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The Kitchen Table

Book Club Desserts

14 years ago

I am hosting my Book Club this month. We normally have 2 desserts-one chocolate and one non-chocolate (but that's not a hard and fast rule). Can be homemade or store bought. There are anywhere from 5-10 ladies.

Sometimes, if appicable, we try to have the desserts resemble a theme from the book we read. This month's book is "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. I haven't finished it yet, but it centers around a young Chinese boy in Seattle who meets a Japanese-American girl in the 1940's. They become good friends but are separated when her family gets sent to the internment camps.

Obviously I could do a "bitter" and then a "sweet" dessert...but I'm stumped what to serve. Any tried and true ideas? I'm not a gourmet cook, but I can follow a recipe pretty well!

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Comments (10)

glenda_al
14 years ago
Couldn't find bitter and sweet desserts, but how about sweet and sour?

Balsamic Strawberries with Vanilla Ice Cream
1 cup strawberries
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons reduced balsamic vinegar
2 big scoops of vanilla ice cream

1. Wash and slice strawberries.
2. Pour sugar and vinegar into a bowl with the strawberries.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend or if youÃ¯Â¿Â½re impatient you can skip this step.
4. Scoop up some vanilla ice cream and pile strawberries on top with a drizzle of the balsamic vinegar to your taste.

Hint: Balsamic reduction sauce
Take a cheap bottle of balsamic vinegar and pour desired amount into a wide saucepan or skillet on medium high heat. Once the liquid has been reduced by about half, let vinegar cool. You should see that the vinegar has thickened a bit, similar to the consistency of maple syrup
glenda_al
14 years ago
Take a look at this one! Makes a loverly presentation.

Here is a link that might be useful: mascarpone mousse with strawberries, etc
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Georgysmom
14 years ago
How about strawberries dipped in bittersweet chocolate. Just melt 5 oz. of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler and dip some beautiful strawberries in it. Might be nice served with an angel food cake filled with lemon curd and drizzled with a lemon icing.
teresava
Original Author
14 years ago
Strawberries sound good and chocolate covered strawberries sound heavenly!! And I like the anglefood since it is a light dessert.

Thanks for the ideas ladies-Need to finish reading my book and ponder for a while! lol
wildchild
14 years ago
Where do you find good strawberries in January? This is a serious question since frozen won't work for dipping well and the only fresh ones I see are imported and not very good.
glenda_al
14 years ago
In Alabama, Fresh Market has them and they are beautiful!
marie_ndcal
14 years ago
Look in an Asian cookbook as they have lots of that meet your need, or check with any Oriental restaurant. Personally I would not buy any fresh strawberries in the market now, as most come in from Mexico etc. Unless they are hot house as they are not in season.
glenda_al
14 years ago
I trust Fresh Market~
sheilajoyce_gw
14 years ago
Make a recipe that uses Bittersweet Chocolate.

We don't tend to see strawberries in southern California till about Valentine's Day.

During WWII, food was rationed. During that time, the Mock Apple Pie became popular. That might be fun to offer--a la mode, of course!
Georgysmom
14 years ago
Strawberries in Trader Joe's today looked pretty good, too.

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