herbs and Spiced Apple Stir-Fry (<--- not sure where I found this recipe; it was just on a piece of scrap paper, hiding in my box of to-make-soon dishes). I couldn't decide which one I wanted to make, so I brought both.

Check out my new apron!

You have to make this couscous. Please make this, you will be so happy you did. Seriously. This was my first time ever eating this new food, and now I'd eat it every day if I could.  Actually, I enjoyed this recipe so much that I make it about three times a month. Everyone loved it; so the next time I made it, I brought it to work to share with my co-workers. A tiny mistake on my part. They all love it so much, that now if they find out I made some and didn't bring it in they give me a hard time. It's so good I don't even want to share. haha. I want to keep it all to myself. And every time I make this dish, I thank the Lord that Mr. B isn't into trying new foods.

The funny thing is, my best friend Jessica, not the co-worker and Cooking Club member, my other Jessica (I know, it's hard to keep up sometimes), called me up a week after I made this at our meeting. She was going on and on about this couscous recipe she recently made and just knew that I would love. After she finished describing it, I realized it was the same recipe.

Yes, my friends, it is that good.

It's so good that it's listed on the menu for my last meal ever. (You know, the question: What would you eat if it was your last meal?) Yes, I must have this.

Anyhoo, having another member in the kitchen was fun and a new learning experience all over again. I love learning about people and what they bring to the table, literally. This was another great meeting, and next to my couscous, Jenny's Braised Pork and Apple Stew was killer. However, my second dish, Spiced Apple Stir-Fry was quite tasty, and I'd love to have this every time I eat vanilla ice cream. [Actually, this is fantastic on top of a bowl of plain Greek yogurt and sprinkled with sliced almonds. I think it gives Chobani a run for its money. The perfect healthy dessert.]

Spiced Apple Stir-Fry

Serves 4-5

3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced (or any favorite apple will work. Also, peeling is optional. I like the texture, so I leave it on.)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger (if you don't have, ground works just as well)
1/3 c sugar <--- taste your apples! I rarely use this much sugar, probably less than half. The apples lend enough sugar themselves.
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/3 c apple cider
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp butter <--- I use coconut oil, and I think it's even better, more flavor.

Cut stacked apple slices into fourths; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and spices; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk cider with cornstarch; set aside. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add apple slices and ginger and stir-fry, about 2 minutes. Stir in sugar-spice mixture and stir-fry another 2 minutes. Stir in cider mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil and is slightly thickened. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream.

[I apologize for not being able to provide a photo along with this recipe. It was so good, by the time we finished filling our bellies there wasn't any left to photograph.] <--- Feast your eyes on the beautiful caramelization splendor. It tastes just as wonderful as it looks.

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are many 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
Cooking Club #2

[Update: I've included the link to the French Apple Tart, a new photo of the pork stew from last week, which Mr. B devoured with a side of buttered noodles <--- follow the above link for that perfect fall recipe, and some heavenly dessert photos.]

With Love and God Bless,

Brindi