nancy, your dinner sounds excellent. is the pumpkin strudel your own recipe ~~ would you share it? would love to hear more about the wine jelly.

glad to hear you all had a nice time together.

maryanne

Oh, I've been waiting for this report! Nancy, super nice food you served. I'm also interested in the pumpkin strudel. Now, what about people pics? Glad you all had a wonderful time!

Jayne

Your dinner sounds great, and the evening sounds lovely!

Sounds like a great evening! Dinner looks delicious! yes, what about the people pictures?

Can you please post the Lemon risotto, Nancy?

Dinner and dessert looks and sounds great!!!!!!!!

And the company ofcourse perfect.

What a nice evening and wonderful dinner. everything looks delicious!

Nancy, how nice that you were able to get together with Annie and Elery. And what a great dinner. Moe would have really enjoyed your lake perch.

Ann

My people pictures didn't come out well, probably needed to change a camera setting and forgot.... Elery's pic was really a blur...but here is Kim (1st pic) and Annie (2nd)...no pic taken of me...!!!!

Recipes...

Creamy Pumpkin Strudels

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

12 sheets frozen phyllo dough (18x14-inch rectangles), thawed ...NOTE BELOW

2/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into 12 slices

Whipped cream (optional) I used maple syrup to sweeten.

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. For filling, in a small bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Place 2 sheets of phyllo on top of one another and brush top sheet with some of the butter. (Keep remaining phyllo dough covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from becoming dry and brittle.) In a small bowl combine granulated sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle a generous 2 tablespoons of cinnamon-sugar mixture over the brushed phyllo. Sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of the pecans.

Cut the 2 layered sheets of phyllo lengthwise to create two long strips. Place a slice of cream cheese about 2 inches from end of dough strip. Spoon a well-rounded tablespoon of pumpkin mixture on top of the cream cheese.

To shape, fold bottom edge of phyllo up and over the filling. Fold in sides and roll up to encase filling. Place on a baking sheet, seam side down. Brush with some of the melted butter. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with any remaining sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until phyllo is golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 12 servings

To Reheat: Cool strudels on a wire rack. Reheat within 2 hours or place cooled strudels in a covered container. Chill overnight. To reheat room temperature strudels, place strudels on a baking sheet lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes or until center is warm. Reheat chilled strudels using the same method but heat in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

NOTE: Check the size of your phyllo...I bought a package and didn't. Ended up with sheets that were 9 X 14 half the size I needed. Didn't realize the mistake until done... when I ended up with extra filling. Harder to roll neat too!

Lemon Basil Baked Risotto Olive oil 1 cup rice 1 onion, chopped 1/2 cup lemon basil, chopped 1 tbs parsley 2 cups chicken stock Tabasco Sautonions in oil until soft, add rice to pan and coat with stock. Put into covered casserole. Add lemon basil, parsley, stock and a little Tabasco. Cover with lid and bake at 350 F for about 30 min., until rice is cooked but there is still moisture. Add more broth if needed. NOTE: I used lemon thyme instead of the basil and added about 1 tsp finely grated lemon peel. Nancy

nancy, thanks for the pumpkin recipe. i copied and saved it. i'm going to try this before thanksgiving and if all goes well, offer it as a dessert.

maryanne

Nancy, I wish we had been able to meet in MI! But glad that you were able to meet Elery and he is so nice and interesting too!

Your dinner looks scrumptious!!!

I would love the recipe for the Wine Jam, please.

Don't wait to taste Jessy's Fig Preserves, just with a spoon out of the jar they are fabulous! I keep putting the jar towards the back of the frig hoping Joe will not be able to find it and the next day it is up front again.

Michelle

Michelle, I don't have the recipe yet...work in progress type of thing. I bought the type of wine I want to use but probably can't get to it for a while. I'll share if/when I get it made...I just hope it turns out.

Nancy

It all looks and sounds wonderful - the friends and the food.

What a lovely get together; thanks for sharing it with us.

Lee

You lucky ducks! I know you guys had a great time and the food looks like it was to die for.

Thanks for sharing!

Looks like a good time all around. The great food is almost a given, imho.

Annie and Nancy ...how much of a drive is it between your two homes? And did you use long grain or arborio rice for that risotto? I'm in the mood for one now that we have cool weather and may try this instead of the pressure cooker way.

Keep visiting each other, my friends!! We love to share your fun. Maureen

How nice! You are one heck of a gourmet cook and hostess, Nancy! I remember the wonderful dinner you fixed when I came to Cary. So nice to have a face for Kim and great pic of Annie.

That salad is one I'll have to try, although I won't have the cherry vinaigrette. :(

Teresa

I'm so jealous!

WHat a great night. I'm glad ou had such a great time and ate such wonderful food.

AM

Thanks for the recipes, Nancy!

I had the same question as Maureen. Did you use arborio rice?

Beautiful! and I know from experience tht Nancy's stuff is not only beautiful, but it tastes fabulous! Good job. Can't wait to see you again, Nancy, in a couple of weeks. Nice jacket, Annie, LOL.
Sherry

drool....

What a great meal, and of course, the company was even better!

Sounds like you all had a fabulous evening!

Linda

oh nancy--you set a beautiful table and how good of you to share the lake perch--that had to have been a real treat! and i was happy to see kim and annie too! not a doubt in my mind that everyone had a great evening (and i just LOVE your wall color!).

I refuse to participate in this thread until I see a picture of Elery.

(but I'm glad you all had a great time and ANNIE YOU LOOK GREAT!)

Yeah I'm curious about the risotto too. I love the stuff. The kids don't :-(

It all looks wonderful, the food, the table and the people. Yes too bad we can't see Elery and you Nancy.

How good it is that you can all meet up together and share each other's company with such a lovely meal! The menu is perfect.

SharonCb

That is so great that you all can get together for dinner seemingly on a whim! Nancy, your meals are amazing and just so casual.

Good thing Elory doesn't think these get togethers of virtual friends isn't...weird.

What a lovely dinner party...the food looks so great!!

Great pics too! Copied and pasted LOL

Linda

Wow, great gathering! Dang, that Annie continues to look hot, doesn't she? Caliente!

Your meal looks wonderful, makes me want some fresh caught perch.

Good friends, good meal, it doesn't get any better than that.

Thanks for the recipes, the pumpkin strudels look divine!

Thanks for sharing your evening with us....must have been a nice night as I see the porch/back door is open. So, when are you opening the B&B Nancy??? The food looks and sounds great as well as the company.

David

Lake Perch!!!!!!!! Just goes to show what really special company Annie and Elery are! Guess I best go back up and see what else was for dinner....I lost it at the sight of the perch.

What a great evening you all must have had!

Yummy food and company!

Very cool!

Wizard - you entertain really well and I love having a peek when you do - great menu and atmosphere as always!

Looking good, Annie!

Finally, I'm back! After I had dinner with Nancy and Kim we went to Ohio to visit Elery's Dad. Elery just left this morning and I came back to work.

First, I have to say that Nancy and Kim are perfect, wonderful, gracious hostesses. Oh, and Roxie makes the perfect "greeter". (grin)

Elery really enjoyed meeting both Nancy and Kim, and had a very nice chat with Kim about making wine and fishing in Lake Erie while Nancy and I were discussing cooking, the forum, the upcoming November get together in Tennessee and, well, everything! And no, Kathy, Elery doesn't think these get-togethers are weird, although he still smiles when we start taking pictures of the food, LOL.

The croissants were to die for, they were so good. The wine jelly was really good but the croissants didn't need one darned thing. Elery ate two, and he never does that, although he loves bread of any type. The lake perch, well, it's my absolute favorite food, bar none, and this was fresh and perfectly cooked by Nancy. I don't need tartar sauce or lemon or anything else, just the perch!

The risotto was very good, done in the oven and so were the snap peas. The pumpkin strudel, though, that was exceptional and thank you, Nancy, for posting that recipe. Elery doesn't eat dessert, but he sure liked that one and said it was a lot easier than the pumpkin cheesecake he usually makes for Thanksgiving. I think that strudel is going to make an appearance at his family holidays this year.

We sat around, ate, gossiped, talked, drank, ate some more. When Elery finally interrupted Nancy and I, talking over coffee, it was nearly 10:30 and we'd spent 5 hours with Nancy and Kim. The time just flew by.

The food was great, of course, but the company was the best part.

And yes, Sherry, that jacket does fit perfectly, doesn't it? LOL It was a gift from Sherry at the Michigan Run!

As usual, the photos are blocked because I'm at work and their firewall doesn't allow anything from photobucket, but I'll check them at home. I'm trusting Nancy not to post any pictures that looked bad. (grin)

Thank you Jessica and Diana, for the compliments. I gotta stay in shape, you know, if I'm gonna come to California in February and wear all those summer clothes! I'm really looking forward to seeing Jessica again and to meeting Diana.

Elery thinks this is great fun, and since he loves to cook, he feels pretty much at home in the conversations and likes the idea that I have friends all over the world.

Annie

As usual, I forgot to answer a question: Maureen, how far we are apart depends on who is driving, LOL. It takes me about 3 hours to get to Nancy's, but she might be able to come to my house in less, it's downhill! (grin)

BTW, Nancy, thanks for the directions to that farm market, I was very impressed. I didn't buy anything but Elery bought some brussels sprouts and a head of cauliflower, some herbs and a half dozen apples to eat on the way home.

Annie