Book Club: Our Motto- "Wine a Bit- You'll Feel Better."

Last week was our book club meeting and we were the lucky hosts!
Our friends Craig, Carolee, Pam and Pete flew from San Diego to our lake house in Washington state on Lake Chelan, AKA Reed's Last Resort, and spent four days drinking wine, eating, laughing, tasting wine and oh yes, discussing books.

The book club I belonged to back in 2002 (I'm making the year up- as if I remember!) we were all women who shared a passion for books, never agreed on politics, gossiped about marriages and divorces and ended up not speaking to a few gals who continued to piss us off. But I digress. The one thing we all enjoyed was entertaining and cooking. We would read a book and pick recipes from the setting of the story. We overspent on entertaining and drank a lot, but it usually kept us from arguing. But not always.

Anyway, back to me.

This past week I cooked for the six of us. Nothing too fancy- by order of the husband who is cheap and thinks I go overboard- as if.

To prepare I made home made apple sauce and apple butter. I brought out the peaches I had canned and the strawberry-rhubarb jam. I served all this in the morning with yogurt and fresh picked blueberries.

One morning I made my own refried beans and Machaca con Huevos, a recipe from my former San Diego B&B, The Reed Ranchero. Another morning I put out my Banana Fosters Bread and the sweetest cantaloupe you've ever tasted! We stood around the kitchen- counter eating and planning our day. Oh, we had a couple of Bloody Mary's in our hands, but that makes everything so much more fun!

  Dinner was simple, peel and eat shrimp (I bought the shrimp at Pike's Place Market-yummy!) with a spicy chilpolte sauce and an even hotter chili wine. BBQ steaks and fresh salmon (Pikes Place again- don't ya love Washington!) Fresh asparagus, salad and garlic risotto. (OK, maybe not that simple.) Dessert really was simple: coffee ice cream and biscotti.


This was just a sample of the menu. I made Dagwood sandwiches with roasted turkey and roast beef on thick whole-grain bread in our van while we drove across the border into Okanagan, BC, Canada for wine tasting (10 wineries in 2 days, not bad for old people.) and another dinner and more breakfast dishes, but that's all for another day.

" I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage." Erma Bombeck. 

Reed Ranchero Machaca Con Huevos- serves 12

(Cook at least one day ahead. Can be cooked and frozen until you need it.)

1 5lb brisket or rump roast.

2 cans of  Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with chilis

3 Onions

Garlic clove

2 large cans of beer

Olive oil

Garlic salt, pepper, kosher salt, any kind of Mexican spices you want.

Braise the beef in olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large pan with a lid. After both sides are brown add all the other stuff. Cover and cook on low for 8 or so hours, pretty much until it falls apart.

Shred the beef and add to 8-10 eggs that have been scrambled with  half cup of half and half, salt and pepper. Serve with beans, salsa and tortillas and if you wish, Bloody Mary's.

Next up: Preparing and canning California Chica Mexican Salsa.