Sisters Dinner November 2010

Here's our spread from our November 2010 Sisters' Dinner.

I made Boston Brown Bread, and a Bohemian Vegetable Soup (and pumpkin muffins, but not from the Sisters Cookbook, so recipe later). Emily made a Beer Bread and Nick made Sweet and Sour Shrimp. Nancy and Robert were "tired" so they didn't come. Just kidding, Nanc-:). But we did miss you, though. December's dinner is at your house.
Okay, first that Boston Brown Bread (pg. 62) on the far left...it's brown...duh.

1 c. white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. molasses
1 c. raisins

Sift the first 4 ingredients together and set aside. Dissolve soda in milk. Add molasses. Dump into sifted dry ingredients; beat. Add raisins. Place batter in 2 greased loaf pans. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 to 55 minutes.

First of all, what SIZE pan? Apparently, two little ones not big ones cuz that's what I used. Scott called this bread a brick. Oh! Yer so mean! It was okay, I would have liked to taste more of the molasses and less raisins so next time I wouldn't put them in. I probably won't make it again, though.

Next, Bohemian Vegetable Soup (page 17). I chose this recipe because I had a turnip to use. Why did I have a turnip to use up, you might ask? What? Turnips aren't a staple at your house? What kind of person are you? Well, I had a baby food recipe to make and, while I was at the store, I couldn't remeber if the recipe called for a turnip or a parsnip so I guessed and got the turnip. Wrong. Shows you how much I know about turnips...or parsnips. Anyway, so I wanted to use it and that's why I made this recipe.

Also, something that's funny about this soup is that it's called a vegetable soup but the second ingredient is BACON. I guess I could be a vegetarian if I could eat bacon too. :)

Emily also thought it was funny that the handy "tip" at the end says "to reduce fat, use less bacon and substitue 1 cup milk instead of cream." Duh. But also, it calls for half and half NOT cream.

Anyway, I won't make this again. But now I know more about turnips. It really wasn't that bad. For the leftovers, I put cheese on top and more bacon and that was tasty...but really, you could put cheese and bacon on cardboard and it would be good, right? I mean, cheese and bacon...good.

1 large onion, chopped
1/2 lb bacon, cut in pieces
1 med. potato, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 white turnips, peeled and chopped
2 to 3 c. chicken bouillon
1/2 c. half and half
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Brown onion and bacon; drain off grease. Add vegetables and bouillon and cook until vegetables are tender. You may need to add water (up to 2 cups). Season with salt and pepper. Puree and return to cooking pot and add cream and nutmeg. NOTE: To reduce fat, use less bacon and substitute 1 cup of milk intead of cream.
Fishermen's Oriental Sweet 'N' Sour Shrimp (pg. 90). This was the star of the night. Nick did a great job. Yummy! I would make this. Nick said that he would add some more cornstarch, though to thicken it up. I loved the almonds in the rice, too.

1 1/2 c. apple juice
1/2 c. vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. catsup
2 T. oil
1 T. soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. carrots, diagonally sliced
1/2 c. green peppers, cubes
1/4 c. green onions and tops, sliced
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. apple juice
1 lb. shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined
1/2 c. slivered, blanched almonds, toasted
2 c. hot cooked rice

Combine 1 1/2 cups apple juice and the next 3 ingredients and bring to boiling point. Add carrots and simmer for 15 minutes. Add green pepper and onion and cook 5 minutes longer. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup apple juice and add gradually in hot sauce, cooking until thickened, stirring constantly. Add shrimp; heat. Add almonds to rice. Serve shrimp sauce over rice. Serves 6.

Love this photo of Nick holding Seth with Zoe right there. So cute.

Beer Bread. (pg. 70) WE DON'T DRINK BEER! Emily had to go find a place that sold them individually and we didn't even know you could do that till she did. Did you wear a fake mustach and sunglasses and a big floppy hat when you got the beer, Emily? :) The fact that this recipe only has 3! ingredients, Emily had to try it. It didn't rise at all, though. Have any of you made anything like this? The recipe is very simple, too simple. We needed more details.

3 c. self-rising flour (Hey, Emily, did you use self-rising flour or just regular flour?)

2 T. sugar

1 bottle beer

Mix together and pour into a loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 1 hour. After the first 1/2 hour, brush top with melted butter.

Over all, very fun. It's fun just to experiment and try stuff we wouldn't. And it's so fun hanging out with each other!