FINAL POTLUCK WITH THE HOME TEACHERS

This week is a sad one, for one reason. One of our favorite home teachers from this ward is leaving for Lubbock, Texas for a new job. He invited the 19 Somerset gals and his old companion over for a potluck supper at his home tonight. He wanted to make dessert for us, because he found a fabulous recipe for Praline Pecan Cheesecake (mmmmmmm).... So, Emily and Lindsay embarked on a new adventure by creating a beef stew. Lindsay found a recipe online for a curry beef stew, but we deviated a bit. What else is new? We cooked the meat with flour and a myriad of spices such as curry, ginger, garlic powder, etc. We added fresh vegetables and let it simmer before and during stake choir practice, while making some rolls to go with it. It turned out pretty well - we learned something, though. Turns out, cinnamon actually brings out the taste of curry! Weird, huh? So there was a cinnamon-y sort of twist, but it was delectable, and made the guys happy. ;)

Honestly, Lee and Brian were fantastic home teachers. They were incredibly faithful, always checked on us and became very dear friends of ours. We're grateful to have gotten to know them, and are sad to see Lee go, but are thrilled that he gets to embark on a new journey in Texas. And we're glad that we had an excuse to cook again! :P

MEXICAN NIGHT

On Saturday we shared our cooking adventure with our friends Brynn and Michelle. :) We had an evening of Latin foods, which were quite fantastic! Michelle made stacked enchiladas for us, an old family recipe that they eat during the holidays; Brynn made a tasty salad; and the girls from 19 Somerset brought what was supposed to be a 7-layer bean dip. It turned out to be something like 10 layers, but that's ok. In this dip, we incorporated re-fried beans (of course), homemade "garlicky guacamole" from a Southern BBQ cookbook that belongs to Emily's dad, sour cream, jalapenos, olives, tomatoes, fire roasted green chilies, lettuce, green onions, cheese. Intense. Pictures to follow! Hope you enjoy!

LASAGNA

Our first entry features the Italian dish known as Lasagna. We tried to follow the recipe on the back of the pasta box but were thwarted by the unreasonable call for TWO POUNDS of Ricotta cheese. Yes, two pounds. Gross. We added cottage cheese and extra mozzarella to make it work. Emily also had issues knowing when the layers needed to begin and end, so it looks a little strange, but it actually tasted ok. Not bad for a first attempt.