Cooking Club!

I can’t believe last night was our last Cooking Club for 2019!

Courtney is the best hostess – I wish I had half the talent she does when it comes to entertaining. How cute are our place settings?!

How to Start a Cooking Club

My friend Courtney brought together seven other women in various stages of their life who all have one thing in common – making great food and sharing our recipes with each other.

Courtney picks a “head chef” each time we get together and once that head chef determines the main entree, we fall into place after that and get assigned a cocktail, appetizer, side dish or dessert so that it all comes together in one meal.

On the Menu . . .

We started out with a signature cocktail – we had Courtney’s baby shower last weekend at Fig & Olive in Chicago – I cannot wait to go back there to eat. The food was amazing – you can make this virgin or alcoholic – Catherine got the recipe from the restaurant – it’s a blood orange cocktail made with blood orange Italian seltzer, fresh squeezed blood oranges, and vodka with a lime garnish. So good!

Tina made a duo of deviled eggs. Jalapeno Popper and Caesar Salad – I literally could have eaten the whole plate! The cheddar cheese crips on the popper ones were amazing. Both recipes are on her blog. Click on the links above 😀

Courtney made this fall/winter fruit salad and it was spectacular. I may make this as a side dish to Thanksgiving at my brothers house.

I kind of took the easy way out and I made . . . bacon! I went to Fresh Thyme and had them thick cut their bacon – I made half peppered and half I sprinkled with brown sugar. I baked for 35 minutes at 375. Always bake your bacon – it takes longer but the result is perfectly cooked bacon.

I promise to link the recipe to this biscuits and gravy casserole as soon as Mary Beth posts it. If you love biscuits and gravy, you will love this casserole – it’s like a big giant comforting hug on a spatula. This would be a great breakfast/brunch idea because it can be made the day (or two) before and just baked when needed.

Donna made these delicious blueberry muffins – I loved that they weren’t overly sweet, but light and fluffy.

And Courtney’s husband made us our after dinner espresso drinks – so delicious! These tiny cups are so cute. Thanks Will!

Lindsay made these oatmeal cookies – I mean, if it has oatmeal in it, that’s considered a breakfast food, right?! Soft, chewy, they went perfectly with the espresso and a great way to end the delicious dinner.