On Monday, we held our first Cooking Club for 2012. I'm so glad my friends were keen to continue with it this year as I really enjoy our little get-togethers where we try out yummy dishes and share new recipes. One of my best friends, Kylie, who is in our group, leaves today for Paris and won't be back for about five months so we wanted to make sure we snuck in a Cooking Club before she left.
We kept things simple this time with a Pot Luck theme and I too restrained myself with the decorating and other usual touches like prizes which I organise. I did however want to give the table a little touch of Paris and so I found some Parisian material in my fabric stash and added some blue, red and white hints to the centrepiece.
Our menu this time consisted of:
• Rice Salad
• Chef’s Salad
• Layered Chicken and Mango Salad
• Potato and Leek Tart
• Empire Chicken
• Cookies and Cream Cheesecake
Here is the recipe for the 'easy to prepare ahead of time' Rice Salad which I made:
Rice Salad
Serves 4 - 6
1½ cups brown rice, cooked
4 spring onions, chopped
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
handful chopped parsley
150g raisins
200g cashews
½ cup celery, chopped
½ cup green capsicum, chopped
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Mix together olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, mustard and vinegar. Stir through cooked rice. Add other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Yum, yum, that salad sounds beautiful, I could eat that right now... the dressing esp sounds so good. I'm glad you're continuing with your Cooking Club this year I always enjoy hearing about it. Sounds like you had a great spread of food too and that's so sweet you did the french theme for your friend's trip (what a lucky duck!). Have a great weekend my dear,
ReplyDeleteJxx
Ooh I love rice salad but have never tried making it before.
ReplyDeleteI would love to do a Cooking Club with some friends...maybe I should enquire as to whether they would be interested :)
xx
Amanda you are always so thoughtful with your decorating:) It's really lovely you were able to keep the cooking club going, it sounds like a really nice way to get together and eat yummy food. I like the rice salad recipe, it sounds nice and healthy too. Thank you for sharing it with us. Have a lovely weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteThe rice salad sounds delicious! I love the idea of a Cooking Club. Such a fun way to get friends together and try new dishes.
ReplyDeleteLove this idea, such a great way to make friendships & have variety. I've never made a rice salad but always love the ones i eat at other people's places, love Posie
ReplyDeleteYumbo. I'm bookmarking that little gem :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you were kind to yourself by keeping things simple...
x
Lovely, Amanda. Glad to hear your cooking club is going strong. Hope that you and your gorgeous little girls are doing well xx
ReplyDeleteBonjour!!!Potato and leek.???? Potato and asparagus pie!!! You have a reader all the way from Paris!!!!!!!!! Au revoir!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kylie, oops!! Wrote up our menu from memory - where did I get leek from?? :)
ReplyDeleteSounds really lovely Amanda, and your friend sounds like she will be having an amazing time in Paris! The menu is a good one for summer.
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