February 22, 2026

Angelica hosted and featured a German meal, the home country of Roman!  Roman helped us make his mother's recipe for meatballs.

Carol brought a delicious southern appetizer, apparently a classic and one we had never heard of!  This Captain Rodney's Dip was rich and delicious. It features Captain Rodney's Boucan Pepper Glaze. There are copycat recipes if you would rather make your own!

Captain Rodney’s Boucan Glaze is a sweet, spicy, and tangy Caribbean-inspired sauce that can be used as a glaze, marinade, or dipping sauce for meats, vegetables, and dips.

Classic Copycat Boucan Glaze Recipe

To make a homemade version similar to Captain Rodney’s original:

Ingredients: 

1 cup ketchup

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ tsp black pepper

Instructions: Whisk all ingredients in a medium saucepan until smooth. Simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low and cook for 5–7 minutes until thickened. Cool to room temperature before storing. Adjust thickness with extra apple cider vinegar if needed. This glaze stores well in the fridge for weeks. 

Roman brought this tasty liqueur from Germany and shots were enjoyed! 

Tonya made boiled, buttered potatoes for the side and this is a classic pairing.  Potatoes are smushed and serve as a base under the meatballs.

I really liked the tangy sauce with the meatballs.  It had more flavor than the Swedish meatballs I have made in the past.  I also appreciate how the meatballs cooked in the sauce and you skip the step of pan frying or cooking in the oven first.

For dessert I baked a German apple cake.  It is easy to make this homemade cake with a fine crumb and layer of sweet apples.  Make sure you cut them thin.

November 9, 2025

Mary hosted and served several bottles of wine for our sipping pleasure.

Angelica brought a dip thickened with walnuts for our appetizer and served with sourdough dippers. 

I made roasted butternut squash. With the fresh cranberries it would be excellent for Thanksgiving. I also mixed in some dried cranberries.

Couscous is one of my favorite sides and Tonya made one filled with vegetables. With chickpeas for protein, it is very filling.

We prepared lentils and meatballs and this is a two time favorite. Mary had the meatballs already mixed and they were baked before going into the broth along with the lentils. If you use more broth, it's like a soup and reminds me of Italian Wedding soup except with Moroccan flavors.

Dessert did not disappoint and Carol served an apple dump cake alamode with caramel sauce. Yum!

October 19, 2025

Carol hosted a spooky Halloween gathering! Angelica was unable to join us. 

We were served this welcome cocktail.

Witches Brew Cocktail

1 shot of simple syrup

1 shot of Drillaud Pomegranate liqueur

2 shots of vodka

1 shot of lemon juice

Shake 

Pour in glass and top with club soda

Tonya brought two appetizers: these cute pizza pumpkins and some candy corn and peanuts.  I LOVE CANDY CORN.  How can you not?!

Serve the pumpkins with marinara sauce for dipping.

Carol put together a green salad and I roasted two vegetables to look scary.  Cauliflower were "brains" and beets were "liver" or "hearts".  Fortunately, they were delicious. 

The group cooked together chicken spaghetti and it was delicious and decadent.  I love this casserole!

How cute are these Mississippi Moon pies decorated by Mary!  And chocolate and marshmallows are my love language foods.  Yum!

September 21, 2025

 Tonya hosted and started us off with a cocktail. It was refreshing and beautiful.

Angie's appetizer was a Caramelized Onion Dip from the Home for the Holidays by Baker by Nature book.

Sauté 3 pounds of onions in butter and olive oil with 1 tbs brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves and cook until onions brown, about 15 minutes. Stir in 3 tbs water. Reduce heat and cook 45 minutes until onions are very brown and soft. 

Remove 1/4 cup onions and set aside.

Stir 1 tbs apple cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp coarse mustard into remaining onions. 

In a bowl of stand mixer, combine 8 oz cream cheese, 8 oz sour cream, 1/2 cup mayo and dashes of Worcestershire sauce, tabasco, garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper. Beat until well combined. Add caramelized onions and mix again. Chill 30 minutes to 4 hours.  Top with remaining 1/4 cup onions and serve with mixed vegetables and toasts.

Mary prepared an herb potato salad. I make this version when I do not want to cut up a bunch a vegetables since this is potatoes, herbs and onion or shallots.

Tonya picked a fast version of an all day recipe in this cassolette. Make sure you follow the directions about the topping or it will not crisp up.  It was so good and hearty and makes great left overs.

For dessert Angelica brought classic creme brulee and torched the sugars table side.  The crispy topping, creamy custard and berries were a fabulous ending.

August 17, 2025

 Angelica hosted a fiesta! She served Skinny Girl cocktails served in pouches. How fun!  I once saw pouches on a vampire tour and they were filled with red punch to look like blood.  VAMPIRE TOUR. Ours had tequila.

Carol started us off with an assortment of fresh fruits, nuts, cheese and three dips. These were Marzetti Classic Caramel Dip with sea salt on top, marshmallow dip and cream cheese dip. These all added some naughty to the healthy fruit. 

All were delicious and my favorite was the marshmallow.  Marshmallow fluff is a wonderful invention and makes using marshmallows convenient.  I have seen a new way to make smores where you dip a Reese's peanut butter cup into marshmallow fluff and then place between graham crackers after warmed.

Mary made a salad much like this one and it was delicious.  Mary added some cheese to her version.  I love corn in a salad and it's such a great ingredient for summertime.

Rice pilaf was our side and Tonya used Fideo as the short pasta. I had never heard of this type before and wouldn't you know it, the first time I go into Walmart it was on an end cap. I think rice is a perfect side to kabobs and how I always was served it as a kid.  We made vegetable, beef and shrimp skewers.

 

For dessert we finished with blueberry lemon ice box cake. The one pan makes a ton and this is a light and refreshing treat to end a meal. It also used pre-made items so not difficult to prepare.

June 22, 2025

As she always does, Mary greeted us with a delicious cocktail in a sugar rimmed glass.  This margarita tasted like a dreamsicle.  Delicious.  Went down very smoothly.  It was like a boozy milkshake.

 Orange Sherbet Italian Margarita

Servings:  4

2 cups sherbet

6 oz. evaporated milk 

½ cup crushed ice 

tequila...set your own octane level! 

1-2 shots of Amaretto 

1-2 shots of orange liqueur 

colored sugar to rim glasses (optional)

Combine all ingredients in blender.  Blend until very smooth and creamy.

Perfect summertime boozy treat! 

For appetizers I made a variety of cucumber and tomato offerings.  There was also hummus with bell peppers from my garden.  There was herb cream cheese (4 OZ cream cheese with chopped rosemary, chives and parsley) stuffed cucumbers and tomatoes, salmon canapes and caprese cucumbers. I knew Mary would make a decadent cocktail and that the main dish was rich so let us go low carb, heavy vegetable appetizers.

Tonya made a burrata salad with a balsalmic vinegar salad dressing.  The burrata cheese is creamy and mild. There was fresh basil in the salad and this adds a distinct, licorice like flavor.  I love basil and it's a classic combination pairing with tomato and cheese.

As if Angelica read Tonya's mind, she brought a similar dish, caprese salad, as our side.  This is a great dish as an appetizer, salad or side, in the summertime. Also, it is another great choice to balance the main dish of Marry Me Chicken.

Our main dish, Marry Me Chicken, was so good.  Mary marinated the chicken with the spices and cooked it up in an iron skillet.  We added mushrooms to the creamy sauce and next time would use less pasta.  The dish reheated beautifully the next day even though we were worried the sauce might "seize" up.  It did not.

These cherry pie bars were amazing.  The crust was soft like cake and over time became even more soft and melding into the cherry pie filling.  The recipe made a ton which we were all grateful for! Do not skip on the icing, it was essential to the deliciousness.

May 18, 2025

I hosted and had a Mediterranean theme.  This is my favorite cuisine as of late. Michelle joined us and it was a wonderful treat.

We started off with a very, very, very strong cocktail.  Ooops.  This Mediterranean Mule has limoncello, vodka and gin.  Ooops. You can cut the alcohol with the ginger beer. Bubbly and refreshing!

Angelica changed up this recipe to be a layered dip and served with pita chips.  It had a great flavor and creamy texture with the hummus and tzatziki. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

For the main dish we baked Greek chicken tenders. The secret is the marinade and instead of grilling we baked and they came out moist and perfect.

The side was saffron rice. The bright red strands of saffron give the color and mild flavor.  There is alot of onion in the rice too!

The salad was a beautiful couscous by Mary. 

Couscous Salad

Ingredients: 

1 box of couscous

Orange bell pepper, diced small

1/2 red bell pepper, diced small

1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced small

1 small/medium red onion, diced small

I large can black olives, chopped

6 oz feta cheese crumbles 

½ container of grape or similar style small tomatoes, cut in half.

Flat leaf parsley

1 seedless cucumber, chopped small

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare couscous according to box instructions and let cool completely.  For added flavor, I substitute chicken broth for the water.

Once couscous is cooled, mix in as little or as much of the chopped vegetables as you like.

*Adding chopped boiled eggs, grilled chicken or other protein turns the salad into a one dish meal. Great option for a light meal during the summertime heat!

Dressing:

1 minced garlic 

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp dried oregeno

2 tsp dijon mustard

salt, pepper

1/4 cup olive oill

2 tbs red wine vinegar

Mix all ingredients and add to salad.

Our side of roasted vegetables by Tonya also had a tahini sauce.  Look how colorful these vegetables are as they cook! The onions caramelize and sweeten, the tomatoes plump and pop and the zucchini has a nice crunch.

To finish our meal, Carol had the dessert course and made a delicious blueberry galette.  It was heavenly. The sweetness was the right amount and the homemade crust was rustic and tasty.