Cooking Club #5 {Updated}

[Updated 9/1/14: 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!

Clockwise from top right: Ham, Crab Cake, Stuffing, Potatoes, Pot Pie

#5 November: Thanksgiving     

The Menu:
         Appetizer
Sage and Cranberry Crab Cakes
        Main Course
Chicken Pot Pie
Brown-Sugar Glazed Ham
        Sides
Spinach Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing Baskets
        Desserts
Apple Pie
Cute Turkey Cookies

Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, we decided we must have a Cooking Club Thanksgiving Feast. We each took a dish that is usually on everyone's Thanksgiving Day menu and created our own "version" of the classic. The choices up for grabs were potatoes, turkey/ham, pie, cranberries, stuffing, and veggies. I chose the yummy classic side dish stuffing.

I found this cute recipe while perusing my Taste of Homes Cookbook. I wanted a twist on the classic stuffing and thought, how cute, stuffing baskets.

While I was mixing it up and adding the ingredients, my mouth was watering. It smelled delightful. However, these Stuffing Baskets were more on the dry side than I tend to enjoy.

Definitely not Mama's stuffing. Some members enjoyed the dish, and some didn't. Definitely nothing to write home about. [But I agree to share all of my Cooking Club successes and failures. If you're not inspired to try these failed recipes, I hope you try the themes!] However, the Spinach Mashed Potatoes and the Apple Pie were tasty and sinful in their own ways. I actually could.not.wait. for Jessica to finish the topping so we could get this in the oven and eat it already!

Too bad Andrew missed out on this feast.

If you don't do anything else, gather some friends and have a Thanksgiving feast of your own this month. Nobody would complain about two Thanksgivings.

It's like a turkey army!

*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

[Update: I added a few links and am dying to get in the kitchen to make these Spinach Mashed Potatoes again(!) and I gave the Stuffing Baskets one more shot, but with a more homemade approach; they were a little tastier this time around. Meanwhile, it's never too early to start thinking about your Thanksgiving menu.]

What's your favorite Turkey Day dish?

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Cooking Club #1 {Updated}

[Updated 8/4/14: Over the weekend, I was perusing past Sweet B's posts, and came across my beloved Cooking Club reviews. Oh, how I miss Cooking Club! We made it to 17 meetings, and then it turned into themed parties because some new people wanted to come but didn't want to do the cooking, and other members' schedules were getting too hectic. But, sadly, the themed parties slowly dwindled. I must find a way, errr the time(?), to renew them! Ugh, being an adult is over-rated. Anyhoo, in looking back on these particular posts I realized a few of them were still lacking food photos and details. So now I'm on a mission to re-create those dishes sans photos and highlight, again, the Cooking Club days. If you're a new reader and are unfamiliar with these posts, yay! If you read them when first posted, know that I'm splitting each one into it's own post instead of combining them. I'm aiming to post a new Cooking Club highlight each Monday until I'm through. Maybe you'll rediscover a dish you've been meaning to attempt. Other than photo additions and detail or link updates, the posts will remain intact with original content.]


---> 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!

I'm sure I scored high on plating. Isn't it pretty?

#1 July: Chocolate Cake    

The Menu:
Super Moist Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Cinnamon Topping
Cocoa Cola Cake
Hershey Bar Cake


Yay! Our first official Cooking Club meeting. My co-workers, Jessica and Jenny, and I decided to get together once a month to enjoy a hobby all of us adore: COOKING! There's just the three of us, which I LOVE, but we're hoping to expand, to find more friends and family who have a love for cooking and want to share in our hobby. There really aren't any guidelines for the club, other than staying within the monthly theme, and the dish must be prepared on site. Other than that, everything is pretty much up in the air. However, I made my own little personal guideline: It must be my first time making the recipe. I want to explore new foods that I don't get to normally make at home...especially since Mr. B can be a picky eater and he doesn't like sweets. (Gasp, I know.) Except chocolate chip cookies, the brown butter caramel cookies I make every Christmas, and vanilla ice cream.

Four our first meeting, we chose the chocolate cake theme because who doesn't like chocolate cake? Well, actually, I'm not that big of a fan. But most people enjoy it.

I chose to make a Super Moist Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Cinnamon Topping (<--- check it out!), which I found on the Food Network's web site.

It was quite fun learning how everyone behaves in the kitchen, preps their food, uses utensils, etc. It's interesting how much one can learn about a person by watching them in the kitchen. I'm a very organized person, I follow recipes almost exactly (something I'm hoping Cooking Club helps me break Update:---> it did! Now I rarely follow a recipe, just glance at it for inspiration. I'm very comfortable with my tastes and experiences), I measure, I'm neat and clean. I use the appropriate tools. I can't stand for my kitchen to be dirty, and usually clean as I go. However, I found out that my co-worker, Jessica, is crazy in the kitchen, the complete opposite of me. I was very shocked because she is such an organized person like I am. She's definitely a different person when that apron is on! haha

I had so much fun with my first Cooking Club recipe. It was the first time I had ever worked with tofu, and with zucchini as a dessert ingredient. The cake was by far the most moist chocolate cake I have ever eaten, and I know this will be my "go-to" from now on. The applesauce and yogurt gave it this moist texture, and I couldn't even tell there was zucchini in the batter. The chocolate drizzle and powdered sugar were perfect, and although the chocolate-cinnamon topping was a nice touch, I could do without. Overall, I really liked the dish, and it was my favorite out of the three because it wasn't too sweet.

I hate when desserts hurt my teeth. No thank you.

Hershey Bar Cake, Cocoa Cola Cake, and my cake.

*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!

[Update: I keep envisioning making this chocolate cake again for my father-in-law. He likes sweet and chocolate, and I wonder if this healthier version would past the test. I'm thinking next family dinner. Will post new photos when I do!]

With Love and God Bless,

Brindi

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Hands down THE BEST Broccoli-Cheddar Soup I've ever tasted.

(Trust me. I've tasted a lot. It's my favorite soup.)

There's just something about the perfect green broccoli and the sharp cheddar cheese that marries beautifully, with a creamy base, in a big pot on the stove. Add in a bay leaf, and I cannot stay out of the kitchen.

So when my mother-in-law bought me the latest Food Network Magazine, I dropped everything when I saw the soup featured on the cover. I flipped right to the recipe, and after noting the ingredients (yes, bay leaf!), I made a quick trip to the grocery store. Because.I.Had.To.Make.This.

Love this magazine!

At first, I thought this particular version had to have a ton of cheddar because of it's color.

Nope.

It gets it's gorgeous orange hue from the sweet potatoes. What?! IN my broccoli-cheddar soup? Hmm...I'm game.

Yes, I am in love with this soup. Sweet potatoes? Yes, please. I want to live inside this bubbling pot of deliciousness. The recipe called for less cheese than I am used to, but to be honest, I didn't miss it at all. I actually felt very healthy after eating this soup, and one bowl is super filling. Mr. B even said it was good, declaring it a 2-out-of-3-star meal...because he's not a "soup" person. (In case I haven't mentioned, he's a meat kind of guy.) Crazy. But after this, he promptly refilled his bowl two more times....

However, I did make a few changes to the recipe. I omitted the celery because my hubby dislikes it, added extra onion, used 1% milk to make it more figure-friendly, and didn't season it as much. And I made my own croutons.

Don't forget the croutons! You'll thank me later.


Broccoli-Cheddar Soup
*adapted from Food Network Magazine

Serves 6

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you're wanting a vegetarian dish)
2 cups 1% milk
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 c chopped broccoli florets
1/3 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Croutons, for topping (optional)

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, milk, both potatoes, bay leaf, 2 c water, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl; add 3 Tbsp water and season with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes; drain. When potatoes are tender, remove bay leaf from soup and transfer soup to a blender. Puree until smooth; return soup to the pot. Return to a simmer over medium-low heat; stir in broccoli. Add cheese and stir until melted. Ladle soup into bowls and top with croutons, if desired. Season if needed.

*This soup is even tasty cold and without croutons. But, why not croutons?

Nutritional Information
Per Serving (without croutons): Calories 266; Fat 7.7; Fiber 6.2; Protein 8.5

Yeah, I don't see me making any other version anytime soon.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

The 1950s

Marilyn Monroe declared to all that "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was our president.

Popular literature included classics like C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

Elvis Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll.

Fashion centered around poodle skirts, two-piece swimsuits, halter-top summer dresses and short hair.

Jim Brown was drafted by the Cleveland Browns.

And, of course, there was Audrey Hepburn.

These were just a few staples of The Fifties. A decade I wish I could have lived in. So imagine my excitement when my co-worker, Jessica, decided to have a 1950s-themed party for her 30th birthday. (I know, I could barely contain myself either.)

Source

I couldn't wait to head into my closet to find the perfect outfit. Jessica, on the other hand, knew exactly what she wanted, and took to the Internet to find her perfect dress--a 1950's housewife inspiration from Vintage.com (I think), complete with a pink petticoat underneath. To say shelovespink is an understatement. I decided to channel one of my favorites, Audrey Hepburn, for the party. She is a favorite actress of mine, and I just adore her movies and style. I carefully selected my polka-dot dress with yellow high heels, my favorite hat, huge sunglasses and, of course, my pearls.

Source

Classic Audrey Hepburn.

Many people remember her for her performance in Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I absolutely adore her in Roman Holiday.

Roman Holiday

[She was also known for her ballet slippers and big hats.]

Anywho (see, I'm easily distracted by her gorgeous grace) before the party was under way, I headed over early to assist with the food prep. We had various dips for chips (including a tasty mango salsa), her mom's fabulous macaroni and cheese (which I returned numerous times to sneak a few bites. ohmmgee.sogood.), meatballs, pigs-in-a-blanket, BLT dip with olive oil-drizzled bread, and a classic veggie tray with hummus. Dessert was in the form of brownies and some kind of cake. I never got around to dessert (shocking!) because I was too busy sneaking bites of mac and cheese and enjoying the peach-flavored wine (I very, very seldom drink, but when I do, I choose wine.)...which I never caught the name of. But it was super delightful and required a refill.

Classic food shot.

The Birthday Girl.

My co-worker, Jenny, and I.

There were presents, a surprise caroling of "Happy Birthday" (which she did not like), great conversation, and an intense game of Apples to Apples. I had so much fun, and cannot wait for the next themed party.

I share this sweet moment because I encourage you to try out a theme for your next party. Have a blast. Think outside the box. Go a little crazy. It is so much fun to dress up in clothes you wouldn't normally wear. Maybe it'll be the 1960s, your favorite TV character, ugly Christmas sweaters, or your interpretation of Steampunk (which was the theme of her birthday party last year). Themed parties are also a great excuse to spend time with family and friends, and try new foods. You don't even need a special occasion. (Go on, you have my permission.)

Whatever you decide, have fun with it. And don't forget to share!


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Fall is My Favorite

There is something so breathtaking when you recognize the first day of fall. One moment you are going about your day, and the next it comes to a halt when you realize the leaves are changing. It's a sweet moment. A moment I take the time to note and soak in each year.

This year, that moment arrived much earlier than I expected. My mama and I had spent a few days in Myrtle Beach, visiting my brother, and enjoying the last lazy days of summer before I returned to work and my last semester of grad school. On the way back to Ohio, we were driving through the mountains of West Virginia when I spotted the changing leaves. I pointed them out and we couldn't believe it. It was still AUGUST!

But all I needed was that moment, and then the gears started shifting. Yes! FALL is my FAVORITE! I started mentally preparing myself for the beautiful fall colors, switching out my wardrobe (I want these boots! <---FYI, I own them and love them), hot apple cider, pumpkins, fall foods like cobblers and chilies, football, fun craft shows, apple-picking, and 50-degree weather. I.could.not.wait.

Google Images

Google Images

Great craft ideas at Kaboose.com

Fieri's Cin-Ful Peach Cobbler. Made this and it's my new favorite!

Ahhh, Fall. It's the time for a chill in the air, curling up on the couch with the perfect blanket, a cup of hot tea, and a good book. Too bad I haven't had time to do that this season. It's the end of October already!! November is literally err, figuratively knocking on my door. When I finally saw the date on the calendar this morning, I couldn't believe it. I've been so busy working, writing papers, finishing projects, and designing programs that I actually had no idea what day it was.

The Lord spoke to my heart this morning, forcing me to realize that I have to slow down and enjoy life, too. He led me to this scripture, Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." God made each unique season. The leaves changing shows us the beauty of God, and we need to take time to enjoy this season.

After hearing God, I listened. I needed some "me" time to enjoy my fall. So I grabbed a mug of hot cider, my (current) favorite blanket, curled up by the window where I could see the colorful leaves, and, sadly, enjoyed Breaking Dawn  ---> to refresh my memory...isn't the movie coming out in a few weeks?!

I thoroughly enjoyed my "me" time. In fact, I only stopped to share this moment with you. Now that I'm here, this couch is quite comfy. (Hmmm, I do need more cider....) Before I brew another batch, here's hoping you find time to enjoy your own sweet favorite fall moment before you look up and winter is smiling in your face.

Fall decor for my living room.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Number One

I've been reading blogs, mainly mouth-watering food blogs, for months now. Each time I read my favorites, I get inspired. Inspired to try new foods, cooking methods, workouts, books, and designs. But most of all, I am inspired to write. To share my own experiences and moments with others.

I spent most of my undergrad majoring in journalism with a concentration in magazines. The field became too stressful and demanding, and I no longer enjoyed it. At times I found myself crying in frustration as I tried to fit interviews with stylists, board members, and athletes into my already bursting-at-the-seems schedule. Once my stress level hit an all-time high, including a crazy hive outbreak, I was done. Over it. No more journalism. No more magazine layouts, notepads, copy editing debates, all-nighters to reach an early A.M. deadline, AP Handbooks, and direct quotes.

But I LOVED writing, and not willing to give that up, I finished my last two semesters as an English major. I'd already spent most of my time in English elective courses anyway; the switch was easy as breathing. I marveled in sitting at home in my sweats with a caramel macchiato in one hand and literature in the other. I revisited classics, dived into research, spent my nights with Chaucer, and my days studying the history of the English language...which is quite captivating I might add.

After graduation, I dreamed of a job in publishing, editing manuscript after manuscript. Unfortunately, the demand for new employees, as in any profession right now, was scarce. After a jobless eight months, I found work as a Writing Assistant at a college. Within the next 10 months I began my new job, entered grad school to earn my Master's in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Children's Librarianship, and married a godly and wonderful man.

Fast forward two years, and here I am, still a new wife, about to graduate with my Master's, and still working as a Writing Assistant. Writing and books are a love of mine and still fill my daily life. Although I work with others' writings daily, I'm missing something. Writing. I miss my own writing. Being able to share my sweet moments with others through the written word on paper....or a computer screen.

Maybe I should start my own blog....

Once I got the idea in my head, I ran with it. Topics filled my thoughts as I laid in bed at night trying to force myself asleep. But I didn't want to just write. I wanted to write with a purpose. I wanted to talk about things that matter most to me, like my faith, family, food, fitness, football....(hmmm, I'm sure there's another "f" I'm forgetting, like fondness for books). So I planned, plotted, and organized (because I'm such a nerd), and here I am! Writing my first blog post.

THE best salmon salad ever.

Browns game...couldn't feel my toes!

I don't want to bore you; I want to share precious moments with you, hoping to inspire sweet moments of your own. I hope you enjoy Sweet B's Impressions, and maybe learn a thing or two along the way. Oh, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments at bmberetics418@gmail.com.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I will guide you with my eye.

-Psalm 32:8      

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi