Our last Cooking Club is in the books for 2017!   It’s always fun, but this one is our particular favoritie – just apps, dessert and wine!  

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It’s always great to start with wine, no?! 

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Since I follow Courtney (are you following her? She has amazing organizing tips and great recipes!) I already saw the table scape.  She is the perfect hostess – but I love her philosophy of prepping everything ahead of time so that she can enjoy her guests, even if that means setting the table 24 hours in advance. 

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The spread 😀

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Lindsay made this cowboy caviar with chips:

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Catherine made this ahi tuna with avocado and I cannot wait to replicate this at home.  Ahi tuna would be free on the new Weight Watchers #freestyle plan 😀  She did make an interesting point – if you are buying sushi grade ahi tuna, you should tell the person behind the counter, because they will cut it differently because it will be raw and not cooked.  Good to know!

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This salad.  Holy balls.  I could eat this every day for dinner and be a happy camper.  Julie made this what I am calling “harvest salad” – it was arugula and mixed baby greens, sweet walnuts, raspberries and sliced pears – oh my!

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These baked ham and cheese sammies are so delicious! Courtney brushed them with melted butter and Dijon mustard and baked them – this would be perfect if you had a crowd coming over at the holidays, because even though they are delicious hot, they are perfect at room temp too.

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My shrimp cocktail dish was boring in comparison, but I liked the dipping sauces I made – one was a cucumber dill dip (1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons mayo, 1/3 cup chopped dill, 1/2 cup shredded cucumber, pinch of cayenne and salt and pepper) the second was a spicy Asian sauce (1/2 cup soy sauce, 3 tablespoons spicy stirfry sauce, 1 tablespoon sriracha, 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger and chopped cilantro).  My recipe for the best shrimp cocktail can be found here.

best shrimp cocktail

But my favorite dish of the night, being the soup whore that I am, was Tina’s butternut squash soup with pepita seeds, fresh grated nutmeg and apple and gruyere cheese crostini.  I ran her recipe through the Weight Watchers recipe builder (my app won’t switch over until tomorrow!) but making this 6 servings, each serving is only 3 points, so you can enjoy the delicious crostini guilt free.  You can find her recipe here.

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My plate of deliciousness!

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And for the record, dessert is always insulin worthy at Cooking Club!  The chocolate cake that Donna made was made with pudding so it was so moist, and had toffee bits for a bit of crunch.  And MaryBeth made scotcheroos – a grown up version of rice krispie treats made with butterscotch chips and cranberry white chocolate chip cookies.  Those were her Aunt’s signature holiday desserts, and her Aunt passed away over the summer, so these were made in memory of her.  I love food memories!

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Courtney gave everyone kitchen themed ornaments – I got this super cute colander.  #love

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The group!  I brought Hannah with me – thanks for letting me bring her Courtney!  So shorties in the middle – that would be me and Hannah!

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What a great way to kick off the holiday season.  Be Merry!