I met some great local bloggers at an event hosted by Casey from TasteStopping. Held at HomeCooked, it was to learn about Picnik, which is a free online photo editing tool. We had a couple samplings of some of the dishes that HomeCooked offers, including the pretzel-crusted chicken tenders with honey mustard and some kind of delicious buffalo dip. Both of these were quite delicious, so if this is any indication of the taste and quality of the food that you can pick up at HomeCooked or prepare yourself, then they definitely get a thumbs up from me!

Casey also brought some of these spinach pinwheels that she makes. These were not only tasty but also incredibly beautiful! They were almost too adorable to eat. But don’t worry, I ate them up!

Casey also runs Kitchen Witch, so she baked up some of her amazing cookies. The oatmeal cookies are at the top and they don’t have raisins. They’re are chewy and delicious! In the middle are the peanut butter cup cookies, which is a peanut butter cookie with peanut butter cups and semi-sweet chocolate. Man, these were beyond decadent! Lastly are the ultimate cookies. They are chocolate chip cookies with semi-sweet and milk chocolate, homemade toffee, and crunchy pecans. Well really, these are fairly decadent too! It was a fun afternoon of eating and learning with ladies who love to do the same!

2009 new year’s eve was a lovely affair with a five course meal generously provided by M and E.  I have trouble making one course meals, but M always goes all out providing course after course of fanciness. Starting off, we had various appetizers, such as these adorable salmon and cream cheeses with caper eyes. These were brought by a guest and were quite adorable and delicious. The older daughter put these eyes on.

There were also cocktails, cheese logs topped with sunflower seeds, and a red pepper dip w/crudites. I loved these pretzel chips.

Next up was a red lentil soup with firey black pepper oil. The soup was delicious! The black pepper totally gets you in the throat in the first spoonful or two, but then lets up nicely.

The entree was dark meat chicken wrapped around chicken mousse and some more white meat chicken, topped with a heavy cream sauce and fennel, and served with leeks, carrots, and green beans. Everything was excellent! Chicken mousse? Too fancy for words! The cream sauce is lick-the-plate worthy!

Next up a was a super heavy cheese plate (roquefort, brie, gouda) along with candied walnuts with a port wine reduction. I couldn’t get enough of these nuts! So damn good! We had a couple of french natives dining with us. The proper way to cut brie is to cut it vertically. To cut it horizontally is sacrilegious. So take heed! When cutting brie, cut it lengthwise!

Remember the flambeed bananas? E made them again for this party. Here’s what they look like before we lit them on fire.

There’s something about cooked bananas that I just love. It brings out the sweetness even more and after the cognac burns off with the flames, it just leaves a nice caramel taste. The ice cream is the perfect contrast. And the bacon… well, who doesn’t love bacon?

We also got to nibble on some homemade cookies that M made. Yes, she actually made these. From scratch. With her bare hands. Unbelievable! They tasted like thin mints on crack and looked professionally made! Thanks again!

M had a cookie exchange party this year. I’d never been to one, she’d never thrown one, so it was all a nice first for us all. In fact, everyone that went to the party had never been to a cookie exchange party. It was a random coincidence. We couldn’t just stuff our faces with cookies, so M had a nice spread for us. Cheese with port wine sauce. Candied walnuts. Veggie spread with spinach dip. Hummus and pita. All freakin good, especially the darn walnuts.
Some candy cane cookies, with a hint of peppermint. Peanut butter cup cookies with a whole peanut butter cup smooshed in. One of my favorites from the party.
R made some fudge and peanut with chocolate chip cookies. This from a woman who doesn’t cook at all, apparently.
A made these chocolate crinkles which were a huge hit with the kids. They totally cleared her out!
K and the kids made some sugar cookies along with chocolate espresso biscotti. I couldn’t even imagine making my own biscotti.
M, the hostest with the mostest, made these chocolate heath bar cookies. Beyond decadent!
I made some chewy gingersnaps from a random recipe I found on a fellow blog. I used fresh spices that I got from the Head Nut, so with every bite of cookie, you got a punch in the mouth with all the spices. They were a hit!