AFRICAN NOEL

            December is the time of year when we're reminded of the greatest Gift of all times:

Christ the Prince of Peace.  For the past two years, in lieu of gift-exchange our group collectively makes a Christmas monetary donation to World Vision.

This time around, I invited my dear friend Anna Sosa to be our special guest as she has traveled extensively to Africa for World Vision . 

She gave us valuable insight to the dire needs of clean water in that part of the world.

The money we collected would be given to a water & sanitation project in Ethiopia.

In honor of Africa, we went out of our comfort zone and tried African recipes we found on-line (what would life be without Google?)...and had a tremendous time preparing & enjoying the meal! I have to say the ladies really knocked it out of the park in terms of their culinary stab at African cuisine.

Here's the menu:

Appetizer: Chakalaka from South Africa.

Salad: African Fruit Salad.

Entree: South African Curry Meatloaf over Brown Rice.

Side dish: West African Cabbage Salad.

Dessert: South African Pudding.

Beverage: South African Shiraz and Chardonay; coffee.

As we closed our small group's calendar year we thanked God for the gift of friendship, answered prayers and yes, clean water. Merry Christmas to all!

Festive Tablescape.

Chakalaka ready to be served.

Chakalaka served with bread sticks.
 

African Fruit Salad: beautiful and tasty!

South African Curry Meatloaf over Brown Rice, served with West African Cabbage Salad.

 

Wine pairing: South African Shiraz & Chardonay.

South African Pudding.

Miniature utensil Christmas ornament - a perfect gift for foodies like us.

FALL HARVEST

            Our November theme of Fall Harvest brings to mind bounties of fresh produce such as pumpkins, heirloom tomatos, sweet potatoes, etc. The center piece of our meal is an all-day Venison Stew cooked on low for 8 hours in a slow cooker and served with Heirloom Tomato Parmesan Bread and paired with 2008 vintage Masciarelli wine. I cooked the stew meat with onions, garlic, celeries, carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabaga and colorful sweet mini peppers in a red wine sauce (recipe below). This is a very hearty meal with delicious bold flavor yet very easy to make.  To complete the meal: Pumpkin Cookies ( they're so good I swear I had about 6 of them!). Over our harvest table we thanked the good Lord for his bountiful blessings and more answered prayers...we have much to be thankful for.

The table is set and ready....

A simple center piece and place setting.

Heirloom Tomato Parmesan Bread.

Venison Stew: cook in a crock-pot on low for 8 hours the following ingredients:
2 lbs of venison with diced celeries, carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, sweet mini peppers,
2 medium onions, 6 cloves of garlic (or more if you like garlic), thyme, bay leaves,
2 cups of red wine, 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 small can of tomato paste, 1 cup of beef broth,
1 tbs of orange juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Pumpkin Cookies.

 

 

 





IT'S GREEK TO ME

            It's October, which means we took a loooong summer break (like 6 months) to give everybody the needed time to spend with families, go on vacations, catch up on books, etc. 

Now we're back for our monthly luncheon, and we're going with "anything Greek". 
On the menu were the usual suspects a.k.a. Hummus, Olives and Feta Cheese, Greek Salad, Gyro Sandwiches and Baklava. We washed these down with a cocktail called Greek Tiger made with Ouzo (Greek liquor with a strong licorace taste).  It was great fun sharing what we all did this summer and catching up with what's new in everybody's life while going back through our prayer list and toasting God for 6 answered prayers.  As we all like to say, this is one happening group! OPA!

 

Getting ready to sit around the table.
On the plate: gyro sandwich, greek salad and basmati rice.

Greek Tiger: mix 1 part of Ouzo with 4 parts of orange juice and some lime juice in a shaker,
pour over ice in a low ball glass and garnish with fresh mint

Gyro meat just out of the oven...

Greek-style munchies of olives, feta cheese and 2 kinds of hummus.

Baklava

A FRENCH PICNIC

            Today's theme was "A French Picnic".  Why French?  Because I wanted to serve Croque Monsieur (french style grilled ham & cheese sandwich).  I changed the recipe a little bit - instead of white bread I used 7 grain wheat bread, and to save money I mixed Gruyere with some Swiss Cheese.

I dusted up my vintage picnic basket and filled it with colorful frosted picnic plates & utensils, my 1950's vintage tablecloth and some daffodils in a pickle jar. 
We set up the picnic by the  pool - a perfect location on a sunny spring day.

So what "french" thing were on the serving beside Croque Monsieur?
A bottle of French wine (of course), Pear and Apple Spinach Salad topped with walnuts and drizzled with champagne vinaigrette, and Strawberry Shortcake.

Over dessert we went through prayer requests from last month and checked off 4 answered prayers...YAY!  We closed out the afternoon sharing prayer requests that we'd follow up in a month, expectantly looking forward to how God would answer them.

This would be the last luncheon for one of the girls who's getting ready to move back to her home state in a month.  We'd really miss her!

My vintage picnic basket getting filled with colorful dinnerware and hot sandwiches.

Fresh-cut daffodils in a picke jar.

Croque Monsieur.