oh my. what delightful time! I hope you did more than eat *grin*

What fun!! Did miss Emma sample any of the goodies?

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a fun get-together and the food looks and sounds delicious! I'm looking up that cake and pancake recipe now.

Glad you got to see your old friend and have an enjoyable weekend.

It sounds like great fun!

I am VERY interested in those lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry topping!

LindaC, of course Miss Emma got samples. She liked the venison, but really, really, liked the moose. And the cheese, of course. She enjoyed the food so much she had a little bit of tummy upset, so we had to ration out the treats a bit.

Bragu, I didn't want to venture out to anywhere with a lot of people, we're in a "high transmission" area, so we visited the self serve orchard, a small farmers' market and the meat market, but mostly just hung out and caught up. And cooked and ate, of course.

Nancyjane, the pancakes were very good, nice and tender. The recipe was posted here a lot, and I saved it, this was finally my chance to make them. I think it came from cookingrvc. I did add the juice from the lemon I used for the zest although the recipe didn't call for it, just because I like lemon. It wasn't extremely juice, so I got maybe a tablespoon or a bit more of juice.

Lemon-Ricotta Hot Cakes

6 large eggs,separated
1 1/2 c whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T lemon zest
Powdered sugar for dusting
Heat a griddle.
Whip egg whites until they hold firm glossy peaks, and set aside. Beat ricotta, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla together and set aside. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and zest. With a rubber spatula, stir dry ingredients gently into the ricotta mixture. Stir a spoonful of whipped egg whites into the batter then gently fold
in the remainder.
Grease the heated griddle, if necessary. Drop 3 tablespoons of batter for each hotcake on the griddle, allowing space for spreading.
Cook until golden on the bottom and the top shows a bubble or two. Gently flip, and cook until undersides are light brown. Dust with powdered sugar.

The blueberry topping was jut a jar of my home canned blueberry syrup, but it topped off those cakes very nicely.

Annie

Thanks for posting that recipe for the pancakes Annie. I had one and then lost it. Sort of like cheese blintzes deconstructed, which is fine by me, without farmer's or pot cheese (the truly dry style cottage cheeses) they come out too runny for my taste anyway.

Miss you guys. Some of the best CF cooks ever!! Living from your gardens and market trips vicariously. I got so burned out from caring for and processing tomatoes that I have not done much in the garden since as far as produce. Focusing on perennials, shrubs, trees and leaves and a puppy who tries to eat every kind of detritus imaginable. Plus I have canned up enough pickles and pickled peppers to last my whole life I imagine. Loved your charcuterie board. I'm working on a set of condiments to give to a friend as a gift along with a board and some small condiment serving dishes to go along. Liked hearing about your combinations and seeing the presentation.

That cafeteria cake intrigues me. I once visited a restaurant in upstate New York that was famous for a similar cake and I've always been in search of the copycat recipe. They served theirs with warm "cake gravy" which would be similar to poking holes in the cake for the glaze . . . some time when you're not too busy I'd love that recipe too.

Nice you got to see each other again. Being October, I’ve had Rouladen on my mind. Come to think of it I found the meat on sale last week but I forgot to get it. Maybe next week. Anyway, glad you had fun!

Ditto! I know it was a fun and delicious visit! I think fondly of our former get-togethers and wish I lived closer!

I miss you too, L, and your DH. My life is crazy busy, but I need to make more time for friends, I'm missing out....

Ellen, maybe you could take the long way when you are visiting your family? The really long way, LOL.

FOAS, I was confusing rouladen with braciole, and thought "that's not anything like the stuff I made, and then Peppi reminded me that we made braciole with Cathy/Mustangs. Sometimes I shake my head at myself, sheesh.

Ah, the Cafeteria Lady Cake. It would be good with "cake gravy" and I also think it would be good with caramel icing or a drizzle of caramel sauce, kind of a caramel apple thing going on. It's super easy too, no creaming of the fat/sugar mixture, no sifting of flour or beating of egg whites or even separating the eggs. Just mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients, stir 'em up, pour in a pan and bake it. Super simple!

Anyway, it's here, Peppi found it for me so I didn't have to type the whole thing! She's such a sweetheart.

https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/cafeteria-lady-cake-cooking-through-my-collection

Annie

I buy braciole meat for rouladen. When I can find it nice and thin. Sometimes they cut it like a half inch thick and I don’t want to deal with trying to pound that out. I make rouladen pretty much as you describe above, though I don’t bother to precook the onions any. They cook long enough in the rollups.

Annie summed up the weekend beautifully. I had a great time and it was time for some normalcy.

LP: the cake is wonderful and old fashioned, the best kind.

FOS: I buy thin cut round steak that the store calls charcoal steaks, about 1/4 inch thick. I soften the onions in the microwave so that they are easier to roll up. I use a lot of onions in this.

Ellen, yes take the long way!

Linda, you bet she partook of the food and was in heaven.

Bragu: We ate, we talked and we relaxed. And we shopped local, places I don't have in Chicago.

Emma and I miss you and Elery also. It is too quiet here..