Happy Thanksgiving 2010

For several years I have designed a Thanksgiving postcard to share with family and friends. Here is this year's card for you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 2010

Cookbooks, more cookbooks!

About a month ago I "got carrried away" again bidding on items from the Miller Estate. The Miller's had Miller Gallery in Hyde Park. They had been early "mentors" for me to keep painting. It wasn't enough to just bid on one lot of cookbooks, it was fun to continue bidding on a second lot.

Little did I know that the second lot would be in boxes in the basement and would require numerous trips by me alone to get them out of there, up the basement stairs, out the front door, down several more steps and finally put them in "Little '88" (my Acura Integra hatchback). There were other lots that I won - a Eureka upright sweeper, some appliances, silver tea set and silver trays (some sterling and some plated).

It took many more trips from the car into the house to unload the books - cookbooks, garden books, pet books, odds and ends books. Finding places to put all the other items has been a challenge, too. The sweeper is now in the possession of Lynn Swanson (friend and art student) - I pulled out the full bag of dirt, got some new sweeper bags, wiped it down and delivered it to Lynn for $23.00 (my cost).

For many evenings I enjoyed turning pages of all the cookbooks. I'm not sure if there was residual dust/damp floating about from the books, but it probably wasn't the best idea to surround myself with old books. I did experience eye strain and eventually I realized I had a "book bug".

Most of the cookbooks are now stacked on the back desk in the room where I display and store cookbooks and cooking magazines. Some of the cookbooks are going to the other lady who had been bidding on the cookbooks for her granddaughter.

I enjoyed seeing recipes and names of people that were familiar to me. I imagine my mother would have known many more of those people. There were favorite recipes - long forgotten - but worth trying again. I'll be sharing some of them here with you.

Now it's so easy just to "Google" a recipe. And, watching all the wonderful cooking programs on TV keeps me inspired. I'm gradually getting my kitchen(s) in good order again. I'm looking forward to preparing a lot of delicious food for our Native American Dinner on Nov. 14th, 2010 @ 6 p.m. @ Karen's Studio.

Pumpkin Cake Roll

Thanks to Marcia Schuckman for sharing! (But, now 9/25/2014 - I will be not making it - because I'm following Wheat Belly lifestyle - no grains - meaning wheat flour and no sugar - meaning no sugar. So I now will make this by substituting almond flour & use Swerve as the "sugar". Onward!

Pumpkin Cake Roll


1. Prep the following: 1 Grease 15X10 Jelly Roll/cookie sheet & line pan with wax paper covering all sides and grease/flour paper thoroughly.

2. dampen and sprinkle lintfree cotton towel with powder sugar spread flat set aside for baked cake to invert and roll up to cool.

Preheat oven to 375*

1. Sift together dry ingredients: 3/4 C flour 1tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice, 2 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp Nutmeg mix in small bowl and set aside.



2. In large mixing bowl beat together 3 eggs, 1C Regular cane sugar until fluffy

add 2/3C canned Pumpkin until blended.



3.Stir in sifted dry flour /spice ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Pour batter into prepared Jelly Roll sheet distribute evenly. Bake @375* for 15 minutes until cake is golden and springy to touch.

Invert cake onto preped damp/sugared towel and peal off wax paper sheet. Sprinkle cake w more Powered suger and fold towel over covering top of cake and envelope short end of cake to make double over roll and let cool about 1 hour. While cake is cooling mix filling:

4. Mix together cream filling :

1-1/2C Powered Sugar, 6T Butter, 1tsp Vanilla, 8oz Cream Cheese. Mix for 2 min until creamy smooth.

Add : chopped walnuts/pecan nuts optional to filling. Refridgerate until needed.

5. Once cake is cool unroll from towel spread cream filling over top cake end to end evenly. Then roll cake back up with seam to bottom and place on oblong serving dish add more powered sugar covering cake. You may cut ends of cake to create a more precise swirl design roll effect. Can be made a few days ahead and refridgerated until ready to slice and serve.This is easier than it sounds once you do it a couple times and serves 10-12 slices. It has been a favorite family autumn holiday dessert for Years! Enjoy!

Dim Sum at Jan's

Our Cincinnati Brunch Club Meetup group met today at Jan's Chinese on Montgomery Rd. in Montgomery for Dim Sum again (our third time). We've been getting acquainted with this fun dining challenge. We sit around a round table with a lazy-susan in the middle.  Pots of Chrysanthemum and Oolong tea are set on the lazy-susan. We pour ourselves some tea and look at the menu for some Dim Sum possibilities.

We had seven people today. I made name tags on my SLP 440 label maker which seems to helps us to become familiar with names and faces. After we get settled with our plates and chopsticks, we still want ice water and forks.

Soon the cart (s) arrive. They are loaded with small, round metal steam baskets of interesting food. We're beginning to know what we like and we also try new items. The crispy tarot root and the turnip square is wonderful. The chive-filled dumpling isdifferent.The shrimp crisps are good, too.

I tried the chicken feet - not much meat and I wondered if I was supposed to munch them to bits! We spun the lazy-susan again and again after loading it up with new dishes from the carts. The dessert cart arrived, too. There were spongy round cakes filled with red bean "jelly" and another coconut round cake had some peanut butter stuffing. The custard dessert was nice, too. And, so was the lemon tart.

We had plenty to eat and some left over for me to share or have as a treat. Total cost per person with 15% tip was about $12.53 - rounded off = $13.00 - one great bargain! Thank you Jan's!

Dim Sum

Embers

Went to Embers http://www.embersrestaurant.com/ for another GCI fine dining experience. I had two more coupons from GCI, Greater Cincinnati Independents to use. I ordered seaweed salad to start, then we had Spyder Sushi Rolls followed by Lobster Thermidor with "pommes frites" (French for french fries). For dessert, we split a Warm Chocolate Souffle with Raspberry couli and vanilla ice cream! Total - about $30 (with coupon and water for a beverage). Delicious!

Sushi Rolls

Lobster Thermidor

Local 127 Edible Incredible!

I consider myself to be a Foodie.Thanks to the genius of Shauna McKenzie who was the orginator of Food Chain here in our tri-state area of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, thousands of other "food-lovers" follow and support local, family-owned and run restaurants. Food Chain evolved into a group over on http://www.meetup.com/ now called CLEO which is Cincinnati Let's Eat Out. Amy Brenner is the organizer for CLEO. Amy plans many wonderful dining out opportunites throughout the year. She has assistant organizers, too.

My dining Meetup groups are Tea Toads (non-alcoholic), The Cincinnati Brunch Club and Healthy Choices.

I've been part of Meetup for more than three years. It's because Food Chain joined Meetup that I found a terrific place to plan and organize events. I love http://www.meetup.com/ because we can focus on our individual interests and find others who share our interests - anything from book clubs, handicrafts, business, dogs, hiking, politics - on and on - the list is endless and it's worldwide!

Recently I've become interested in all the wonderful coupon offers that are available. I get coupons from Greater Cincinnati Independents - GCI, which is geared to local independent restaurants. And, I really like www.Restaurant.com! Picked up some coupons at 90% off! Got $160.00 worth of coupons for about $16! Wow!

Last night a couple of us went to Local 127. We had some really incredibly interesting and amazingly delicious food. It's truly for FOODIES! We had the Chef's Meat Platter for 2, Local Bison and Panna Cotta. I forgot to take a picture of the Panna Cotta (exquisite dessert served in a cup).

Here are the pictures of our dinner last night, Oct. 7th at Local 127.

Chef's Meat Platter

The Daring

Crostini

Local Bison

Wonderful Salad Dressing!

Thanks to Mike Duffy for this superb salad dressing recipe!

Salad Dressing for Green Salad
Primos Restaurant

2 finely chopped garlic cloves
prepared mustard
1 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup chili sauce
2 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire
1 grated onion
1/2 cup catsup

Put in a quart jar & shake well.

Mike's dressing included: 1 extra clove garlic, 1 1/2 tsp. pepper rather than 1 teaspoon
Dijon mustard and Wesson Oil instead of olive oil.

(*Mike, Hope you are still using this recipe!)

Summer picnic with Barry, Rebecca, Kathy and Mike. Sitting in the background is my mother, Lois. This picture was taken (probably in 1996) on the lower patio. Mama passed away last August. Kathy died, too, a few years after this picture was taken.Barry is married now to his own Kathy and Mike was in California the last time we talked. Rebecca, a Master Gardener, now of Strategic Planting has a beautiful landscaped yard and garden at her family home in Wyoming, Ohio which she created and did all the hard work of installing and continues to add to and maintain. (Those striped lounge chairs are "long gone", too.)

Magic Bullet Gazpacho

The Magic Bullet works well for mixing up a quick batch of Gazpacho soup. Into the bullet cup I put (cut up)3 tomatoes (peeled them), added a couple of cut-up radishes (instead of onion bits) and celery and 1/2 of a green pepper (cut up in bits), then I added some a couple of tablespoons) Vinagrette dressing that I had purchased at Madeira Farmer's Market. Next time I'll add some cucumber bits. I turned on the Magic Bullet and WOW! This is a delicious, quick version of Gazpacho - now chilling in the fridge. Makes at least two generous servings.

*Note: I think the Magic Bullet is an incredible counter-top appliance!

Food Photos

Today's task is to learn how to import several pictures to this Cooking Buddies blog. Here goes!

All-American Summer Picnic
Pink Slaw, Pasta Salad, Veggies
Tomatoes with Mozzarella Cheese, Olives, Cucumbers, Pickles

Salmon by Judy Elliott

Fry Bread

 (Native American)

This bread is so good! Easy to make, check for recipes by using "Google".

Early Beginnings

Note* I found Judy Elliot's typewritten pages in my Cooking Buddies "archive boxes" which gives further details of our early beginnings.

After a tremendously successful debut in September, our new cooking group will meet again on Sunday, November 19, 1995, at 6:45 PM at Karen Kelly's home.

The theme we decided upon for our dinner is Southwestern cuisine. According to my notes, the following people have volunteered for: Sangria: Elfreda, Appetizer: Cathy, Soup:Barry, Entree: David, Vegetarian entree: Jan, Bread: Ginny, Dessert: Lorna

Since we have a list of 17 members, it seems reasonable for each person to plan to bring 8 servings of his or her chosen dish. If you are having a particularly busy week and have neither the time nor energy to cook by all means, feel free to bring some excellent after-dinner mints, a bottle of wine, or even some flowers for our hostess. Just come and enjoy!

Please call me before (9:00 PM) at home: (number deleted), or at work (number deleted), to let me know if you plan to attend and what you are bringing. If you would bring a copy of the recipes for both your September and November creations, I'll put them on my hopelessly antiquated compter and have a set ready for each of you by our next meeting. As usual, we contribute $6.00 apiece to cover the cost of refreshments and the luxury of a clean-up crew in the kitchen.

I hope that each of you shares my enthusiasm for this new endeavor. Our first evening together combined outstanding food and a wonderful mix of company. Please plan to be at Karen's on the 19th - maybe it will be even more fun than the last time! Judy Elliott

David Greenberg

David Greenberg brought energy and enthusiasm to our Cooking Buddies events which 17 of us started in Sept. 1995. David had excellent suggestions which helped our group grow and improve. He shared his knowledge of great places to enjoy dinner. In addition to Cooking Buddies we started our "Dining Out" group and tried new places which included Brandywine Inn, One (no longer in business), Knotty Pine on the Bayou and Wild Ginger (only a "sampling" of the places we went). I know he had a group of fellows he called "The Cronies" who dined together - regularly.



Eventually some of our group joined "Food Chain" which merged into Meetup.com and now is Cincinnati Let's Eat Out. My dining groups are "The Cincinnati Brunch Club" and "Tea Toads" which have about two hundred members in each group. We will continue to honor David by preparing his recipes and dining out together! Thank you David!

Onward!





David's Gazpacho a la Vermont is really, really good! Hope you will try it.



GAZAPACHO a la Vermont (for 8)



1 clove garlic

1 med. onion (sliced)

2 tomatoes (peeled)

1 cucumber (sliced)

1 green pepper (seeded)

4 oz. Egg Beaters (optional)

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 cup wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup tomato vegetable juice



Puree the first six items in a blender, season with second list of ingredients (salt - tomato juice). Garnish with 1 cup breat croutons browned in 2 Tbsp. oilive oil with 1 clove garlic (minced). Just before serving, add croutons, additional pieces of 1 cucumber (diced), 1 green onion (sliced) & 1 green pepper (cut up) - optional.

Picture this.

I'm learning how to "upload" photos from Cooking Buddies albums. I have several albums of pictures and archive boxes filled with Cooking Buddies information.

Today I learned of David Greenberg's death. I find it amazing that I'm inspired to do this blog and I credit David for being on a Spiritual journey to make this happen. I'll post more about David very soon. (I bet Angel Lois, Judy and Kathy greeted you!)

Today's picture shows the dining room table set up for a "Native American" dinner: placemats with a "Native American" design, blue and brown plates, (some clear glass), a centerpiece of gourds in a low, round stand, bunches of Indian corn forming a "runner" with small, votive candles on round plates placed in between.

The bay window (can't see it) was filled with fall silk branches with a large pumpkin candle set in the middle. I think I also put more Indian corn in the window display.

We made Fry Bread, too. This recipe is easy to make and can be found by just "Googling" it on the internet. (I will be making Fry Bread for our Native American dinner on Sunday, Nov. 14th @ 6 p.m. through my Meetup.com Brucn Club group). I learned about Fry Bread from watching "Smoke Signals", a favorite, incredible movie which ranks "high on my movie list".

Cooking Buddies Again!

The "History" of Cooking Buddies began when I met Judy Elliot, a friend I met in the Salon groups. She and I went to several interesting discussion groups "around town" and eventually found that we enjoyed cooking. Tracy Duckworth was giving cooking classes in her home (her classes are still available, following her on Facebook). I asked Judy if she wanted to go with me. We enjoyed our classes and dining experiences with Tracy.

We wanted to do more cooking together. I said, "Now that we have had our classes together, let's share with other people who like to cook. I put a small ad in the Cincinnati Magazine's classified section: "Small Suppers" 6 to 8 people, cooking together, share expenses for clean-up, etc." We had a good group of people sign up for our first dinner. "Small Suppers" rapidly increased to more than 16 people - it was more often 22 - 30 people and finally the Luau for 54! (Enough already!)

My husband, Bill did not share my enthusiasm for opening our home to "total strangers". He took down everyone's license plate numbers!

We enjoyed a wonderful potluck dinner around "the big table" and had dessert in the family room. Then we discussed a NAME for our group which eventually became "Cooking Buddies".

At that time I had "help" who cleaned our home. I offered my housekeeper and her friend, her sister and eventually her daughter to team up and be part of helping me make it work. I needed help with serving and clean-up. To pay for their work, I collected $7 (at first) and eventually $10 from each guest. They could make as much as $80 a night ($20 an hour).

I sent out "mailings" to our group with the "theme" and plan for each event. Sometimes I sent postcards and other times, I sent a detailed announcement and sometimes included a recipe from one of the dinners.

"Cooking Buddies" was wonderful, fun and challenging. It was a "time-consumer". In addition to all the "paper work", I would purchase a lot of items for the dinners including: tablecloths, runners, napkins, dishes, glassware and theme items (signs, decorations, etc.) I would set the big table ahead of time so that I could figure out "what else was needed". Then, the appetizer/dessert table and soup table were set up in the family room (for our indoor dinners).

Outdoor events were on the patio with a buffet area under the magnolia tree, grilling done on various grills on a porch or out in the yard and dining was at a big picnic table and three round tables.

People sat and visited, were served soup first, then they "hit the appetizers" before they disappeared. Salads were often "plated up" if the dinner was inside. Outside, the salads were part of the buffet. We "kept to the schedule" which was posted in the kitchen and next to the sign-in station where people checked off what they brought and if they paid their $7 or $10.

When we had dinner "inside" the plates were on the table, so each person could pick one up and walk through the buffet line. Other items already on the table were bread, butter and ice water. The beverage areas were in the family room. People served themselves and brought the beverages to the table.

After the main course, the table was cleared, people were asked to "get their desserts" from the dessert table (leaving the main dining room) and coffee or tea. Some people would continue visiting at the table or go into the family room. Others would head for the kitchen to gather up their "left-overs" or share with others. Sometimes there were NO left-overs and that was an unhappy moment for me to open the "fridge" door to find NOTHING!

I will be having some more Cooking Buddies suppers at my art studio. I'll share some pictures and some recipes here, too.