October 2015 - Pumpkin Coconut Curry

October makes me think of pumpkins and warm stick to your ribs food to combat the cooling weather...so I thought it only fitting that we use pumpkin in our Friday Feast this month!

Our cooking class members created a beautiful and flavorful spread this month:

• Pumpkin Coconut Curry, with chicken
• Coconut Sweet Rice
• Homemade Naan (Indian flatbread)

The sweetness of the pumpkin and coconut milk was complimented by the spice and heat of the curry powder and cayenne pepper.

Instead of using a tandoor oven, we used a pizza stone and a high heat (450*) oven to cook our delicious naan. The whole meal turned out wonderfully, and it was so easy! Take a look at the pictures of our cooking process and end results (before we wolfed it all down!)

- Service Coordinator

letting our yeast dough rise for an hour

after 1st proof

after 2nd proof

the hot pizza stone and broiler cooks both sides at once!

done! and delicious...

our mise en place

Pumpkin Coconut Curry with chicken

our naan waiting to be rolled out

so delicious!

lots of cilantro

our finished product--YUM!

September 2015

Another month, another Friday Feast! This month we were in the mood for Chinese. Instead of ordering in, we went all out and made from scratch. On the menu were:

• Pork Potstickers 
•  Vegetarian Fried Rice
•  Ginger Milk Pudding 

We had so much fun folding the potstickers--each class member had their own folding and pleating style to teach everyone. The ginger milk pudding is a total comfort food. Slightly spicy from the ginger juice that is poured in the bottom of the cup, warm and creamy from the steamed milk poured over the top, and slightly sweet from the sugar added to the warming milk. After only 5 minutes, we had a warm cozy pudding for dessert.

The end results of our Chinese dinner were delicious! Check it out:

You can add any type of meat to this recipe- we chose to keep it veggie

Recipes we used:

Potstickers: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pork-pot-stickers-236605 

Fried rice: http://www.food.com/recipe/chinese-fried-rice-38748

Our Ginger Milk was an adapted recipe from MHR's Property Manager, but here is a similar one: http://www.instructables.com/id/10-Minute-Ginger-Milk-Pudding/

July 2015 - Italian

Hi everyone! Service Coordinator here. I'm going to continue our photo blog with images from our third monthly Friday Feast. This month's participants made their significant others very happy with the leftovers from this dinner. Feast your eyes on THIS.

July 31, 2015: This evening, we went Italian! A class of 5 residents (4 new and one repeating) made a delicious meal together. So much garlic and cheesy goodness...

July's Menu:
Chicken Cannelloni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and
Bruschetta with White Beans, Sundried Tomatoes and Basil

Recipes can be found at www.cookinglight.com with those titles.

Crisp and garlicky bruschetta with shaved parmesan

Assembling our dish to bake

Filling our cannelloni shells

Side by side working on different dishes

Our Chicken Cannelloni turned out divine!

The Finished product. Jealous?

Our first cooking class at Mary Helen Rogers

May 29, 2015 marked our first monthly cooking class at Mary Helen Rogers Senior Community, and it was a great success! Each monthly class consists of 5 residents and the Service Coordinator. We learn about each ingredient, nutritional facts, and flavor profiles. All of us work in harmony chopping, slicing, and sauteing a main dish and at least one side dish. The best part? Sitting down to eat the fruits of our labor after we're done!

May's menu, taken from Cooking Light, was:
Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Balsamic Reduction
Grilled Peaches, and 
Wild Rice Salad

You eat with your eyes first, right? Look at what we made:
 

Starting our balsamic reduction with shallots, rosemary, garlic and balsamic vinegar

Grilled peaches. Or, rather, what would have been grilled peaches if I had remembered to bring my grill pan from home. Whoops! We improvised.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions served with our reduction

Wild Rice Salad

Delicious!

Our inspiration from www.cookinglight.com