Celebrate Colorado!
1. Unusual Flavor Combos, 2. The Spread, 3. The Tea Takers, 4. Cour de la Creme - After
On Sunday afternoon some of the SnB regulars gathered at my house for another knitting tea/luncheon. The theme this time around was Colorado so we could expose Lizzy B to as much Colorado as we could in the three short days she spent with us.
We filled the table with as much food stuffs from Colorado as we could possible eat (plus some). I enlisted much help from DH who provided homemade gouda and mozzarella as well as a cour de la creme (a sweetened and whipped homemade cream cheese molded into a heart and covered with raspberry sauce). He also made the cream scones since he has the most experience with the recipe. I guess I provided the presentation and the chicken salad, crackers, cookies and the tea.
I do have to pipe up here - I did a fair bit of work on the cream cheese that went into the cour de la creme! DH put it together and such, but I had to do the draining of it as it sits and acidifies and forms the curd over 16-18 hours which meant no matter what time he started it, it would need draining while he was at work. I’m a cheesemaker too! Well, sort of…
Ashley brought with her some wonderful Colorado preserves. One was an organic apple-pear butter from a westen slope company called Ela Family Farms. The other was a somewhat unusual (though kind of normal for this region’s cuisine) organic apricot pepper jam from Plum Daisy also located on the western slope. They were both hits with everyone! She also shared with us a Colorado wine that she had taken with her to Denmark on several occasions and I can understand why! It was a 2004 Riesling from Plum Creek that was a perfect accompaniment to our luncheon. In fact, we plan to add some bottles of it to our wine cellar.
Snow brought a wonderful savory tomato bread and some herbed butter from a wonderful bavarian bakery in the area. Then Amanda contributed some local fibery goodness in the form of hand dyed skeins of Luna, a fingering weight textured rayon yarn, from Textiles a Mano in colors appropriate for each of us. I of course got green! I can’t imagine why? LOL!
I heard Snow (who as I understand will also be posting about the tea today) whisper about sneaking some of the chicken salad home to take for lunch on Monday so I’ll share the recipe here…
Kristi’s Chicken Salad
1 8-oz Box of Medium Shell Pasta, cooked, rinsed and chilled
1 Red Pepper, finely diced
3 Green Onions, finely chopped
1.5 - 2 C Seedles Grapes (red or green), halved
1.5-2 C Chicken Breast, seasoned, cooked, cubed
1/2 - 3/4 C Pine Nuts or Slivered Almonds, toasted (optional)
For Dressing:
1.5 C Light Miracle Whip
1/4 C Lemon Juice
1/2 C Sugar
2 t Kosher Salt
Pepper to Taste
Water for Consistency
Season ~2 chicken breasts as desired (I use a bit of lemon pepper and garlic powder and a touch of salt) and grill or cook on stove top. Set aside to cool. Mix together the dressing in a large bowl and add water as needed to achieve a table cream consistency. Chop the fruit and vegetables and add to dressing with pasta. Cube the cooled chicken and add to salad. Mix. Chill 2-3 hours before serving. Add nuts if desired.
Because I was unsure of allergy issues I didn’t add the nuts. But, this salad is great as a warm weather lunch. Just serve over a bed of mixed greens or butter lettuce with a tall glass of iced tea! It is one of my favorite summertime lunches.
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