January Dinner Club

Upcoming Dinner: January 

Hostess: Paprika

Ingredient: Coconut

December Dinner Outing

Well, we've had another entertaining year of dinner club, with trying new dishes and pushing the culinary boundaries!  So, in December we reward ourselves by putting away the spatulas, hanging up the aprons, turning off the stoves and treating ourselves to a dinner out.

Our first choice, The Naked Grape, was closed

so we chose Havana instead (Couscous had a Groupon, of course!)

It was small and we had the place to ourselves, but it was festive!!

We started with some drinks including some fun sangrias!

 

Enjoyed chips and three kinds of salsas (mango corn was awesome!)

We also had red pepper hummus and brie stuffed mushrooms!

Then Papa Rellenas and Havana Shrimp

If it wasn't a school night we would have stayed 

for the RuPaul Drag show (apparently Tuesdays are "open nights")!!

 So now onto 2012, with new tastes, flavors and fun!

December Dinner Club

After a year of hostessing and planning and taste testing we treat ourselves to a dinner out on the town!

Oh no Oh no

I forgot my deep fried CHICKpeas! Salted and peppered!! (word to the wise... be very very careful when deep frying chick peas.. although they are DELISH!! they POP! in the hot oil. I was sure my kitchen was going to burn down in flames from these little buggers. IF you have the nerve to make them... they are fantastic and SOOOO addictive!!)

November Dinner Club

OH Yes It's Ladies night!
And I'm feeling right...
Oh yes it's Ladies Night
Oh whatta night!

Our November Dinner group was a Wine Tasting and the theme of the evening was Ladies! You could use your imagination on how to interupt Ladies into wine and food. I think we did a darn good job!!

What a night it was... ok, ok, I'm a little late in getting this posted. My apologies. It's just such a crazy time of year.. and then I lost my camera cord and couldnt download the pictures... blah blah blah. Oh well. Here we go!!

We started with a beautiful blend from Fetish Wine. I just wish they would have asked my permission before using my sihlouette on the bottle...soo embarassing!

And in no particular order, because I'm having brain freeze and cant get the pictures to move properly in order... Here's my (GRAPES) Dessert. Little Debbie Swiss Miss Kebabs! Swiss Miss cakes skewered with fresh strawberries, kiwi and raspberries.The fruit makes it healthy right??


Saucy brought grilled lettuce wraps with feta cheese, oranges and nuts ( we girls are ALL nuts) but i think she was going for HONEY and balsamic dressing as the link to the theme! Maybe not.. maybe she is just thinking this hostess is NUTS!!!

Paprika brought the Fetish (again Grapes' sihlouette!!) wine and Margherita Pizza. DELICIOUS! Made with fresh tomatoes and mozzerella cheese. yum!!

Oh and completely out of order.. here's the tablescape! lol!

Saucy is never outdone... She might have been few minutes late but she brought 2 dishes so we let her slide this time!! Here is Pumpkin Crackers with Brie and McGinnis Sisters Fig Sauce.

Couscous brought Pumpkin (her childhood nickname) Dip and Apple ( Gwenyth's daughters name!)slices. (her childhood nickname is Pumpkin NOT Dip!!!)

We enjoyed 7 DAUGHTERS wine (no no none of us have 7 daughters, could you imagine 7 daughters! Woo- my mom stopped at 2. She thought that was enough!! ) Couscous brought the 7 Daughters!

(and that's my one and only Turkey decoration.. isnt SHE pretty! Her name is Tallulah Turkey!

Grapes loved the look of the lady artist on the Le Village wine bottle... (she bought the wine and planned the theme around it... Hey it could have been worse.. The theme could have been "artist' or "pencil drawing" or 'small town'!!

In addition to Saucy's 2 delectible dishes.. she brought her LITTLE BLACK DRESS for us all to try!

And soo concludes my rendition of Wine Tasting! I hope you have enjoyed... I'm sure I missed something and will be corrected soon by the rest of my girls! I apologize in advance for missing anything. :)

Thank you for strolling down memory lane with me. Hail to the LADIES!

November Dinner Club

Better little late than Never!

Upcoming Dinner:  Wine Tasting

Theme:  Women

Hostess:  Grapes

October African Theme Dinner

The girls accepted the challenge of an African theme dinner, and they surpassed all expectations!  Not only with their dishes, but also with their little known facts of their selected African countries or food!

Grapes started off the evening by altering her outfit for the occasion!

We discovered some very good and unique wines from South Africa. 

South African Fact:  Has the longest wine route in the world!!

 Grapes' appetizer was Bataka Sev (Spicy Potato Noodles) [Chickpea flour, potato, green chili paste, green chili, garlic, turmeric, ginger] that was accompanied by an Algerian Roasted Pepper Sauce. [Roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes, roasted jalapeno pepper, garlic, olive oil] (on left).

Algerian Fact:  70% of lawyers and 60% of judges are women!!

She also brought an addictive Dukkah (no we didn't smoke it!)

This is an Egyptian blend of spices which was mixed with oil and used as a bread dip [Roasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds, cumin, mustard seeds, black pepper, sea salt] (on right).

Egyptian Fact:  The 1st pyramid was originally surrounded by a 34 ft tall wall 

which had 15 doors in it, but only 1 of the doors opened!!

 

Couscous lived up to her name and made Al Cuscus bil Khodar al-mausim

(Roasted Vegetable Couscous with Chickpeas and Onion-Pine Nut Topping) Even steaming the couscous from scratch! [Couscous, chickpeas, sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, Ras el hanout (spices), onion, pine nuts, raisins, cinnamon, honey]

Moroccan Fact:  Rabat is the capital, but Casablanca is the largest city with a population of over 2 million !!

Paprika brought a tasty side dish of Mealie Bread (corn bread)

[Bisquick, cream corn, sugar, egg, milk, butter]

South African Fact:  Has a penguin colony, which thrives thanks to the cold Antarctic currents on the west coast near the Cape!!

and a surprisingly blend of flavors of tomatos and peanut butter, yes peanut butter! in Salata Tomatim Bel Daqua (Sudanese tomato salad)

[tomatoes, green onions, green chili pepper, peanut butter, lime]

Sudan Fact:  Split into two countries in July 2011 after the people of the south voted for independence!!

Saucy wrapped up the evening with an attractive and flavorful

Mamadou's Banana Glace [bananas, cream, sugar, maraschino cheeries, raisins, peanuts, almonds]

Senegal Fact:  Many Senegalese believe in supernatural forces and wear amulets

(called “gris-gris”) around their waist, neck, arms, or legs.

and she brought African Rooibos Red Tea to round out the night.

South African Fact:  Is home to 3 of the 5 fastest land animals 

the cheetah (63 miles per hour), the wildebeest, and the lion.

We outdid ourselves with tasty dishes, good wines and even learned a little too!

Check in next month for yet another challenging topic for Wine Night!!

October Dinner Club

Upcoming Dinner:  October

Hostess:  Coucous

Theme:  African

September "Apple" Dinner

Apple:  Perfect ingredient for the start of Fall, picked and hosted by Saucy!!

Coucous brought her dish in her thematic Red Apple bag.

She also brought a tasty Squash and Apple soup garnished with 

smoked Gouda cheese (think harvest French Onion)!

Dinner was also complimented with an appley named bottle of wine.

Grapes brought a sinful cinnamon spice apples with nuts for a side dish

and as an aside, she discovered for the first time that she likes squash!

Our gracious hostess, Saucy conquered taste and presentation with an appealing

acorn squash stuffed with an apple stuffing.

She also made a savory squash and apple bake!

The fruitful evening was topped off by Paprika's scrumptious 

oat and raisin stuffed granny smith apples with ice cream!

Great dinner to start the fall season!

Stay tuned for the challenge of next month's middagete!!

September Dinner Club

Upcoming Dinner:    September

Hostess:                  Saucy

Ingredient:              Apples

August Dinner - Completed

August's dinner was Wine Tasting hosted by Paprika, who selected White as her Wine Theme

Elegantly decorated with white tablecloth, flowers and candles, oh and some sassy wine napkins she picked up her recent winery trip!

Grapes brought Pinot Grigio that we all felt would make a better mixer for Sangria or a wine spritzer than just a glass after a long day.  She also brought White Pizzas (tomato basil and spinach) - Delish!

I, Couscous, brought a Semillion blend (Semillion/Sauvignon Blanc) which we discovered is a dessert wine and we discovered we are not dessert wine gals!  I also brought Brie with cranberries, walnuts and thyme.

Saucy brought the best wine of the night, a Sauvignon Blanc which was from an Earth Friendly winery too!!  Her appetizer was a white bean bruschetta on baguette- Yum!

Paprika, who always overdoes (LOL), made mini white pizzas, had us try a tomato wine (different, very different) and made a fabulous dessert of ice wine over ice cream with sugared frozen grapes!  So.....we did discover a way that we like a dessert wine - ON dessert!

Another successful dinner club, even if the wines weren't all winners!  We still had great food, discovered more likes and dislikes and enjoyed good laughs and good friends.