Boat Club for November

I slept in this morning, I was tired.    I kinda got busy yesterday cleaning and cooking and cleaning some more.   And my kitchen still looked like a disaster area, sigh. 

We had Boat Club last night and I decided to make two things for it.  I'd been given some Persimmons by a friend and wanted to try making a cake from them, and I also had some potatoes I'd bought the last time I was in the 'big city,' and had planned on using them in some kind of dish. 

I decided to make some Smash Taters and they went over well.

However, I know you're dying to see what great dishes were brought and shared.   

You are, aren't you? 

Too bad, cause here they are:

First off, the appetizers...

 I love cream cheese with any kind of jelly topping, hot or sweet, and these had chopped pecans as well.   

 In the middle were Chinese Eggplant slices, and around that were a Zucchini Fritter.   I managed to taste one of each before they were totally consumed.     

 Nacho boats.   Cheese, peppers in little chip boats, really tasty.

 I had to kinda maneuver and take a picture from overhead for this fun cheese plate.  Boursin cheese in the little foil container, plus lovely heirloom tomatoes cuddling up with some mozzarella. 

 And for more of a healthy take, how about some Papaya chunks, with Kiwi hats, and fresh Rosemary on the plate as well.   As you can tell, I didn't get to the plate before people started eating them.    I do love a nice fresh papaya.  

And there's the Pineapple and you can see the Santa toothpick holder in the background.  
I know you wait to see him in every post where we have a round up of great dishes.








Next up, the side dishes and the main dishes.

 There was this gorgeous salad, and I didn't get a shot of the beautiful wooden bowl it was served in.

 From scratch, Mac and Cheese bake, using several different cheeses.   And you know I had a generous helping of it.   I do love my pasta

 There was  huge platter of ham, and it didn't take long to disappear either.   

One of these days, I have to learn how to cook a ham so it doesn't dry out.  sigh.

 I've had this before.   Cheesy Potatoes.   Decadent, rich and so very good.  

 I made some Smash Taters, and ummm, I forgot to sprinkle some salt on top after I cooked them, but people ate them anyway.   I'll share the how-to's later on this week.  

 Caprese Tomatoes with Mozzarella and a lovely sprinkle of fresh parsley.   I could just eat these by themselves, with maybe a slice of good home made bread. 

 I guess it was a potato kind of night?   At any rate there were also some great broad beans and red potatoes brought.   I'd never had potatoes and beans cooked together before coming south, but I like them.  

 Cauliflower in Cheese sauce.  The picture doesn't do the dish justice.  But it was very good.  

Then there was this Fish dish.  I don't know what to call it, but it was very tasty and went well with the potatoes. 











And now for the desserts.      And as usual, we had some very good ones.  

I made a Persimmon Pudding Cake with a Cream Cheese Marshmallow Fluff frosting.  

I'll be sharing the how to's and what not to do, later on this week.   

 We had a yummy Banana Cake brought, with a lovely creamy frosting.  

And there was a Cherry Cheesecake as well.  


And for a change, I actually sampled all the desserts and I can tell you, they were all good.









Well, that's the round up for this month.   I need to go take a long hike to try to burn off some of the calories from last night.   

Gotta start planning what I'm going to make for the next Tapas Night. 

I've got ideas...