Dessert

Tonight, for dinner, I'm having ice cream.

Chocolate or Anise? 

Ah,  I'll do both!

Soup and broccoli recipes?

Hey folks,

My dishes were from Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa)Cookbooks, one from her party book and the other from her Basic Ingredients book.

The broccoli was roasted with olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper, then tossed with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, a bit more oil, roasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese on top.

The soup was 3 yellow onions cooked in a stock pot with oil and butter for a bout 15 min. Then ADD 2 butternut squashes, cut up, 4 macintosh or any sweet apples, cut up and 2 cups of water and 2 tspns. mild curry, salt and pepper. Cook on low until the apples and squash are soft. (about 20 minutes) Mill or food process until you like the texture, (not very long) add apple cider (2 cups) warm up and serve. You can add water if too thick.

Well...that's it. Enjoy.

From the boonies of Creeksidel

It's an amazing event to have eight people who like one another's food, humor, spouse, music, pets, politics and grandchildren!

This first night was a great start for us all: the food was fantastic. Bob told us the main dish was going to be Rock Cornish game hens and we all brought things that did very well as sides and yes the dessert was awesome, delish, killer. But that's our Rita and thats the magic she weaves. I finally have a kitchen and my tools within easy reach, so cooking is fun again since leaving Calif. That was three years ago and then I moved into a trailer, an old beat up trailer with a crumby kitchen. But Tim was worth it and now we have this pretty house in the woods, great friends and opportunities to bring new recipes and events like this one into our lives.

I also want to credit Elizabeth Gilbert with our name, from her book, Committed. Jan loved the line about being flipped by the cosmic spatula and we all peed in our pants we liked it so much. Most of us were around for the 60's, so it seems perfect for us...the title, not the wetting of out trousers, although we may bring that up during our next dinner.

Which brings to mind:

Maybe because we all know each other well enough to feel comfortable, there wasn't a subject that seemed out of the bounds of taste or humor. What a ball to be with people like that! I had the most wonderful time. Thanks everyone. Jan was funnier than ever, Fred had political insights that got me thinking, everyone was passionate and ready to enjoy themselves. And the food.... A fabulous time was had by us. We look forward to more of these.

Bon Appetit!!!

Cosmic Spatula

Well- Aren't you all up and busy. Personally I have been DOING LAUNDRY after the wine tsunami. Yes- Somebody do the menu. And we should vow never to tell who licks plates. Thanks one and all for a great time. I'm sure many fun meals and disasters will follow. Fred should be forced to try every item. The pea dip only had two cloves of garlic!! But was KOSHER salt really used? We'll never know. We have set the bar pretty high in all regards. I have already blanked on when the next one is. The 20th of Feb??? Will Edith Piaf be playing in the background? Stay tuned for more.

For future reference

It would be nice in the future to look back and see what we had for dinner at each get-together so I'm proposing we just list the menus here. (I have a tendency to repeat making the same dish so it will help me avoid that, hopefully.)

Dinner at Bob and Vera's

January 23, 2010

Pea, Sun-dried Tomato and Garlic Dip

Curried Squash and Apple Soup

Pumpkin Sage Soup

Cornish Game Hens with Wild Rice Stuffing

Fresh Garden Salad

Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese

Biscuits

Puff Pastry Almond-filled Tart

with Anise Ice Cream and Dark

Chocolate Ice Cream

Correct spelling in blog URL

Duh!


Many of my friends know that I have always admitted my geatness weakness is my spelling. That handicap along with a good dose of dyslexia, and too much drink is probably why when I created our Cosmic Spatula Blog that I misspelled cosmic to 'comsic' in the blog URL  So, I will move all the entries from the bad spelled blog to this one, a correct spelling.  Then I will send out new invitations to the correct one.


I'm so sorry if I confused you. How confused do you think I was when Rita asked: "Why can't I get to the blog>"

So much for editing.

Early AM The Morning After (by Bob and Vera - reposted)

Good Morning Campers,

My mild headache and enrollment in a 12 step hiccup recovery program tells me that the first meeting of Cosmic Spatula, The Supper Club was a roaring success. Don't look at the insane hour that this e-mail was written as this is a normal occurrence for me to be awake and coffeeing at this hour (I spent the last 1/2 an hour trying to figure out how to make a group in Google. I know I had done it before but I'm a little fuzzy on the details and memory).
As promised here is the link to the first event of the evening Sun-dried Tomato and Peas on Endive Spears Recipe : Giada De Laurentiis : Food Network
And likewise, this is where I found the recipe for the Game Hens and Wild Rice.  Please understand that the use of these recipe links is in no way to be construed as an endorsement of the website or the owners thereof. I didn't knowingly go searching for an Oprah site to impress my friends. Anyone who says that I said anything fawning or worshipful about Giada Di Laurentis on the Food Porn,,, er uh, excuse me, Food Network, they will obviously be dismissed as someone that had entirely too much to drink.

Some flashes of events to make this inaugural dinner memorable still float in my brain as the coffee kicks in.
I notice that even the second floor smells like Cornish Game Hen smoke. The ladder is still in place under the smoke alarm where Vera went to the rescue. The dishes are done (now that I don't remember, but I do see the results, thank you). For some reason I have this nagging thought that I will never ever ask Vera to get Endive at the store again, or give her a list where some things are highlighted and some things are not. I wonder where that comes from?
I have many images of smiling and laughing people, And one where a very contented (tipsy I think is the definition, which is a cute way of saying a little drunk) host/cook leaning too heavily on his end of the table (tipsy is appropriate here too) and depositing a full glass of wine in Jan's lap while spilling nearly everything else on the table.
Which gave Jan the perfect opportunity, making the best of a bad situation, to comment on the quality of the dinner
Rowan cruising the kitchen and dining room looking for dropped food (we really should feed that boy)Competing soups, Ian gets points for presentation, Barbara for taste, (I had both and they were delicious). I looked wistfully in the fridge for Barbara's leftover soup and alas, it was gone, (and you made so much. Do you need us to visit today? say around lunchtime?)Well folks, More recollections are welcome, and the Blog could be a great way of adding to the merriment. If we don't get the blog together, I am still in the market for all the recipes that arrived last night. I am already looking forward to our next gathering at Tim and Barb's. Beef Bourgignon and France are on the menu, and I don't know how you guys coordinated the sides but I'm on the job and ready to fill in where needed. Can we do this every 3 weeks instead of once a month?
See y'all soon.
Bob and Vera

Great Evening (by Rita - reposted)

What a wonderful meal! I would have been happy to just sit with the two bowls of soup and let that be enough. They were both delightful and SO comforting. And I actually liked the smoking oven...clearly something great was coming soon. The hens were not only delicious, they were a lovely burnished golden color. Everything was so beautifully prepared and complimented each other...no off notes.
The thing that excites me about this Cosmic Spatula Supper Club is that now I have something to look forward to every month. Food, wine , good friends, laughter!

First Dinner Party (reposted)

What Fun!  "I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time".

The comment Jan made after spilling wine on her crotch , Tim and Barbara's  imitating the French and Julia Childs, Bob trying to keep Rowan from doing a header on the table. Discussion of fights in marriage, politics, world problems, funny TV shows, and the male one track mind: "touch it".

Four couples decided to get together and have a joint contribution dinner. Bob's son, Ian, and grandson, Rowan were also there. Vera and Bob hosted the first dinner. Barbara and Tim, Jan and Ron, Rita and Fred arrived bringing food and drink.

Bob made Rock Cornish hens stuffed with wild rice and a peas/tomato/garlic dip, Jan brought salad and biscuits, Barbara came with broccoli, squash and apple soup, Ian did pumpkin sage soup and Rita did the dessert.

I'll start withe the dessert! Puff  pastry filled with almond cream and two homemade ice creams: anise and dark chocolate. Since Rita made it at home, I had already had a preview of how it tasted.  Watching her serve everyone else first,  I felt like my dog waiting be fed hours after her normal feeding time. I felt like my tail was wagging, my butt jiggling, my tongue was hanging out of my mouth, and  I was drooling.  It was wonderful! We won't tell who licked their plates.

The Rock Cornish hens were cooked perfectly which was a surprise considering the amount of smoke that billowed out of the oven, filling the kitchen, dinner room and setting off the upstairs smoke detector.  Each mouthful of Barbara's soup gave a collage of tastes: apple, curry, and squash.  I didn't try Ian's soup, but wish I had taken a picture of it.  I didn't try the dip for it reeked of garlic as did my wife when I kissed her goodnight.  I like garlic in moderation, but not as a primary dish seasoned with peas and tomato.  (Sorry, Bob, but this proves you can't please everyone, all the time, but if you fool me again... or fool me twice. I'm a fool... or something like what George Bush said.).  The salad and broccoli tasted good and healthy. Loved the  hint of cheese in the broccoli and the nuts in the salad.

I left feeling like my diet was blown for that day!

If this is any indication of what is to come,  I can't wait until the next time.

This blog was created with the intention of each member of the Supper Club to be able to contribute to it,  and share recipes and memories.  It is open to the world of Internet surfers.

We will continue, assuming no fowl weather prevails.