I had some lovely ladies over Friday night for a fun evening of eating, drinking and shopping. Things started around 6:00 but didn't wind up until after midnight and 7 bottles of wine. I guess you can say we had a good time.
Here are some photos and recipes from the evening.
Getting everything ready
Cold Sesame Noodle Salad
Ingredients: 2 large cloves garlic, 1 tbl grated fresh ginger, 2 tablespoon sesame oil, 1/4 cup soy cause, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 tbl Asian chili paste, 2 scallions, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 box linguine noodles.
Direction: Combine garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, peanut butter, chili paste, scallions, cilantro and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until combined. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add noodles and cook until al dente. Drain in colander and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Transfer noodles to a serving bowl and pour dressing over. Toss to coat. Top with cilantro for garnish. Serve room temperature. *Noodles will get sticky if they sit too long. If this happens, just add a little extra soy sauce before serving. Inspired by Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2003.
Ginger Chicken Wings
Ingredients: 30-40 chicken wings and drummies, 2 cups soy sauce. 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 cup oil, grated ginger (the more the better). Marinate for 2-3 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook for 30 minutes. *I used a rimmed baking sheet to cook these on which works great. These are always a winner.
Spicy Green Beans
Ingredients: 2 tbl soy sauce, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tsp garlic chili sauce, 1 tsp honey, 2 tsp oil. Large bag of french green beans.
Directions: Steam green beans first. Set aside. Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce. Heat 1 tbl oil in a frying pan or wok. Add green beans and pour sauce over the green beans. Stir fry until hot and serve. *If you like it spicy just add more of the garlic chili paste.
Thanks Kim for the lovely cake from Buttercream
Here's the recipe for the trifle that Andrea made. Delicious!
Lemon Blueberry Trifle
1 frozen prepared pound cake (16 ounces)
2 lemons
1 1/2 cups milk
1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
2 packages (3.4 ounces each) lemon instant pudding and pie filling
1 pint fresh blueberries (about 2 cups)
1 square (1 ounce) white chocolate for baking
1. Cut pound cake into 1-inch cubes; place in large colander bowl. Using a lemon Zester, make several lengthwise scores in one lemon, top to bottom; slice into 6 slices. Cut each slice in half and set aside for garnish. Zest remaining lemon using short strokes; set aside. Juice lemon. Sprinkle lemon juice over pound cake; toss .
2. In a bowl, combine milk, sour cream, half of the whipped topping and reserved lemon zest; whisk until smooth. Add pudding mix; whisk until mixture begins to thicken.
3. Set aside 12 blueberries for garnish. To assemble trifle, place 1/3 of the cake cubes into bottom of chilled bowl. Top with 1/3 of the blueberries. Grate 1/4 of the chocolate over blueberries. Top with of the pudding mixture, pressing lightly. Repeat layers 2 more times, reserving the remaining grated chocolate for garnish. Spread remaining pudding over entire top of trifle, creating a smooth surface.
4. Attach open star tip to a decorator; fill with remaining whipped topping. Decorate by piping 12 rosettes around edge of bowl. Place one lemon slice between rosettes and one reserved blueberry on each rosette. Grate remaining chocolate in center.
Yield: 10 servings or 20 sample servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 410, Total Fat 18 g, Saturated Fat 12 g, Cholesterol 85 mg, Carbohydrate 56 g, Protein 5 g, Sodium 460 mg, Fiber 1 g
Source: Pampered Chef