Book Club: Three Wishes

Cindy’s pick was Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty.  We love to read Liane’s books.  They lend themselves to animated conversation. 

This one was no exception with tales of family dynamics, cheating and many types of romantic relationships past and present.

The Lovely Host

A Round of Salty Dogs

Salty Dogs by the Pitcher

·      5 Cups Good Vodka

·      2.5 Liters Grapefruit Juice (Not from Concentrate)

or

·      10 Cups Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice

Stir and serve in salt rimmed glasses over ice!

A Tour of the Garden

The Menu

Humus with Pita and Apple

Basque Salad

Asparagus Fries with Aoli

Baked Herbed Salmon

This is a menu we have featured before but is a huge favorite. The above link will take you to our post featuring the Basque dressing recipe.  For our salmon we always choose wild caught Alaskan salmon, and our favorite time of year is Coho season!

Cindy’s Amazing Floral Creations!

Fondue Dessert 

Chocolate Fondue

In a small sauce pan, over low heat, warm ¾ cup heavy cream (no substitutions here) and 16 ounces of chocolate chips.  We like dark chocolate but any flavor would work. Stir continuously until the chocolate melts. Transfer into a fondue serving bowl that you have warmed.  Ours stays warm with a tea light candle.

Serve with sliced strawberries, chilled cheese cake pieces, pound cake and sliced bananas.

Our next installment will feature tips we find helpful when we are planning our get togethers!

Ladies' Valentine's Day Party

Before we get too much farther behind we didn't want to forget to share a few photos and a few recipes from our Ladies' Valentine's Day Party!

Valentine's Day is one of our favorite holidays. Not because of the bad candy, the ridiculous stuffed animals, and all the other overdone items you find stocking the shelves but just because we really love the holiday. We especially like to celebrate it with some of our favorite ladies.

Gold Sugar Rimmed Champagne Glasses

What is the holiday without some delicious drinks? We started the night with a strawberry basil martini. We followed that up with some Brut Rose champagne in flutes rimmed with gold sugar.

Strawberry Basil Martini

The martinis take a little advance prep but they are worth every last drop.

Strawberry-Basil Martini

• First make the strawberry-basil sauce.
• 1 lb. strawberries, washed, hulled & sliced
• ¼ cup sugar 
• ¼ cup water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 6-10 basil leaves 
• Combine all the ingredients in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil; turn down to a simmer and add basil leaves. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool and then blend in your food processor.

For the cocktail- 

2 oz good vodka or gin

2 oz strawberry basil syrup

1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice. 

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake and then serve straight-up in a martini glass. Garnish with a basil leaf. 

The night started with small bites including a cheese and fruit plate and homemade crab dip. Dinner was homemade fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, salad, and baguette. The night ended with fresh fruit, baked banana wontons, and pound cake dipped in milk chocolate fondue. 





It is always fun hanging out with your best girls. 

Katie has been begging for the pasta recipe so here it is! Now, it is definitely not a diet dish, but it is worth a splurge once and a while! Please do not try to substitute ingredients either. That will just lead to disappointment.

Homemade Alfredo

1 stick butter

2 cups heavy cream

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp white pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta

1 pound baby salad shrimp from the seafood counter, thawed and drained

Melt butter over medium heat. Add cream, pepper, garlic, and simmer 12 minutes stirring constantly. When mixture reaches desired consistency stir in cheese. Keep stirring! 

Cook pasta according to directions. You can also use dried pasta but we prefer fresh pasta. 

Toss pasta with sauce and gently stir in shrimp. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until warm. Serve immediately.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog: November Book Club

Abbie hosted November’s book club. Her book selection, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, can be difficult to get through. She may have known it was going to be a tough one before we even started because she offered a prize to anyone that finished. Of course the best part of book club a lot of time is not the book but the food and drink.

Abbie made delicious Pomegranate Martinis and while not everyone finished the book everyone finished off their martini. 

Dinner was a salad with homemade French dressing and a cassoulet. No dinner is complete without dessert! The dessert was tarte aux pommes (which is just an apple tart in French) served with French press coffee.

If you manage to make it through the book the ending of the novel really is beautiful and worth the struggle.

Abbie also provided Thankful journals at the beginning of November so everyone could write down a few things they were thankful for. It is always important to remember all the things we have to be thankful for.

FCM Book Club: The Help

The FCM book club was hosted by Cindy Jett in March.  The book we discussed was The Help.  Book club, for this group at least, is a reason to get together, eat good food, have cocktails and, if we can fit it in, talk about the book.  The meeting in March was a first for the FCM book club in the fact that everyone who attended, excluding our youngest member, had read the book in it's entirety!

Fried Chicken

The Menu

Cindy wanted to serve traditional Southern comfort food.  The menu consisted of homemade fried chicken, brussle sprouts with bacon, corn puddin', and corn pone.  The cocktail Skylar served was a Sazerac, a must have at any Southern themed get together!

Brussle Sprouts

Dinner was, of course, followed by a chocolate pie.

The Table

Cindy set the table using fresh flowers from her garden.

So far the FCM book club has been hosted by Katie Ashby, Skylar Jett, and Cindy Jett.  All of the meetings were  very wonderful. Up next is Amanda Balderrama and The Glass Castle.

No Surprise Ingredients Here!



A Fall Dinner Party in the Mountains

In the Kitchen



We found ourselves in Atlanta, Idaho this fall.  There was a chill in the air, the colors of autumn were all around, and we received an invitation to an impromptu dinner party at the Quartz Street Cookhouse.  The invite came from our good friends Frank Brooks and Jack Penix who were just off the dusty trail.



Potatoes on the Wood Fire Stove



On the menu: pork chops straight from the grill, freshly sautéed cinnamon apples, boiled potatoes, copious bottles of wine, good friends, and fresh out of the oven cookies!

 

The Chefs






Dishes

 

The Guests

A good meal, lively conversation, and a warm fire.  A very nice way to spend a fall evening!