October 2009: 6 Year Anniversary

Six years we have been at this. Six fun filled years of cooking, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and making fun of Bonnie. Some have left and some will hopefully be back. Others have joined. And we keep going strong, with more ideas and endless possibilities for our little cooking club. I’m still holding out for Oprah and maybe even an exotic getaway cooking club one year. Italy girls? One can dream.

In honor of our happy anniversary and keeping with tradition, we opted to dine out for the big day in the big city.

We went to RN74 for dinner. We were all excited to try the award winning chef Michael Mina’s new restaurant in SF. The atmosphere was simple and elegant. I liked the touches of red.

Cheers to us.

For firsts, we started out with the Slow Roasted Beet salad........
Prawns........
Ravioli's. We also ordered the Hamachi Sashimi, not pictured.

For seconds, a couple of us had the Halibut.

Some had the Grilled Prime Beef.
Janet had the Sea Scallops.
And here is what Bonnie had. Chickpeas and Romano Beans. This is why we make fun of her. Here are the Chickpeas with some sausage for the table. Much better.
We talked. Told funny stories.
And of course, had dessert.
Walnut Bread Pudding.
Warm Pumkin Beignets. We also got the Frozen Chocolate Souffle, no picutre of this one.
We had a wonderful time and it was great that we almost had everyone together. We were missing Hiedi.

While we had a great time, I think the consensus was that the meal left us a little underwhelmed. The food was good, nothing really impressed us all that much. Especially with this being a Mina restaurant. I think most of us agreed that we would probably not go back. The service was also sub par. And that was too bad.

Girls, please leave a commet for your take.

After dinner some of us headed out for drinks at a new bar/club - Eve. Where they made a very tasty French 75. Ashley, also had a great drink. We encounter strange service here as well.

As always it was great time.

Happy Anniversary, Cooking Club!

More Deliciousness...

CSA Box #3!

I lucked out this time with a bag of mixed potatoes and immediately thought of potato salad. Unfortunately, I realized that I had run out of veganaise at the last minute. I scraped what was left from the jar and then mashed the potatoes a little to make the salad a little creamier and it worked.

I decided to roast the fingerling potatoes and some peppers for brunch alongside a Mexican tofu scramble. I also roasted some Anaheim chilies and corn and threw those in along with tomatoes, tortillas,and garlic.
Here's a cute sandwich with yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, basil, and homemade white bean hummus. See the dish of watermelon in the back? That came in box #2. Try eating an entire watermelon by yourself. Practically impossible so part of the melon was donated to the Fantasy Football Draft. Also-I advise against transporting watermelons unsecured in your car. Mine rolled off the backseat onto the floor of the car and split in half. Next time the sucker is wearing a seat belt.



This stew was both easy and delicious. I searched through my cookbooks looking for a way to use up the collard greens from CSA box #3. I found a stew in Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker and substituted butternut squash for sweet potatoes along with a few other ingredients and was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. I leave you with the recipe:




Spicy White Bean and Butternut Squash Stew with Collards
1 TBSPN olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
i small butternut squash, chopped
1 fresh hot chili (I used a jalapeno)
1 TSPN fresh peeled, grated ginger
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with their juices (I used a bunch of fresh ripe tomatoes)
3 cups of cooked white beans
1 TSPN light brown sugar
1/2 TSPN allspice
1/4 TSPN cumin
2 bay leaves
3 cups vegetable stock
salt & pepper
2 cups chopped collard greens, cooked in simmering water until tender & drained

1. Saute the onion, garlic, & pepper in the olive oil for 5 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to your slow cooker. Add the squash, chili, ginger, tomatoes, beans, sugar, allspice, cumin, bay leaves, & stock; season with salt & pepper, cover, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

3. Close to serving time, stir in the cooked collard greens. Taste, adjust seasonings, remove bay leaves, and serve.