It’s getting cooler outside and the leaves are beginning to turn colors. Fall is so many people’s favorite time of year. I love all the new magazine covers that come out during this season. They brandish pictures of country roads, farms that have beautiful pumpkins and brightly colored mums to entice you to get outdoorsy. Many people head to the mountains to see God’s show and honestly if I could I would. As lovely as those covers are, they’re not the ones that get me going. My fall senses go into overdrive when I see those distinctive fall flavors in full color. You know the ones I’m talking about: hot apple pie with melting vanilla ice cream on top, or those pumpkin muffins with walnut crumb topping. THOSE are the fall colors that make me want to feed a crowd of hungry visitors. Spiced hot apple cider, crickets chirping at night, and front porch rocking are the sights, sounds, and smells of fall to me.
This past weekend I hosted a Crop and Cackle. It’s a scrapbooking retreat. Cropping is what they do to their pictures and cackling is the sound the ladies make when they are doing it! Eight ladies from Greensboro, NC came to spend three nights and days to work on their memory albums. These are some of the finest women you would ever want to meet. They have been “Cackling” here for about 5 or 6 years. They love my cooking and I love their appetites! Here was their menu:
Thursday Lunch: Pumpkin Curry Soup (see recipe)
Baby Green Salad Fresh Vinaigrette
Crackers with Cream Cheese and Olive Tapenade
Thursday Dinner: We enjoyed a meal at our local Mexican Restaurant
Yes even chefs like to eat out!
Friday Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Fresh Grapes
Link Sausage
Blueberry Juice
Friday Lunch: Italian Wedding Soup
Monte Crisco Sandwiches
Sweet Slaw (see recipe)
Saturday Breakfast: An Egg Casserole called – Angel Puff
Bosc Pears with Caramelized Pecans
Orange-Peach Juice
Saturday Lunch: Sesame Pork over White Rice
Fresh Sautéed Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Cookie Dough Brownies
Saturday Dinner: Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie
Steamed Sugar Peas
Fresh Baby Green Salad and Apple Salad for Connie
Saturday Dessert: Baked Apples stuffed with Cinnamon and Brown Sugar
Hot Vanilla Drink
Sunday Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
Nectarine and Plum Fruit Salad
Sunday Lunch: Pan Seared Pork Chop
Steamed Green Beans
Tortellini Salad
Chocolate Cranberry Cashew Tort
I also want to give a shout out to my special helper Gabby, who came to enjoy the weekend with her mom, grand mom, great aunt, and several people who love her very much. Thank you Gabby!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fall Cooking Retreat
Well they just left. Five fun and adorable ladies ranging from 25 to 44, who were either friends or friends of friends who came this weekend to relax and enjoy some time in the kitchen learning something new. The theme was a special dinner for their family, friends or just some one on one time with the person they love.
When they arrived on Saturday, I served them lunch:
Corn and Kielbasa Chowder (see recipe section)
Buttered Rutabagas
Sweet Slaw
Boston Cornbread
We discussed the dinner menu and then all piled into the van heading to WalMart.
I took them to the cookware section where they learned about different types of knives, appliances, pots and pans, and of course kitchen gadgets. At one point a shopper joined in thinking it was a store demonstration.
Then we went to the grocery side of the store where we talked about different kinds of foods and easy ways to prepare them. In the produce department, the ladies got to ask about various fruits and vegetables that they had never tried. We left there with a few “extras” in our shopping cart. So the bok choy, pineapple, mango, plantain, and artichoke were not on the menu, but they did end up on our plates.
Once we got back to the kitchen, the ladies donned their “Our Place Café” aprons and we began to prepare dinner. They learned how to sharpen their kitchen knives and how to hold it correctly. There was no blood – thank you God!
Our dinner menu:
Pumpkin Soup
Baby green Salad with fresh Vinaigrette
Roasted Chicken
Steamed Broccoli
Caribbean Carrots
Garlic Braised Bok Choy
Everyone got a turn at chopping, mixing, stirring and tasting. They even pressed the table linens and set a festive table for the evening. Everything was delicious!
Afterwards they were served desert: Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce and Hot Vanilla (Kind of hot chocolate in reverse!)
They ladies spent the rest of the night on the porch enjoying the cool fall air until the fireworks started. Our annual fall festival was the same weekend and it always ends with a fireworks display. As soon as we heard the booms we raced upstairs and out the window to sit on our roof and watch the show! The stars were bright and the colors beautiful.
I gave out early, but the others took advantage of the time away from their families and stayed up late talking and having “girl time.”
In the morning we made brunch:
Hash Brown Casserole
Anytime Scones
Steamed Artichoke
Fresh Pineapple and Mango
Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
Many had seconds, but as my youngest says “We do not judge.” It does my heart good to see people eat! More time on the front porch, pictures taken and time for goodbyes was the rest of the morning.
When they left one of my children said “I forget how much I enjoy having people here until we have them.” I must agree. The food was delicious, the company was delightful and a good time was had by all.
When they arrived on Saturday, I served them lunch:
Corn and Kielbasa Chowder (see recipe section)
Buttered Rutabagas
Sweet Slaw
Boston Cornbread
We discussed the dinner menu and then all piled into the van heading to WalMart.
I took them to the cookware section where they learned about different types of knives, appliances, pots and pans, and of course kitchen gadgets. At one point a shopper joined in thinking it was a store demonstration.
Then we went to the grocery side of the store where we talked about different kinds of foods and easy ways to prepare them. In the produce department, the ladies got to ask about various fruits and vegetables that they had never tried. We left there with a few “extras” in our shopping cart. So the bok choy, pineapple, mango, plantain, and artichoke were not on the menu, but they did end up on our plates.
Once we got back to the kitchen, the ladies donned their “Our Place Café” aprons and we began to prepare dinner. They learned how to sharpen their kitchen knives and how to hold it correctly. There was no blood – thank you God!
Our dinner menu:
Pumpkin Soup
Baby green Salad with fresh Vinaigrette
Roasted Chicken
Steamed Broccoli
Caribbean Carrots
Garlic Braised Bok Choy
Everyone got a turn at chopping, mixing, stirring and tasting. They even pressed the table linens and set a festive table for the evening. Everything was delicious!
Afterwards they were served desert: Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce and Hot Vanilla (Kind of hot chocolate in reverse!)
They ladies spent the rest of the night on the porch enjoying the cool fall air until the fireworks started. Our annual fall festival was the same weekend and it always ends with a fireworks display. As soon as we heard the booms we raced upstairs and out the window to sit on our roof and watch the show! The stars were bright and the colors beautiful.
I gave out early, but the others took advantage of the time away from their families and stayed up late talking and having “girl time.”
In the morning we made brunch:
Hash Brown Casserole
Anytime Scones
Steamed Artichoke
Fresh Pineapple and Mango
Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
Many had seconds, but as my youngest says “We do not judge.” It does my heart good to see people eat! More time on the front porch, pictures taken and time for goodbyes was the rest of the morning.
When they left one of my children said “I forget how much I enjoy having people here until we have them.” I must agree. The food was delicious, the company was delightful and a good time was had by all.
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