Our October hostesses with the mostess are Melissa Squirlock and her feline helpers, Ash and Autumn. What Melissa wants to know is: What do you eat when it's comfort you crave? Come on, bring the mac-n-cheese, the mashed taters, ice cream if that's your poison...I'm thinking sausage balls (vegetarian version, of course). Looking forward to reveling in some comfort food with the striders!
Another successful Supper Club had by all! The Italiano version, hosted by our very own lovely Leslee Fisher, commenced with a reverent reading, where George Orwell reduced us (humans, that is) to "bags for putting food into," and lamented the fact that while statues abound to politicians, poets, and bishops, none exist to cooks...or gardeners. Perhaps we'll have to change that. Everyone then introduced their dishes (but not themselves!), and then we manged! Thank you, Leslee, for opening your heart and home to us, and thanks to all the fabulous striders for the amazing food! Speaking of which, there was artichoke-stuffed manicotti, pasta with real Italian pestao, a dip Helen brought that I wanted to put my face in (where did you get that stuff? And what was it?), Wim's zuppa (wowza!), Wendy's gnocchi (oh my!), and lotsa pasta salads!! Not to mention, chianti! All topped off by Debbie doing David, talk of hypnotists and a possible future "serious" book club, and awesome views from the veranda. (What's the difference between a veranda and a balcony anyway? or is it a porch?)...one thing--food got cold, so if you have suggestions on how to avoid that, please post...we could always start revering and eating at a certain time, say 5:15, rather than waiting till 5:30 or 5:45 like we did last time...and maybe this just means we need to invent our own line of Suppaware...to keep hot food hot for as long as we want!
Thanks again, ladies! I'm glad we're doing this! For Wim's zuppa, and Melissa's artichoke goodness, see recipes below!
Wim's Zuppa!
The only changes I made were to use some whole milk because I ran out of 2% milk and I didn't have Drambuie but I used all cognac. And I used chococate angel food cake instead of plain. I actually think plain would have been better.
Enjoy.
Link to recipe:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=520809
Melissa's artichoke-stuffed manicotti:
12 manicotti shells, 2 cans artichokes, 1/2 c. part-skim ricotta & 1/3 c. parm cheese, 1/4 c. chopped scallions, salt/pepper, 2 c. marinara sauce, 1/2 c. part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cook manicotti and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 and spray inside of 2 baking dishes. Combine artichokes, ricotta, parm, scallions, and s/p in a food processor. Fill each manicotti tube w 3 tsp of the mixture. Spread half of the sauce on the bottom of each dish. Add the stuffed manicotti to each dish. Top with the rest of the sauce and cheese.
September supper club is ON! Leslee Fisher will be our hostess-with-the-mostess on Sunday, Sept.30th from 5-7. Theme is ITALIAN, probably inspired by Leslee's recent trip to Italy with hubby...we're looking forward to lots of carbs (well, I am) and good wine...and maybe a pizza bar? Who knows?! We'll just have to wait to see...I'm sure it'll all be good, sexy food...isn't Italian food sexy? (Deb?)
One thing I'd like to suggest is that we practice mindful eating at the next supper club. By that I mean let's hear about each of the dishes before we eat them, taking a moment to consider the wonderful woman who prepared the dish, the ingredients, and then how it tastes and makes us feel as we engage in this celebration of food and friendship together...hope that's OK!
If you haven't read Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love about her travels to Italy (and India, and Bali)...get it! Read it!
Directions and more details about Sept. supper club to come...
Well it was end-of-summer harvest heaven at Mary Pom's in August...what a feast! Thanks to all who brought yummy locally-grown food! Lots of good, colorful salads (Diana's carrot and mint salad was a fave), as was Deb's beet salad...a personal favorite was the cornbread and scones (or was it a cornbread scone?)...and although the imploded apples looked scary, they were a hit (or you were all trying to make me feel better)...so were those gorgeous peaches with, what was that? bleu cheese? oh yummy, Susan H.! We did have 2 recipe-givers: Deb's beet salad and Corinne's red pepper tarkari...looking forward to September supper club, Italiano-style!
Deb's beet salad:
beets, fennell, goat cheese, tarragon, salt, pepper, lemon tarragon dressing (i guess you put it all together in a bowl and stir, deb? :)
Corinne's red pepper tarkari (Corinne, what does tarkari mean? an indian dish? what's it origin?)
3 TB oil
2 red peppers
1 in. piece gingerroot, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. blk. pepper
1 lb. fresh tomatoes
3/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. coriander (ground)
1/2 tsp cumin (ground)
fresh cilantro leaves as garnish
Saute peppers, ginger, salt, and blk. pepper for a few minutes; add tomatoes, coriander, and cumin, and zucchini. Cook for another 5 (or more) minutes, or until peppers are slightly soft. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
The first monthly supper club is meeting THIS Sunday, August 26th from 5-7 PM at the gracious hostess-with-the-mostesss's Mary Pom Claiborne's house! (Oh, and by the way, our very own Mary Pom just won YWCA's 2007 "Woman of the Year" for the Arts!! Congrats, Mary Pom! (Isn't she beautiful?!) Read all about it at https://www.ywcaknox.com/tribute_to_women.shtml and http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/24/event-pays-tribute-to-women/)
Inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's most recent book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, the theme of our first supper club is fresh summer harvest. All of the dishes will include locally-grown/raised meats, fruits, and veggies. It's an opportunity to get out to your local farmer's market, co-op, or CSA...we've got some wonderful farmer's markets in Knoxville, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about them and where they are on Sunday! I'll list the names, locations, and times here once I have that information.
Don't forget to bring your recipes so we can archive them here!
Mary Pom writes:
We're already working up a fancy menu for Fried Green Tomatoes out of the garden. Sorry, we're not milking our own personal cow for the buttermilk batter, but the tomatoes are coming from the back yard! There are two grills available if anyone wants them. I'm looking for the best okra dish out there that doesn't involve deep frying. Should be fun!
You're invited!
What: Striders' Supper Club! Basically a reason for women who love to hike together and love to cook (or at least eat what other people cook) to get together to EAT,celebrate FOOD, and FRIENDSHIP!
When: Supper Club meets the last Sunday of every month, from 5-7 PM
Where: At a different host's house, to be announced monthly.
Each supper club meeting will have a theme, to be announced monthly.
Stay tuned to this blog for photos from each gathering (of the food, of course, and us eating the food), hostess profiles, recipes, theme brainstorms, etc.
We're a group of women who live in Knoxville, TN, and hike together every second Saturday of the month. Check out our blog: http://striders.vox.com/
Man!! You are fast!! read more
on Who are the striders?