December Cooking Club

Hello Ladies!

Seeing as how JoDee moved, there was a little lapse in posts for the last couple months. I (Janet Schlosser) take full credit/blame for that and will be doing much better moving forward. Please understand if I get Halloween's recipes posted in January, as Christmas is very much on my mind at the moment. Speaking of Christmas...December's cooking club will be joining forces with book club and is set to be held at Sarah Terry's home on the 14th at 7:00. I understand that book club usually begins at 7:30, but we want to have time to explain each other's recipes and enjoy the treats. It is my understanding that this month's book club was having a potluck, so just remember to bring a copy of your recipe so that I can post it. To those of you in the cooking club that haven't read the book...come anyway! Looking forward to it!

Ideas for Lemonades

For July we enjoyed several chilled recipes for beating the summer heat. Enjoy the recipes featured below.
Some simple yet intriguing variations on this summer favorite.

Basic Lemonade:
3 cups cold water
1 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar

Stir together and add flavors suggested below. Chill, serve over ice with garnishes.

1. Ginger
Fresh ginger root
Ripe pear slices
Sugar cane stalk for stirring

2. Watermelon
Watermelon puree
Watermelon slice to garnish

3. Lavender
Dried lavender
Fresh lavender leaves for garnish

4. Peach
Peach nectar
Peach slices to garnish

5. Blackberry
Fresh Blackberries
Fresh Sage leaves

6. Kiwi-Melon
Sliced kiwifruit
Honeydew puree
Honeydew slice to garnish

7. Raspberry
Raspberry juice
Fresh raspberries

8. Key Lime
Limeade
Key lime slices
Mint Leaves

9. Lemon Drop
Crushed lemon drops
Sugar
Lemon slice to garnish
(Before filling glass with lemonade, wet the rim and dip in the crushed lemon drops & sugar)

10. Papaya
Guava juice
Fresh Papaya slice for garnish

Summer Pink Lemonade Cream Pie

Submitted by Heather Sheehan
(Sorry for the photo; this pie was actually a very pretty pink)

1 graham cracker crust
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1 regular sized cool whip
1 pkg Pink Lemonade unsweetened Kool-aid (for less tartness, only add 1/2 pkg)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 drops red food coloring

Whip together everything but the crust. Pour into the pie shell & chill.

Fresh Summer Salsa

Submitted by JoDee Leahy

6 large cans of diced tomatoes (I've used flavored diced tomatoes before like Italian Diced tomatoes, etc. For a spicier salsa, use Rotel)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups medium Salsa
1/2 cup catsup
1 small can diced green chilies (For more fire used diced jalepenos)

Mix everything in a very large bowl. Chill in the fridge and enjoy with chips, or on any mexican dish. It makes a LOT, but this is a sweeter, chunky salsa, that you eat by the whole chipful. It goes fast.

Caprese Salad

Submitted by Janet Schlosser

Tomatoes, sliced
Fresh Mozzerella, sliced
Basil Leaves, chopped
Balsamic Vinegar

Arranges tomatoes, mozzerella, and basil on the plate; drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Submitted by Sarah Terry

Recipe Pending

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Submitted by Janet Schlosser

Recipe Pending