2015 has come and gone. For some in the group it was a challenging year, for others it was great! Me? It was full
of ups and downs. My second child (Halle) went off to college and Jim and I are facing what many go thru - The Empty House
Syndrome. Well almost empty, Drew is commuting to college, so he is in and out. We have weathered thru it and come out (so
far) quite happy.
Italian Countryside was our theme on January 30th. I was hesitant about picking
out this menu. What really is the food of the rural areas of Italy? I mean we are a "Gourmet Club" aren't our menu's
suppose to challenge us and push us to try new things? Well, this group does love to put my creative menu ideas to the test.
So I set out to get the job done.
My first thought was to read up on Italy. Jim and I had gone to
Italy for our honeymoon, but that was 25 years ago already!! So much has changed since then. I Googled many different
things like 'Peasant cuisine of Italy' or ' Everyday foods of Italy' but didn't have much luck. Then I stumbled upon a website
written by a chef who traveled all of Italy and wrote about each region in Italy and what they were known for. ** BINGO**
I knew it was just what I was looking for. Using this and a few other smaller sites I put together the menu.
Putting
together a menu for one house of 6 couples is much less of a challenge than creating a menu for all 12 couples at one house.
I checked to see who made what the last time, and assigned the recipes to each couple.
Chrissy and John were kind
enough to host 1/2 of the group and I got to host the other half. My group did FANTASTIC with their recipes.
The
first course: The Clam appetizer was to die for and the Risotto balls were out of this world. I may be making those for Super
Bowl... how funny is that!
The main meal: Can I just say, I've eaten a lot of chicken in my lifetime,
but I've never had chicken like this recipe. The addition of the sweet red peppers were really yummy.
The cauliflower
salad was a crunchy and sweet and so different. (if your used to broccoli salad in the summer this is a nice new twist)
Cathy
brought the Cannellini beans with Swiss chard. I think my husband will be making these instead of baked beans from now on!
Chris's stuffed veggies were savory and delish!
But by far my favorite was Ron's homemade pasta with
his family's homemade sauce! BELISIMO! A nice deep red pork and beef sauce over homemade linguini, who could ask for more?
At
this point we have eaten like kings, enjoyed some nice red wine and are all ready for dessert. So we pack up and head over
to Chrissy and John's house. We walk in and the house is just alive with voices and the smell of a warm and cozy Italian home!
It was awesome. After many hugs and so much excited talk about the dinner at their house, we start to cut the Cannoli cake
and pass out the tarts.... Yummy!!
After much work by everyone, the whole meal was a success. Maybe
in the top 10 best of all time. Thanks to the whole group for making this so much fun.
