Book, Books, and More Books... 2014 Book Clubs

Can you believe it has been three years already since we started book club?! I think none of us can or that we have made it work for so long. Even with Katie moving to Washington she has still made it to the last three meetings! We know that we all enjoy reading new books but we think, more than anything, it is a way for us to spend an evening with really good friends. January started out with one of everyone’s favorite books.

January: Where’d You Go Bernadette hosted by Jamie

February : The Husband’s Secret hosted by Skylar

March: Before I Go to Sleep hosted by Cindy

April: Room hosted by Abbie

May: Eleanor and Park Katie’s pick hosted at Skylar’s house because Katie was in the middle of a move.

June/July: Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons hosted by Skylar

August/September:  Wild hosted by Jamie at Syrup Creek

October: Hollow City hosted by Cindy

November: What Alice Forgot hosted by Abbie

December: The Girls of Corona del Mar hosted by Katie

What Alice Forgot Book Club

 Abbie chose What Alice Forgot  by Liane Moriarty for her last book club selection of 2014.  Skylar helped her with this one because her last few selections..or all.. were not well received. You may recall that we read Moriarty’s other novel Husband’s Secret earlier in the year.  These books are fun to read and actually lead to very interesting discussions.

Everyone had busy holiday schedules so Abbie decided to do a brunch meeting instead of the typical evening gathering.

The Menu

Omelets

Oven Baked Hash Browns

Fresh Pastries

 Omelets are great because all the chopping can be done the night before and people can chose what they want in theirs.  Which is perfect for the picky guest! None of us are, though, people wanted a bit of everything.

No baking required! These beautiful pastries were baked fresh at La Flor Bakery, a real hidden gem!

No brunch would be complete without a mimosa! For a little twist use fresh squeezed clementine juice. We love Lamarca Prosecco.  It has a nice clean taste that is great on its own or in a cocktail. Plus, it is inexpensive and easy to find.

Ginger Pigs from La Flor Bakery

Skylar’s dress was sewn by our great grandma, Mary Smith!

So host a brunch! Read a pager turner! Stay tuned for our next post where we feature Katie hosting The Girls From Corona del Mar by Rufi Thorpe.

A Traditional Tree Trimming & Tom and Jerry Gathering

Tree trimming parties are one of the most traditional ways to spend a holiday evening. In this family, we love a certain amount of tradition. A gathering around the perfect Christmas tree, holiday music playing in the background, holiday beverages and don't forget the appetizers! Thanks to Uncle Kerry, we had a large assortment of our great grandmother's Christmas decor and tree ornaments. 

For the holiday beverage, we chose something that has been a tradition in our family for as long as we can remember- TOM & JERRY's. The recipe is said to have been invented sometime around the 1820s. While our Grandma Von isn't that old we inherited  the recipe below from her. She got the recipe from a friend in Atlanta Idaho, Berdine Schraft-Goddard.  It can be found in an Atlanta cookbook but those are hard to find!

Tom & Jerry Batter

1 Dozen Eggs Separated

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 Can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Beat the egg whites with the granulated sugar until peaks form.

Beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar.

Add the sweetened condensed milk to the yolk mixture.

Fold egg whites into the yolk mixture.

To make the cocktail add 2 ounces of your favorite dark rum or White Christmas, a big spoonful of the batter and top with hot water and a sprinkle of cinnamon. White Christmas is a combination of rum and brandy.

The right cups really make this cocktail! Lucky for us my mom had our grandma's set that she let us use for the night. You can sometimes find the traditional Tom & Jerry cups at an antique store.

If you want a little more history on the Tom & Jerry click here for a nice article. 

For appetizers we had a nice cheese plate, Abbie's homemade spinach and artichoke dip, and Asian meatballs. These were super easy to make and a big hit. Here is the recipe. 

We hope everyone has a very very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Give Thanks

We took over Thanksgiving hosting duties from our grandmother almost ten years ago and have always wanted to have an outdoor gathering.  This was the year.  Sixty degrees in November!? We worry a lot about Global Climate Change but in this case it worked in our favor.

Through trial and error we have fine-tuned our menu.  No one will forget the year Abbie used self-rising flour (by accident) in the gravy.  The result was a big mass that could have been used as mortar to build a brick wall! Or the sweet potato balls rolled in coconut that were almost like dessert. A dessert you would not want seconds of! Now Skylar makes candied yams using fresh yams and organic vanilla bean marshmallows.

The Menu

• v Salad of Mixed Greens with a Red Wine Vinaigrette
• v Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
• v Sage Dressing with Apples and Sausage
• v Citrus Cranberry Sauce
• v Rolls

And turkey of course! Josh prepared the turkey this year using a recipe from The Idaho Preferred Cookbook, Live Eat Local.  This one is similar  or buy the cookbook!  It has great recipes using ingredients produced in Idaho.

The Cocktail: A Pumpkin Old-Fashioned

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. pumpkin puree
1 ½ oz. bourbon such as Bulleit
1 oz. maple syrup
½ oz. Orange Liqueur such as Patrón Citronge

Dash of orange bitters
To Make

Combine pumpkin puree, bourbon, syrup, orange liqueur and bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled old fashioned glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with orange twist.

Please refer to our Pumpkin, Pumpkin, and more Pumpkin post on how to make fresh pumpkin puree.  That ingredient alone really makes this cocktail.

So, in summary we love the holidays and most things that come with them.  We have come up with a few tips for hosting a family gathering.  We always make a list of everything we are going to need by going through each recipe.  You will need twice as many bottles of Champagne as you think you do.  Do as much chopping and ingredient preparation ahead of time as you can. Make sure your old gram (or comparable relative) is not mixing her own cocktails or she will not make it until dinner! And last, but not least, make a detailed time line of all the things that need to be done and at what time or your mashed potatoes will be cold while your dressing is still waiting for its turn in the oven.  Thanks for reading!!