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Buon compleanno, Laura! – Simple Italian Evening

For our February get-together, the only day that worked for us to all get together, ended up being Laura’s birthday. So, we let the birthday girl decide 🙂 Her vote? Pizza and amazing birthday desserts!

Stacey managed to come up with a theme that would encompass all of this: a “Simple Italian Evening“. In the end, it turned out to be a bit more elaborate than we had planned, but we couldn’t hold back on our birthday girl 🙂 Everything was really amazing…plus, Laura was able to invite some other close friends to celebrate the event!

Theme: Simple Italian.

Appetizer – Kelly – Mixed Antipasto. This had a 4 fork rating on epicurious….we agreed!
Salad (served w/ the Pizza) – Stacey –Roasted Beet, Goat Cheese, and Arugula Salad from FoodTV’s resident Italian chef: Giada De Laurentiis!
Pizza – Meredith – The pizza girls went ALL out. They each made TWO different kinds of pizza! It was a lot of work for one evening, but great to try out a lot of different recipes. Mer made a Carmelized Onion Mushroom Pizza and a Barbeque Chicken Pizza
Pizza – Erin – …while Erin created a Mozzererlla/Tomatoe Pizza and a very creative Apple, Ham, and Cheddar Pizza. What variety!
Dessert –  Tara – Since Chocolate is ABOVE AND BEYOND Laura’s favorite, Tara stepped up to make the decadent b-day dessert. There isn’t a link, but Tara typed out her recipe and notes for us! Enjoy:
To go along with the simple yet delicious theme 🙂 here is my recipe:

    1 box cake mix

    1 box instant pudding

    1 cup sour cream

    1/2 cup oil

    1/2 cup water

    4 eggs

    1 bag chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees in bundt cake pan for 60 minutes.

You may substitute any kind of cake mix & pudding you want, and then decorate with anything you want! I used chocolate fudge Dunken Hynes cake mix, milk chocolate instant pudding, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I frosted with whipped milk chocolate frosting (microwaved for ~ 20 seconds to soften prior to frosting) and topped with cut up Reese’s peanut butter cups.
(I also made another cake for the next evening using DH french vanilla cake mix, vanilla instant pudding, and butterscotch chips. I topped with whipped cream cheese frosting and cut up Butterfinger. It was AMAZING.)

Also, just an FYI, I’ve tried adjusting with light sour cream, egg substitute, etc. and it does not turn out nearly as good, as we might all imagine! Stick with the good stuff while baking, and then just try not to eat too much of it! 🙂   (From our Clinical Dietician!)
Dessert – Sarah – Tiramisu – To stick to our theme we had a traditional italian dessert as well. For a first try Sarah, you knocked this out of the park! She was worried, having prepped it the night before as suggested, but sitting overnight, the flavors melded together perfectly. She made something that sounds difficult, perfectly! (the link also includes a video tutorial 🙂
Before/After Dinner Drink – Kim – Italian Bellinis
Kitchen Helper/Music – No one – we miss you Kat!
Wine – Our guests brought a few bottles…thanks David, Kristin, Rob, Sam, and Trevor! It was great having you there to help celebrate Laura’s birthday dinner 🙂

MORE LINKS TO COME!!! I need all the girls to send their recipe linke my way 🙂

Prepping in the Kitchen!

Happy Birthday!

Roasting the beets for the salad.

Close up! - They look delicious!

The table - somehow we fit 13 in this small space...it was tight! Good thing we know each other well.

Some of the cooks in the kitchen 🙂

Frosting the cake with chocolatey decadence!

More prep...

more visiting 🙂

Pizza preparations!

Mixed Antipasto

Individual antipasto plates!

A variety of the pizzas and the roasted beet salad.

Tiramisu!

Looks like a professional! Great job on all the layers, Sarah! This was fantastic 🙂

Birthday decadence!

Chocolate and peanut butter 🙂 Tara's dessert creation!

A great night for the birthday girl!

Work in progress!!!

About Chefs’ Club

We are a crew of 9 women in our late 20’s/early 30’s living in the charming city of Boston, who get together on a monthly basis to whip up dinner together in our all-too tiny Boston apartments. It’s definitely close quarters, but tons of fun: enjoying learning how to cook, eating gourmet meals, and the company of awesome friends. Come join in on the adventure…

All the girls! February 2009 - Chefs' Club's First Guest Dinner.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup from our very FIRST Chefs' Club evening.

Introducing the Chefs:
Chef Erin:

Hi, I'm Erin. As one in the mix of this amazing group of ladies, I love calling Boston home after moving here in 2002 from CT. I enjoy the laughter, silliness and challenges that often accompany my work as a child speech-language pathologist. And, while Boston weather can be somewhat unpredictable - like snow in October - what is not, is how great spending time is with amazing friends and the joy I find in attending my church, and running season after season along the Charles River, one of Boston's most beautiful places! As a baker at heart and somewhat obsessive about cake decorating, I've found Chefs' Club to be a culinary adventure, which I've been so happy to embark upon with my fellow Chefs!
Chef Kelly B:

I'm a Midwestern girl with a flair for all things French :) I moved out to Boston in 2004 from Ohio to study French and Teaching and never left! I love the charming brownstones, the Charles river, and the walk-ability of this city. It's far from home, but my solid group of friends has become my east coast family. As for cooking, I love the creativity it offers...I just don't enjoy slaving away alone in the kitchen. For me, Chefs' Club is the perfect way to learn new things, to create a beautiful product, and most importantly, to invest quality time into my friendships.
Chef Kelly J:

Kelly, originally from Philly, moved out to Boston from Chicago a couple of years back with her husband. They now have an exciting addition to the family: a new baby girl!
Chef Kim:

hi, my name is kimberlyn, kim to many and kimber to a few. I'm not much of a gourmet cook but do enjoy eating yummy food, and don't have much patience when I'm hungry! so... my recipes tend to be simple and most of the time, healthy. i work as a nurse practitioner in a community health center in boston, and i love this city - i love that i can walk all over it, run the charles river through all the seasons, i'm never far from the beach or the mountains, and i get to share life with some of the best girlfriends in the world!
Chef Laura:

When they aren't making new recipes for Chefs' Club, my hands are busy (literally) signing as I near my goal of becoming a sign language interpreter! Born and raised outside Philadelphia, I have enjoyed calling Boston home for the past 6 years.
Chef Meredith:

Raised in Virginia, I love everything about this beautiful Northeast city except the weather. I moved to New England with minimal cooking skills and have learned more than a few things from this fantastic Chefs’ Club experience. I work in higher ed financial aid, and love being active outside, exploring Boston with friends, and tackling recipes (and life!) in the kitchen with these wonderful girls.
Chef Sarah:

This West Coast girl moved to Boston 9 years ago, and I love working with kids in the city as a teacher, camp director, and nanny. I am on the continual search for the perfect Chefs' Club kitchen, and am now moving into my third home since CC started in November of 2008!!
Chef Stacey:

Hi, I'm Stacey, originally from California but have now lived in Boston for over 9 years! I love it out here! Having wonderful friends who live life to the fullest makes life super fun! When I'm not cooking, or traveling, or hiking or beaching it, I'm having fun doing epidemiology at Harvard - specifically studying lifestyle factors that may be associated with prostate cancer risk or survival. I especially enjoy studying dietary factors - I get to think about food and help men live longer and healthier lives at the same time! What could be better?! :)
(Chef Tara):

My love for cooking as a youth was renewed when Chef's Club began! I enjoy finding new recipes, implementing them at monthly Chef's Club, and now cooking nightly dinners with my new husband! I'm originally from California, but moved to Boston 5 years ago, and work as a clinical dietitian. My husband and I hope to one day own a bakery. Recently moved to Chicago with her husband and baby boy.
(Chef Kathleen:)

I moved to Boston in 2006 anticipating my stay as a travel nurse to be less than a year. Thankfully God had different plans. I met my wonderful husband and an incredible community of friends. As a newly wed the Chef's Club began at the perfect time. Not only did CC helped cultivate a love for the culinary process, but more important than any skill set it helped to develop sincere friendships. In CC you learn, laugh and invest in one another, while you cook. This camaraderie has been sorely missed as we have recently relocated to Philadelphia. (Kat -- you are missed by us, too!)
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Laurie Colwin

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers."
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"Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music."
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"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
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Buon compleanno, Laura! – Simple Italian Evening

About Chefs’ Club

Introducing the Chefs:

Chef Erin:

Chef Kelly B:

Chef Kelly J:

Chef Kim:

Chef Laura:

Chef Meredith:

Chef Sarah:

Chef Stacey:

(Chef Tara):

(Chef Kathleen:)

Archives

Laurie Colwin

Julia Child

Harriet van Horne

Tags for Chefs’ Club

Meta

Blog Stats

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