Time For The Church Chicks!

Last night was my ladies church group get together. I of course waited until the last minute to decide what to bring.  I do not know why I cannot make a decision this easy!  I will be looking at recipes, eating at other peoples houses or watching a show on TV and will think "I need to bring that to the next church chicks!". The time comes that we have another get together and bam, idea gone!

So there I was at work yesterday in a panic, what could I bring?  Now, World Market is filled with yummy goodness.  I could take the easy way out and just bring a bottle of wine, goodness knows there is enough of that and all the reds are on sale!  For some reason though, I just cannot bring myself to do something that simple.  It feels like cheating somehow.  When I first went, my friend Jan brought me and she said "We all bring something special that we make very well and than we put it on our best dish".  I have lived by this since then.  I suspect that may be where the problem comes in, I need to wow everyone.  My solution came very simply though.  I had a customer that was looking for Madeline cookies.  I have been curious about them since we started carrying them, they just looked so interesting.  This nice lady told me they taste like little pound cakes and are absolutely delicious.  An idea was born!  So here is what I did...

Madeline Strawberry Cakes
1 pkg Madelines cut in half the long way
1 small container whipping cream
1 Tbl sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Strawberry's cleaned and sliced

Whip the cream until soft peaks appear (about 5 minutes) add the sugar and the vanilla, mix until blended.  Do not over whip the cream or you can have something that looks close to butter (been there done that).  Put a dollop of whipped cream on each one (you can be fairly generous with this), place a strawberry on top.  Repeat with all the Madelines placing them on a pretty dish as you go along. 

I took these and put them in the freezer for about a half an hour before I left just to make sure the cream was firm and it wouldn't droop all over everything by the time we would be eating dessert.

It could not have been easier, I had more than enough for the 30 ladies that were there last night and they were a big hit.  Best of all it was cheap!  The Madelines were 3.99 for a package of 16, which makes 32 little desserts.  The cream was 1.70 and I have no idea how much the strawberries were as I had bought them on my last shopping trip.  I probably used about 10 strawberries all told.  The entire thing cost me maybe 7.00 which is not inexpensive but still not a budget breaker!

Shrimp Filled Deviled Eggs And The Church Chicks

Tonight, I am meeting with a group of my Lady friends for what is called "The Church Chicks".  Some in the group disapprove of this name but I am rather fond of it.  Michael likes to call it "The Dinner Divas"which I think sounds far worse.  We get together about once a month at someones house and everyone brings something to eat or some wine (you can never have enough wine).  You never know what will show up or how many ladies will come but somehow it always works out.   We sit around drinking wine, eating great food and visiting.

Every time I go, I think ahead of what to make but always wind up in a panic situation on the given day.  This time is different!  I decided to bring deviled eggs.  Now southerners claim ownership of deviled eggs but I, a confirmed Yankee, have always eaten deviled eggs.  My mother and grandmother (both definitely Yankees) made deviled eggs and I have seen deviled egg recipes on a food blog I follow from the UK.  I suspect deviled eggs are not really southern.

SHRIMP FILLED DEVILED EGGS

COOKS.COM

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6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon French's mustard
dash Tabasco sauce
salt, to taste
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
6 medium cooked shrimp, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped

Cut peeled eggs lengthwise into halves. Slip out yolks; mash with fork. Stir in Miracle Whip, mustard, Tabasco, garlic powder and salt; taste and adjust seasonings.
Stir in shrimp and minced green onions. Fill whites with egg yolk mixture, forming a slightly rounded top, or pipe through a decorative pastry bag or cookie shooter.
Arrange on a serving dish.
Cover tightly and refrigerate.
Garnish with paprika and chopped fresh parsley before serving, if desired.
Yields 12 deviled eggs.
Submitted by: CM
 
So I started with this.  Miracle Whip is not allowed in this house, we are Hellman's through and we only use brown mustards (ewwww yellow mustard is only allowed at the ballpark!).  The only other adjustments I made were some pepper and minced yellow onion and capers to replace the green onions.  I pulled out the old Mirro Cookie Press and viola, they even look good!  I quess the best part was they are pretty dern tasty!