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

Chilled Lemon Gingerale

Submitted by JoDee Leahy

2 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 medium lemons, sliced
1/2 cup lemon sherbet, softened
1 liter ginger ale, chilled

For mint ice cubes, combine the water, mint and lemon juice; pour into two ice cube trays. Freeze until set. In a pitcher, combine the lemons and sherbet; slowly stir in ginger ale. Add the mint ice cubes Yield: about 5 cups.

Homemade Cake Batter Ice Cream

Submitted by Heather Sheehan

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tsp vanilla
1 box cake mix (flavor of your choice)

In a large heavy pot, heat milk and sugar over medium heat just until sugar is disolved, stirring constantly. Add cake mix. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Combine well. Chill first or put directly into the ice cream maker. Follow manufacture directions for icing the cream & enjoy!

June BBQ

Our June cooking club was hosted by these wonderful people!!!

The Theme was BBQ foods and sides.

Spouses and children were all invited this month to join in the festivities.

The food was tastey and fun was had by all! Thank you Schlossers!

Enjoy the recipes!

Caramel Strawberry Banana Pudding

Submitted by the Schlossers

2 Pkgs instant vanilla pudding
1 tub of cool whip
2 cups milk
5 bananas
8 strawberries
1 box of vanilla wafers
Caramel sauce

Mix pudding with cool whip and milk. Layer with cookies, sliced bananas, strawberries, and caramel sauce. Serve cold.

Onion Soup Hamburgers

Submitted by the Schlossers

blend 1 pkg dried onion soup mix with ground beef, form into patties, and grill.

Onion Dip

Submitted by Freda Hutzel and Laurie Schlosser

1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp sugar

blend well and serve cold.

Corn on the Cob Seasoning

Submitted by the Schlossers

1 bunch finely chopped Italian parsley
1 cup of shredded parmesan
1 Tbsp of garlic salt

They grilled up a bunch of ears and with butter and this seasoning, we were in heaven!

Grilled Pineapple (Two Kinds!)

Really easy, really tasty! And we had two versions to feast on.


Submitted by the Sheehans

Fresh Pineapple
Nuttella

Cut up Pineapple and grill to perfection. Smother in nuttella to eat. Yummy!!!



Submitted by the Leahys

Fresh Pineapple
Brown Sugar

Cut up Pineapple into grilling sized pieces. Sprinkle several handfuls of brown sugar on top and toss in a bowl to coat. Grill until done and fantastically tasty!

Macaroni Salad

Submitted by ??? (Terrys, was this yours?)

Potato Salad

Submitted by ??? (If anyone remembers who brought the Potato Salad, please let me know.)

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

Submitted by Janet Schlosser
(recipe courtesy of Selia Crawford)

8 jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup shredded Colby-Monterrey jack cheese
8 oz cream cheese
8 slices bacon, cut
black pepper
toothpicks

*Be sure to wear gloves when working with the peppers

Cut off stems and cut in half lengthwise, seed, rinse, dry, and set aside.
Mix cheeses until well blended.
Stuff the pepper halves with cheese mixture and wrap with bacon. Secure with toothpick and sprinkle with black pepper. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 375. Be sure the bacon is nice and crispy before serving.

This month for cooking club, we had Easter Brunch at Janet's home. She was a marvelous host and we all enjoyed good food and great company. Several recipes are still missing, but we'll hopefully get them posted for you as soon as possible.

Hope to see you all next month!!

Dill & Cream Bread/Veggie Dip

Submitted by Heather Sheehan

Recipe Pending