A meal fit for a pregnant lady!

     I gained my entire pregnancy weight gain quota tonight. In ONE meal. Yep, one meal! In the words of the great Rachel Ray-Yummo! I promised I'd share our full menu from Cooking Club this evening so here you go. If you would like the full recipe, just let me know and I will be glad to email it.
     Kim made the Appetizer, Mushroom Puffs. They were sooo good! Basically it was crescent rolls with a cream cheese, mushroom, green onion mixture in the middle and then topped with poppy seeds.
     For our Soup, Julie made Pine Nut Chili. It's a chili without beans and you top it with sour cream, pine nuts and olives. I will definitely try this out on my family. The toasted pine nuts added a touch that makes it not seem like the same ole chili again.
     I had the Salad, Fresh Orange-Cranberry Salad. The ladies said it was great, but there was A LOT left over, so not guessing it was a hit.
     Sandy's Entree, Auby's Honey-Baked Turkey was absolutely perfect. You didn't taste the honey much but you could really taste the other spices that were rubbed on it. I did learn that it takes days to defrost a turkey! And that there are 2 cavities to check when removing all the little bags-good to know!
     We had two Sides. Jennifer made the Golden Potato Bake. Thinly sliced potatoes topped with seasonings and Swiss cheese. Yes, I had TWO helpings of these! Wendy made Mattie B.'s Sweet Potato Pudding. I don't eat sweet potatoes but everyone raved over the great flavor and that it could even be a dessert. The note on the recipe has a warning that this dish could steal the show from the turkey!
     Debbie made Lagniappe Spoonbread for our Bread. Yah, two helpings of this one too! I will definitely be trying this. It's a light and custardy-like cornbread baked in a 9x13 inch pan. A great alternative to the same ole bland cornbread. However, it does call for shortening and 4 eggs. Debbie served it with Earth Blend butter, which is a must on this delicious bread.
     There were two desserts, as usual!!! And both deserving of an OH MY WORD! Melanie made Peanut Butter Mousse Pie drizzled with Libby's Chocolate Sauce. In a nutshell, it tasted like a really light buckeye that you'd get at Cracker Barrel! The slice was huge, so I brought the rest of mine home for Jim to try. He loves peanut butter. Okay now, just thinking about Katherine's Praline Souffle with Caramel Sauce makes my mouth water! It was that good! And had I been in my dining room, alone, I would have licked that bowl clean! I can't wait to go buy some small ramekins so I can make this for myself! Oh, and Jim too! It had brown sugar, ground roasted pecans and a decadent caramel sauce! I think they might have this at Nick's restaurant in Jackson, MS.
     Sallie Belle wasn't there, but she sent her Beverage, Spiced Tea. We have run out of non-alcoholic drinks in our cookbook so we have bent the rules and allow outside recipes for this category. I only like spiced tea around the holidays and it must be warm! This one was decaf and had orange, lemonade and pineapple juice in it. It makes a gallon, so I might consider making it if we have company over during the holidays.
     Next month's meeting is at Melanie's house and I get to make a dessert. I'm a cooking club dork and I come home on nights like tonight and go through my cookbook and try to get an idea of what I want to make for the next time! It's in December so I am leaning toward the Apple Custard Tart. I don't have a tart pan, but maybe that'll be an early Christmas present to my kitchen! You'll just have to wait and see!