Cookbook Book Club September - Pioneer Woman

Rita was hostess and selected Pioneer Woman as the Chef for September

(And after we all ogled Rita's new pantry . . . . )

We had a wonderful dinner

It seems as if we all had at least one Pioneer Woman cookbook

and we brought them -- in fact, we had three copies of her first cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks

She definitely is popular among our group

Our menu

(and once again the Pot Luck Gods smiled on us -- as you'll see no duplicates

and the meal is as balanced as if we'd planned it!)

WHISKY PEACH BBQ CHICKEN

RITA'S

choice for the entree

We all thought it delicious!

(as did her husband -- she did a trial run one night for dinner!)

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/peach-whiskey-barbecue-chicken/

CREAMY MASHED POTATOES

RITA

 prepared a second dish for mashed potatoes were supposed to go with the chicken

I agree -- they were perfect!

 https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes/

CURRY RICE

ANGELA

brought this wonderful side -- just enough curry for flavor

and the sweetness of raisins -- it too was perfect with the chicken!

WHISKY GLAZED CARROTS

MICHELLE

 had vegetable and brought these delicious carrots

(And with this recipe we decided that The Pioneer Woman was not a tea totaler!)

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/whiskey-glazed-carrots-major-league-yum/

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

DONNA 

brought this because it was NOT your typical Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole.    It was delicious and I would definitely make it for a buffet dinner

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/green-bean-casserole/

PEA SALAD

 BELYNDA

who wasn't there sent this anyway.     It's old fashioned pea salad updated according to Michelle with sour cream instead of mayo, but she thought it a bit "dry" and so added some more mayo before she brought it last night

https://thepioneerwoman.com/?s=pea+salad

OLIVE CHEESE BREAD

RHONDA

brought this actually as an appetizer but we ate it as a bread

She "doctored" up part of it with garlic and Cajun seasoning but we liked it just the way it was!  I know I ate THREE pieces and everyone had more than one!

And Monday I have to take a snack and I'm definitely making this!

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/olive_cheese_br/

Nothing like a plate of Pioneer Woman dishes:

We all agreed that she was comfortable to cook from, her tastes and recipes were definitely midwest, her recipes definitely had ingredients that we could find in our little town, and they were not complicated

Several of us watch her every week and I think everyone had at least ONE of her cookbooks . . . and some of us had ALL of them!

But a meal is not complete without desserts!

And we had a nice selection!

BRANDY SNAPS

SARA

brought these brandy snaps which were delicious

and so pretty and elegant!

 https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/brandy-snaps/

APPLE DUMPLINGS

 SARA

was the overachiever this month.     She had a hard time deciding between

four recipes and finally settled on two.

As she said, one had new techniques (the snaps) while the other was super easy (the dumplings)

We all agreed both were good!

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/apple_dumplings/

CARAMEL APPLE PIE

I brought this pie.     I decided that I would make a pie and this appealed to me.

It's apple without the apple pie spices -- just apple, sugar, crunchy topping and caramel

It was good . . . and rich

And Husband Jim was glad that there were 3 desserts and small pieces for I brought the last two slivers home for him!

https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/scrumptous-and_i_do_mean_scrumptous-apple_pie/

Pioneer Woman was a great choice for Cookbook Book Club

We all enjoyed the meal and several of us have been to Pawhuska and her restaurant and Merchantile.

Stories of those trips were shared with those of us who have not been there.

We also decided that next year we would do a Cookbook Book Club Road Trip to

visit Pioneer Woman!

Next month it's Ina Garten

And she has a new cookbook that will come out on the Tuesday before our meeting on Thursday!

Lunch Bunch for Lunch

Once a month, the ladies I have dubbed

"The Lunch Bunch" 

come to Linderhof for lunch

We "lost" one of our members who moved to

Kansas City

and so we fill in

We're not ready to find a permanent replacement

The "fill-ins" are interesting and it is fun to have a different guest

each month

Our July luncheon was early . . . because of grandchildren visiting

or visiting grandchildren

The August lunch was our regular day

(the fourth Tuesday in the month)

It had been a while since we've seen each other

And we all had grandchildren stories to tell!

The dining room set for lunch

It's summer so we chose lace placemats and table runner

It seemed lighter!

The house all ready for company!

The Spode Blue Room always sets a pretty table,

damask napkins in silver rings

(my newest rings)

Jim's grandmother's cutlery

The menu:

Blue and Bleu Salad --

romaine, blueberries and bleu cheese

With a homemade poppy seed dressing

A mushroom spinach quiche

Carrots with a Creamy Tomato Dressing

is the name of this dish in the cookbook I got it out of --

however, my Mom and I have always known it as

"copper pennies"

It's a good salad and one that we enjoyed for lunch for the next couple of days

In summer, I often like a vegetable salad as a side dish

They're usually make ahead and there is something nice about a cold dish

The quiche slices nicely

(I always cross my fingers whenever I try to get quiche out of the pan!)

The carrots add a nice colorful touch to the plate with quiche

(And I served Sister Shubert rolls as well)

Dessert was black raspberry jam cake with caramel frosting

I "sacrificed" a jar of Lunch Buncher Joyce's jam

to make the cake

But it was worth it!

However, it seemed more of a winter cake to me than a late

summer one . . . but it is a cake that I will make again.

If you don't have a jar of Joyce's black raspberry jam in your

larder, you can us boughten blackberry jam!