Strawberry Mojito Pitchers

Well, it’s September and I’m finally getting back to posting stuff. Living in a city where we only get a few months of warmth each year it seems as though we try to pack it all into a shortened time frame. There were weddings and parties, happy hours and out of town trips, coupled with trying to take our boat out any chance we could get. On top of all that, we bought another house, celebrated 5 years of marriage & I turned 30! All that equals zero time left for me to cook, let alone photograph my meals when I do, but here’s some iPhone pics to catch you up.

Sissy & I out on the boat

Girls weekend in Put-in-Bay, Ohio

Hubby & I at a friend’s wedding

One of many delicious dinner parties!

Our new house!

My 30th birthday

Birthday party decor

One thing that I was able to make and perfect this summer was this delicious pitcher of Strawberry Mojitos! If you want to make it ahead, combine all ingredients except for the mint and strawberries until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Strawberry Mojito Pitchers

• juice of 4 limes
• juice of 4 lemons
• 1 bottle Bacardi Rum (750 ml)
• 3/4 cup simple syrup (recipe below)
• 1 bottle club soda (1L), plus more if desired
• splash of orange juice or lemonade
• several handfuls of fresh mint
• fresh strawberries, quartered

To make the simple syrup, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup white sugar in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher, stir and serve!

April Supper Club

The menu: Sauce & Sinatra

Charcuterie Board with homemade Rosemary Olive Oil Flatbread

Mini Caprese Skewers

Shitake, Basil & Lemon/Margarita/Carmelized Onion & Spicy Sausage Cauliflower Pizzas

Mama Fiorella’s Bolognese

The table setting

Clockwise from top: Homemade Focaccia, Penne & Bolognese, Pancetta Brussels Sprouts, Fried Cardoons

Homemade Limencello

Yummy Cannoli!

Supper Club Guests, minus two people

April was all about old world Italian. From cardoons to bolognese to limoncello, we covered a lot of regional specialties and practically had to be rolled out of our hostesses house! Luckily, about half of us come from Italian backgrounds so we were really able to flex our culinary muscles this SCB.

I opted for making an Italian charcuterie board. The cheese portion of the charcuterie board consisted of Rustico Black Pepper Cheese, Langa Castelbelbo, Piave (my personal favorite), Miti Sottocenere with Truffles and Ricotta Salata. I found all my cheese at Wegmans after consulting with one of our SCB members who used to work in their Cheese Shop. I learned the key to creating a good cheese board is you want to have a good balance of flavors (from strong to mild), textures (soft, semi-soft, semi-hard and hard), colors, shapes and sizes. For the meats, I added Felino, Genoa Salame and Riserva Prosciutto. I rounded my board out with some kalamata olives and made some delicious Rosemary Olive Oil flatbread to accompany it.

Rosemary Olive Oil Flatbread
adapted from Epicurious.com

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
• sea salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, rosemary, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times. Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece at a time into a 10-inch round. The shape can be rustic and the dough should be thin. Lightly brush the tops with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer rounds onto a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes.

March Supper Club

the menu

the spread

plate full of yummies!

japanese fried rice

obligatory (asian??) monkey bread

cards against humanity, iphones and drinks around the table

March’s theme was Oriental Delights. Each of us went out of our comfort zone and picked dishes that we hadn’t made before. The host had pillows set up on the floor and we dined in a laid back Asian fashion. There were spring rolls, a crunchy Asian salad that consisted of broken, uncooked ramen noodles, broccoli and slivered almonds, Thai chicken satay served with cucumbers and peanut dipping sauce, Shu Mai (steamed Asian dumplings), chicken pad Thai and slow cooker Asian beef tacos. I took the easy route and made Japanese fried rice. Although it required minimal effort, it was still pretty tasty. It serves A LOT so my hubby ended up with a ton of leftovers which he didn’t complain about.

Japanese Fried Rice

• 4 cups white or brown rice
• 1-1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 eggs, scrambled and diced
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• Salt and pepper, to taste

First, go to Wegmans or similar and buy two large containers of precooked white rice from the Asian food station. Then stop at a Chinese restaurant and asked for takeout containers and chopsticks for serving. Next, in a large wok add butter, onions, peas and carrots and stir over high heat until cooked. Add rice and remaining ingredients and continue stirring for about 20-30 minutes until all ingredients are cooked. Season to taste and serve warm.

February Supper Club

the tablescape

february attendees

the spread consisted of parmesan-parsley fries, two versions of quinoa sliders (avocado & red onion with cilantro-lime aioli & pesto with goat cheese & spinach), apple pecan chicken salad, panko-crusted chicken tenders with various dipping sauces, DIY black bean tacos with accoutrements, mini Baileys Irish Cream-glazed chocolate doughnuts with Baileys-coffee shooters, chocolate chip & Baileys-spiked milkshakes and funfetti & cake vodka milkshakes. HOLY MOSES!

parmesan-parsley fries

two versions of quinoa sliders (avocado & red onion with cilantro-lime aioli & pesto with goat cheese & spinach)

apple pecan chicken salad

panko-crusted chicken tenders with various dipping sauces

mini Baileys Irish Cream-glazed chocolate doughnuts with Baileys-coffee shooters

chocolate chip & Baileys-spiked milkshakes and funfetti & cake vodka milkshakes (unshown)

February’s theme was Reinvented Take-out and we know just how much take-out food is all our guilty pleasures. Each of us picked our favorite fast food option and made it ourselves. They even got a tiny bit healthier, but only by a little. From burgers to fries, to salads to tacos, fast food was well represented in this spread. I made mini Baileys Irish Cream-glazed chocolate doughnuts with Baileys-coffee shooters for which I had to buy special pans and stockpile a collection of shot glasses (which really wasn’t all that hard). The original recipe came with the special doughnut pans I purchased and then I adapted to add some Baileys into the mix.

Baked Mini Baileys Irish Cream-glazed Chocolate Doughnuts

For the Chocolate Mini Doughnuts

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted

For the Baileys Irish Cream Glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur (I used Hazelnut flavored)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray mini doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, egg and butter and stir until just combined. To fill the donut pan, scoop batter into a large ziplock bag and snip off the tip. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 1/3- 1/2 full. The batter will rise quite a bit during baking. Bake 4-6 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When doughnuts are cooled, stir together sugar, Baileys and vanilla extract. Dip each doughnut in glaze, then set on a plate or baking sheet. Allow to dry for a few minutes and then dip each doughnut in glaze again. Serve with coffee and more Baileys!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Baby Oscar wishes you all a Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope it’s filled with lots of Frenchie kisses.

xo

Super Easy Super Bowl Recipe Roundup

Having a Super Bowl party or going to one, but don’t have a dish figured out yet? Any of these crowd-pleasing recipes will work in a pinch!

Soups & Chili/Snacks

Cook-off Chili

Quick Turkey Chili

Cheeseburger Soup

Mini Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins

Dips

Roasted Red Pepper and Gorgonzola Dip

Fresh Salsa

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

Guacamole

Main Dishes

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork and Coleslaw

Tex-Mex Macaroni and Cheese

Baked Penne

Grilled Margherita Pizza

Meatball Subs

Desserts

No-Bake Nutella and Strawberry Cheesecake

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Brownie-Peanut Butter Cup Trifle

Apple Crisp

Monster Cookies

January Supper Club

the lovely tablescape

the menu (minus Marscarpone Stuffed French Toast)

Smoked Salmon Toasts

Yogurt Parfaits

Sweet Potato & Ham Hash

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups (close up)

Oatmeal Fried Bananas

Bacon, Corn Muffins with Savory Cream Cheese Frosting

Blueberry-Pomegranate Mimosas

L to R: Marscarpone Stuffed French Toast, Oatmeal Fried Banana, Sweet Potato & Ham Hash

Monkey Bread

lovely SCB ladies

Things have been super busy so I apologize for the lack of posts, but the truth is, I haven’t been cooking that much. *gasp!* Not having the CSA has really stalled my creativity in the kitchen (no pun intended) so I’m thankful for supper club to keep things exciting through the rest of the winter.

The theme for this one was Breakfast for Dinner and, man, did we really knock it out of the park. Alicia was a lovely host and her place near the Elmwood Village was simply fantastic, as you can see from the pictures. Everything tasted delicious and came together surprisingly well for not knowing what other people were making.

December Supper Club Buffalo

I’d like to start out the new year by thanking everyone who reads my blog for all your love and support. With absolutely no idea what I was doing, I started this blog a year ago as a new year’s resolution. I couldn’t be more happy that people not only read it, but actually enjoy it. Over the past year I’ve learned a lot, namely how to take better pictures (some of my old posts are REALLY ugly with iPhone-only pics), but also how to open myself up without being scared of what people might think. It’s been a challenging, yet fun and rewarding journey and I am looking forward to continuing that! To keep the positive momentum going, check out my interview on Buffalo Eats, a WNY-based food blog, where I’m now listed as a Buffalo Foodie. Woot woot! Also check out my interview with Channel 7 about a new food market that opened in Buffalo. Special thanks to my techie husband for recording it and figuring out how to post it to YouTube! Yea, I’m pretty popular these days. Ha!

Ok, enough of the self-promoting. Onto the fun stuff. BOOZE! That was the theme for our third installment of Supper Club Buffalo. Each dish needed to incorporate alcohol into it which wasn’t very hard to do for all us boozers. I made Penne alla Vodka without the sausage. I’m over a month behind on posting this, but hey, better late than never, right? Oh, and sorry for all the Instagram/iPhone pics, but that’s all I have.

the menu

some booze to go with our booze

cute favors from our crafty hostess

lovely tablescape

lovely ladies!

penne alla vodka

guinness braised onion and aged white cheddar quiche

drunken (and dueling!) chicken

drool-worthy tiramisu!

Yum!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours. Hope you have a happy and yummy holiday! xo