March Dinner Club

Upcoming Dinner:  March

Hostess:  Couscous

Whatever You Want Theme:  Irish

February Italian Dinner Club

Saucy lived up to her name by hosting an Italian theme dinner and making homemade pasta and sauce!! 

 

Her new most prized possession: the pasta maker!

The drying pasta

The final product!  Awesome!!

Dinner started with Couscous' Italian meat and cheese tray consisting of salami, prosciutto, sopresatta, Piave (hard cheese), Montegrappa (hard cheese), Stelvio (semi-soft cheese) and mini caprese skewers.

 

Grapes brought a thematic bottle of wine:  Rigatoni Red!!

 She also brought an addictive bread!  Italian bread topped with an artichoke bruschetta spread, shredded cheese and baked, with a side of roasted garlic!  Mouth watering good!

The main dish was served with Couscous' Chianti contribution

And the final product of Saucy's labor - homemade noodles with a spicy marinara sauce.  Delizioso!!

Paprika completed the evening by perfecting a buttermilk panna cotta with brandied citrus sauce.  Gorgeous presentation!

Another fantastic dinner club!

Look for Saucy's Homemade Pasta Shop opening soon!!

Follow Blog on Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3463008/wit-dinner-club?claim=xeqkjsyst9e">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

February Dinner Club

Upcoming Dinner:  February

Hostess:  Saucy

Theme:  Italian

January "Coconut" Dinner

Well, it's 2012 and we are off to a great start!  Paprika hosted the January Dinner Club and picked Coconut as her ingredient of choice!  Kudos to both Paprika and Saucy for using Coconuts from scratch!!  After struggling with knives, hammers, ice picks and screwdrivers they soon discovered the need for the quintessential kitchen tool:  The Machete!

 Paprika started us off with "shots" of Coconut water and a slice (hack) of coconut meat. 

We forgot to come armed with our Coconut Dinner Facts, so Paprika and Couscous improvised from their trip to Punta Cana last year.  Coconut water is a natural replacement of electrolytes!  Better than Gatorade because it doesn't contain all the artificial sugar and calories!

Saucy made a tantalizing appetizer of toasted coconut slices (hacks), accompanied by coconut cheese balls.  The scrumptious cheese balls were comprised of cream cheese, macadamia nuts, coconut flakes and cinnamon rolled in coconut flakes.  We truly couldn't stop eating this!

Saucy's wine accompaniment was Vego Murilla red varietal.  As it's impossible to find coconut wine! 

This wine fit the theme because the little swirls look like coconuts (squint a bit, you'll see it).

Paprika's entree was chicken tenders and tofu 

(yes, she has mastered the art of tofu - firm; Extra Extra Extra firm!),

with a garlic, coconut, and panko coating.  

She paired it with basmati rice and a warm coconut milk and mayo sauce.

Weird combo for the sauce you say? But it was oh so yummy!

Couscous brought another varietal wine which fit the coconut theme because this is what you would see if a coconut hit you on the head! (Hard to see in this picture, but the label is a crazy swirl!)

True fact: Coconuts have killed more people in the Dominican Republic than Malaria!

Couscous' side dish was a Thai Coconut Rice: 

Jasmine rice made with coconut milk and flaked coconut topped with toasted coconut.

Finally, Grapes rounded out the evening with a delectable dessert:

Crescent rolls filled with Nutella, banana and coconut and baked.  Oooey, gooey goodness!

We had a ball at our first dinner club of the year and are planning a field trip to

Cabela's Hunting Store for Machetes.

 

Wonder what other "kitchen" tools we will need for upcoming dinners!  Stay tuned!

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!