New Blog!

This is a group of 13 friends and neighbors that get together once a month to enjoy good food and share recipes. Each month a different girl hosts and does all the cooking. Every few months we have a "couples night" which means we get to bring our husbands and two girls work together to host the increased crowd. By the years end, each of us has only had to cook one great meal and in exchange you get to enjoy 9 others!


Saturday, December 14, 2019

Spain Couples Dinner

Citrus Olives 
(I used the whole jar, roughly 1 1/2 cups, instead of the 1 cup in the recipe.)


Spanish Albondigas (meatballs)
I used dried breadcrumbs instead of fresh.  If using dried breadcrumbs do not mix with milk first, they just lump up. Just add everything and mix. 
Salt and pepper your meatballs!!!!!


Dates wrapped in bacon with marcona almonds 


Spanish Cheese Board
I got the cheeses at Harmon’s and the chorizo at World Market.





Thursday, September 26, 2019

Monday, June 10, 2019

Couples Hawaiian Breakfast

Guava Chiffon Syrup:
Cochita Guava Paste (Pasta De Guayava) 14 oz Each (3pk) (Amazon)
Water
Cream
*Melt down the paste on Medium-Low with about 3/4 Cup water per 14 oz package (depends on how thick you want your syrup)
*Pour 1/3 Syrup into a bowl and add approx. ½ - ¾ c. cream (depends on how creamy you want it)
*Layer the two syrups on the pancakes and add a dollop of whipping cream


Pancake Recipe:  
Dry Mix
4 Cups all-purpose Flour
3 T baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 T sugar
To make Pancakes:
1 C pancake mix above
1 egg
1 C milk
1 T melted butter


Brioche French Toast: 
Loaf of Brioche Bread
6 Eggs 
½ T Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
*Mix eggs, cinnamon, vanilla together and dip bread both sides.  Cook on a hot griddle


Lime Cream Sauce: 
Approx. 8-10 limes (or ¾ c. lime juice)
1 ½ c. sugar
¾ c. water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Green food coloring
*Dissolve sugar in water over medium heat until sugar is melted.  Add sweetened condensed milk and let cook until desired thickness.  Add ¾ c. lime juice and green food coloring.  
*Pour over French toast and add a dollop of whipping cream


Sweet Potato Eggs Benedict with Kalua Pork:
Purple Sweet potatoes
Kalua Pork
Eggs
Hollandaise sauce

Poached Eggs for Eggs Benedict
add enough water to a large pan so that the eggs will have about an inch of water covering them, add about 3/4 C. of vinegar to the water.  Heat the water to the point where it almost begins to boil, then crack the eggs gently into the boiling water.  Let cook until the whites are no longer clear and there is a bit of jiggle still for a soft yolk.

Hollandaise Sauce:
3 egg yolks
¼ tsp Dijon
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
Dash of cayenne pepper
Dash of paprika
Blend all ingredients for about 5 seconds in a blender

Melt ½ C. butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave (watch that it melts all the way but doesn’t explode). Turn blender on high and slowly pour in the butter (just a very small and steady stream). The butter still needs to be very hot when you add it so as to slightly cook the egg. Serve immediately. To keep it warm you can place the container of Hollandaise in a pot with hot water in it. Unfortunately Hollandaise sauce cannot be saved and reheated, it separates. 

Portuguese Sausage-  I found this at Walmart in Centerville, next to the hot dogs, on the bottom of the shelf.  I just cut it up and put it in a frying pan for a few minutes, it's pre-cooked so it doesn't need much time to brown a bit.  It looks like this




















Doughnut Holes tossed in lemon/vanilla/poppy seed sugar, and coffee/banana/coconut sugar from the Doughnutery in New York


Coconut Pudding
https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/homemade-coconut-pudding/


Coconut Syrup
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut flavoring

Bring to boil, take off heat add vanilla or coconut flavoring.


Monday, March 18, 2019

potluck couples night!

Amy McReynolds-
Blueberry Lime Cream Cheese Pound cake

Pecan Pie Brownies
Filling
1/2 cup margarine or butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs beaten in a bowl
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
Grease a13 x 9-inch pan.
In saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour until smooth. Add brown sugar and 4 eggs. Mix well. Cook over medium-low heat until it comes to a boil then cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and pecans. Set aside.
Homemade Brownies
Batter
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x13 baking pan.
In small saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in cocoa, blending well; cool slightly.
In large mixer bowl, beat eggs until foamy; gradually add sugar and vanilla extract, beating well.
In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt; blend into egg mixture. Stir in chocolate mixture. 
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Spread pecan Filing over chocolate batter. Bake 25-27 minutes or until brownies just begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely; cut into squares.

Michelle Thurber's Clam Chowder- I tend to use more veggies almost double, 3 cans of clams, and the whole bottle of clam juice.


Brittany Major's Brussel Sprouts: I cover the sprouts with a little oil, after cutting them in half, then I seasoned with garlic salt and then you can add whatever your favorite seasoning mix is (I used herbs de Provence).  Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cook for 5 min and then add green beans for another 10 min until tender. 
And Oreo Brownies



Michelle Beattie's French Dip Sliders


Bee’s Tortellini Soup
1 Yellow onion, diced
1-2 TBSP minced garlic, or 4-6 cloves 
4 carrots, sliced
4 celery, sliced
Saute onion unless translucent in avocado oil or butter, add garlic in for 1 minute. Remove to separate bowl and saute the veggies until al dente, be sure season with salt and pepper, remove to onion bowl
Cook Italian Sausage -use either the sweet Italian or hot Italian, can do crumbled sausage or slice up the links. When cooked deglaze the pan with the following:
28oz diced tomatoes, can use the Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
Add 1-2 tsp each of oregano and basil
3-4 cups chicken broth
When combined add
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese (used the cheaper grated parmesan here and saved the good stuff for on top)
1 package cooked tortellini – I used Trader Joe’s pesto tortellini for dinner group night, but also used a cheese filled tortellini the week prior. I prefer Trader Joe’s pasta because they use Italian wheat in their pasta, it makes a higher quality pasta. I boiled it until al dente, drained and hit it with a cold water rinse then added it to the soup. I grabbed handfuls of baby spinach and added them very last so they just wilted and didn’t lose color. 
This takes a little longer than doing it all in a crockpot, but I’ve found sautéing the veggies separately keeps them crisper and more colorful and flavorful. 
Top with shredded Romano or Parmesan





Thursday, February 21, 2019

Kymberly's Mexican night (In honor of the Wall)








https://ourbestbites.com/chicken-or-steak-fajitas/

sopapilla cheesecake bars use canned crescent roll dough. I found & used Annies’s organic crescent rolls without hydrogenated fats in them.

Spicy Chocolate Brownies w/ Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Chipotle dip/dressing - I use equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise, heavily sprinkle garlic salt and blend with a canned chili pepper in adobo sauce. Adjust heat by amount of pepper in adobo sauce

Sweet potato burrito bowl - I love both burrito bowl recipes and have done both separately or combined like I did last Thursday (2nd recipe).

Pork Flautas - I used the following slow cooker recipe then rolled the shredded meat in flour tortillas, sprayed them with cooking spray and baked them at 400deg for 12-15 mins until crisped

Cocadas- Mexican coconut candies

All these dinners are complimented by lime wedges, Pico, avocado or guacamole, diced onion, shredded lettuce, shredded Mexican blend cheese and queso fresco