Sister's Dinner August

Welcome to Sister's Dinner in August! We had almost all of us here! Fun Stuff. Here are the photos that I have. I must have not had my mind on picture-taking because I don't have very many and not of everyone there. Sorry! Here's a cute one. Funny faces. Check out Jane. She totally makes me laugh! Why so sad, Jane?Some of our delicious food: Nancy and Robert made West Virginia Corn Bread. (Why "West Virginia"? Hmmm, whatever. Still good.) I love corn bread. You just can't beat yummy cornbread.

West Virginia Corn Bread

pg. 67

1 c. flour

1/2 c. yellow cornmeal

1/4 c. sugar

1 stick butter, divided

1 c. buttermilk

2 eggs

1 T. baking powder

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, cornmeal and baking powder. Add eggs and buttermilk. In a 8" skillet (ovenproof), melt butter. Pour 2/3 of the butter into the batter. Stir well and pour back into pan with remaining butter. Don't stir after it is in the pan. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Nick and Emily made Chicken Artichoke Casserole. I love me some artichokes! Thanks, Nick.

Chicken Artichoke Casserole

pg. 120

3 lbs. chicken

2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained

1/2 c. breat crumbs

2 T. butter

1/8 tsp thyme

Sauce:

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. flour

3 c. grated mild cheddar cheese
2 c. chicken stock

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Simmer chicken until done. Cool and bone. Cut into bite-sized pieces and arrange in a large (3 quart) baking dish. Cover with artichokes.

Sauce: Combine butter and flour in a pan and heat. Greadually add chicken stock and cook slowly until thickened, stirring constantly. Add cheese and nutmeg. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and thyme. Dot with butter. Bake in a preheated 350 over for 30 minutes.

This dessert, I have to say, was my thing favorite of the night. Man, SO GOOD and I think it's so interesting that you pour boiling water OVER the whole batter layer and it creates such a delicious crispy, moist topper. YUMMY! Stephanie made it for us. I'm making this again, fo' show!

Fruit Cobbler

pg. 147

3 c. fruit (can be fresh berries, peaches, a combination of fruits or canned fruit)

Batter:

3/8 c. sugar (huh? 3/8? Steph, is this right?)

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. milk

Topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 T. cornstarch

pinch of salt

1/2 c. boiling water.

Place the fruit in a 8X8 pan. Any fruit you choose, seasonal or canned, will do well in this recipe. Throroughly mix all of the batter ingreadients and pour (or spread) over the fruit. The batter will be quite stiff. Combine dry topping ingredients and spread evenly on top of the fruit/batter. Do not mix it in. Carefully pour the boiling water over it all. Bake in a preheated 375 over for 1 hour. If you pick your own huckleberries (yeah, cuz I do this all the time), you will want to use more sugar. Instead of 3/8 cup, try 1/2 or 2/3 cup, depending on your sweet tooth.

Not pictured: The Mandarin Salad. I think we've all made this. A salad that's always great. I think those candied almonds totally make the salad.

Mandarin Salad

pg. 29

1/4 c. sliced almonds

1 T. plus 1 tsp white sugar

Cook above together in frying pan until sugar is melted and almonds are coated and very lightly browned. Watch carefully because almonds tent to get too brown. Cool on wax paper and break apart. Can store at room temperature (but be careful of hungry kitchen thieves [that's what the recipe said, not me]).

1/4 head lettuce, torn

1/4 head romain, torn

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 green onions, chopped, tops and all

1 can (7 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

Almonds as prepared above

Sweet and sour dressing (recipe below)

Place all salad ingredients in you serving bowl. Add dressing just before serving and top with the previously prepared almonds.

Sweet and Sour Dressing:

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 T. white sugar

2 T. cider vinegar

1 T. parsley, finely minced

1/2 tsp salt

Dash pepper

Dash cayenne pepper

Shake all ingredients together in a bottle. Refrigerate before serving.

Here's Mom and Zac (or "Zachy" like 5 years ago...or if you are Max.) Love the hair cut, Zac!

Here's Emily dipping into what Mom made...whatever it was called because it can't be found in the bookcook...which we were supposed to get the recipes from. TOTALLY NOT from the Sister's Cookbook! Really, Mom. You can't change/alter 80% of a recipe and claim it's the same. We know you missed cream of chicken soup in Denmark, but C'mon! :) Still tasty, though. But good luck replicating it. (Jane! Yer still sad! Why? Why do you hate us? :))

Sweet cousins.

Sweet couple.

Well, I had a great time with great food and best of all, with all you guys here! You're always invited...except one of you...and you know who you are...

I love doing these dinners. They make me laugh at the food and it's a great excuse to get together with whatever family is closest. Love you guys!