Greek Tortellini Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (9 ounce) packages cheese tortellini
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup slivered red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tortellini, and cook for 7 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, parsley, oregano, and salt. Place the cooked tortellini in the bowl, and toss to coat. Cover, and chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Mix the spinach, feta cheese, onion, and tomatoes into the bowl with the pasta.
   

Bread Pudding

Ingredients
6 cups of stale French bread
1 quart milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup bourbon
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions
Soak the bread, which has been broken into small pieces, in the milk. Cream well the butter and sugar, and add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon, then the raisins, pecans and bourbon. Mix with soaked bread and pour into a 13X9 glass rectangle pan or 3-quart glass baking dish. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm with cool whip topping or vanilla ice cream.

Baklava

Baklava

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package fillo dough
1 pound chopped nuts (recommend Walnuts)
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (recommend adding more cinnamon to enhance flavor)
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey (recommend adding more honey to enhance flavor)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll fillo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover fillo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 45 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it's wrapped up.

Cajun Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Cajun Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
4 tbsp butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing
4 medium yams or sweet potatoes , peeled
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
pecans (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Cut each of the yams into 8 evenly shaped wedges. Lay them out in the prepared baking dish in an even layer. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and allow to dissolve. Mix in syrup and cook until smooth. Pour the glaze over the yams and sprinkle with nutmeg. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for about 45 minutes or until the yams are tender when pierced with a fork but they still hold their shape. PS. You can sprinkle pecans over the sweet potatoes.

Contributed by Steve

Mint Juleps

Ingredients:
* 2 shots bourbon
* 2 teaspoons of mint syrup (see below)
* handful of crushed icemint leaf for garnish

Mint Simple Syrup:

* 8-10 mint leaves chopped
* 1 cup of water
* 1 cup of granulated sugar

Place all ingredients into sauce pan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Strain the mixture into a container and chill in refrigerator.

Directions:
Mix bourbon and syrup in glass, top off with ice and stir. Drink responsibly (or not).

{Recipe Source}

-Contributed by Kellie :)

welcome!

Welcome to the shiny new blog for our cooking club! Here's how it's going to work:

1. This is where we can post recipes, share photos, or just blog about cooking club in general.
   
2. We will all have permissions to post things. Or you can email me your recipes and I will post them for you.
   
3. In the "Labels" field for recipe posts, type the theme (eg. "Cajun") and the type of recipe (eg. "dessert"). Use as many labels as you like (eg "vegetarian," "chocolate," etc.) This will help us organize and find things later.
4. Feel free to post pictures or anything related to the cooking club.