December gathering

The 37th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced! It's time for our 3rd annual cookie swap!! It's been a favorite! (See last 2 years' pictures here and here.)

Theme: Cookie swap!

Date & Time: Saturday, December 13th, 6:30pm (you might like to have a light dinner beforehand, because this is going to be ALL COOKIES!)

Place: Chad & Karen's

The Rules: Some of you enjoy making holiday cookies for gifts or Christmas parties, so a cookie swap will be a great way to get new recipe ideas! If EVERYONE is able to come we will have 12-15 people, but most likely closer to 10-12. So everyone can try about a few of each person's cookie (to taste at the club gathering, and to bring home and ponder later), then each person should bring about two to three dozen cookies. Also, this time it will be very important to bring copies or web links of your recipe to share! And, to get your extra cookies home, be sure to bring ziploc bags or containers.

We need signups for the following:

• 2-3 dozen cookies
• 2-3 dozen cookies
• 2-3 dozen cookies
• 2-3 dozen cookies
• 2-3 dozen cookies + drink (perhaps a holiday cider?)
• 2-3 dozen cookies + drink (perhaps a holiday punch?)
  etc. etc. etc.

To prevent duplicates, please post what kind of cookie you will be making, and hopefully we'll have a nice variety. (In other words, we shouldn't end up with six different kinds of sugar cookies, but one would be fine!) We want EVERYONE to be able to bring cookies this time (one recipe per person, not per couple). Also, if one or two can volunteer to also bring drinks of some sort, that would be great.

November gathering

The 36th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

AND, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE CLUB! In November of 2005 we launched the very first cooking club gathering, and we've been enjoying good food and fun times ever since. :) Congrats to Phil & Rose for being our longest-standing members with Chad & me, and to Kristi for being there too... except for a 2-year hiatus overseas. Haha.

Theme: 3rd annual chili cook-off!

Date & Time: Saturday, November 15th at 6:30pm

Place: Chad & Karen's

This year all rules are out the window for types of chili - all types of entries are welcome - white chili, Texas-style, Cincinnati-style, non-traditional, with beans, no beans, chicken, beef, whatever! We'll try as many types of chili as people want to bring but we also need some other signups to finish the meal, so let us know what you'll bring:

• Lots of CHILI (don't forget to bring your recipe!)
• Cornbread
• Dessert or cinnamon rolls
• Beer
• Non-alcoholic drinks
• Disposable bowls
• Toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, crackers)

See pics from last year's cookoff here.

October gathering

The 35th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Theme: Appetizers and Cocktails

Date & Time: Saturday, October 18th at 6:30pm

Place: Chad & Karen's

Special sign-up instructions:
1. Sign up in the comments for an appetizer that you'd like to bring.
2. Email Karen the list of cocktail components that you have at home and what you might like for us to make.
3. She'll email a list of needed ingredients to make some classic cocktails based on what everyone already has on hand, and then sign up for some of those ingredients (cranberry juice, cosmo / collins / sweet & sour mix, mint, etc.) here.

September gathering

The 34th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Theme: Asian Fusion (any Asian country's cuisine - Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc). Asian Fusion helpful links and signups from April 2006 are posted here for reference... pictures from the previous gathering are here (scroll down).

Date & Time: Saturday, September 20th, 2008 at 6:30pm

Place: Chad & Karen's

We need signups for the following:

• Appetizer
• Soup & Bowls
• Main Dish 1
• Main Dish 2* (if all others are taken)
• Side Dish 1
• Side Dish 2
• Dessert
• Drinks

August hiatus

There will be no August cooking club - everyone has been way too busy, so for the first time we'll take a breather to just dine and cook on our own. See you in September!!

In the meantime, learn some new food tricks here or elsewhere.

July gathering

The 33rd gathering of the Ragamffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!!

Theme: IRON CHEF - ingredient is peaches!

Date & Time: Saturday, July 19th at 6:30pm

Place: Two cooking locations - Chad & Karen's and Jill & Jonathan's. Will eat at Jill & Jonathan's.

Judges: Jason & Jennifer & Jennifer's cousin

Rules: same as last month.

June Gathering

The 32nd gathering of the Ragamffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!!

Theme: IRON CHEF - ingredient is cinnamon!

Date & Time: Saturday, June 21st at 6:30pm

Place: Two cooking locations - Chad & Karen's and Jill & Jonathan's. Will eat at Chad & Karen's.

Judges: Michael & Rebekah & Shay

Rules:

• All food must be ready to eat by 6:30pm.
• Can start cooking anytime.
• Minimum of three courses with the ingredient - you can have more, but not less.
• We expect about 20 people max, so each team must make 10 full-sized servings, and everyone will have half a serving.
• Budget for each team: $150.
• Previous year's other rules here.

May gathering

The 31st gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Since a lot of us have had a busy spring, we thought an informal dining-out option might be good for this month. Plus, we are welcoming Kristi (M.) back to the club after 2 years overseas! Also, we need to plan for next month's Iron Chef gathering.

So, the options are:

- Asian Fusion Vietnamese

- India Garden

- Furlongs (Cajun / Creole)

Votes, anyone?

We'll meet at the restaurant around 6:30pm on May 30th. Bring your thinking caps so we can decide on Iron Chef teams, theme, and other plans for June!

April gathering

The 30th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Theme: Fast Food Favorites Recreated!

Date & Time: Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 6:30pm

Place: Chad & Karen's

We need signups for the following:

• Your favorite fast food
• Your favorite fast food
• Your favorite fast food
• Your favorite fast food
• Your favorite fast food
• Your favorite fast food
• etc.

This time we want you to pick one of your favorite fast food items and recreate it at home! Because this might be a hodge-podge of items, just make enough for everyone to sample - not an entire serving for everyone. So if a dozen people will be there, maybe you'll make 4-6 hamburgers and cut them in half or thirds.

Your food might be something you can find a recipe for online, or it might be something you have to make up on your own....

It's going to be important for everyone to post their food item in the comments so that we can get a feel for what people are bringing. If we can get a variety of items, that would be great. (You know, if someone wants to make french fries as a side and someone else wants to make vanilla cokes as drinks, that would be cool. Otherwise we might all be eating entrees. But it's really up to you!)

March gathering

The 29th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!


Theme: Italian!

Date & Time: Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 6:30pm (please note that this is a week earlier than our usual schedule!)

Place: Chad & Karen's

We need signups for the following:

• Appetizer


• Soup or Salad


• Main Dish 1 - pasta


• Main Dish 2 - meat dish


• Side Dish 1
  
• Dessert


• Wine


• Non-alc drinks
  
• Bowls & cups (we should have plates & plasticware; only need bowls if a soup is coming)

For those of you that did not join us for our first Italian gathering, or those that forgot what we ate, here is a link to our menu so we don't have repeats. As you can see, we were marinara-free for our first gathering, but I doubt that will happen twice! I simply cannot wait. I LOVE ITALIAN FOOD.

Soups & Sandwiches

Tortilla & Chorizo Soup

Tortilla Soup

Sandwiches & Chips

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Black Bean & Chorizo Sandwiches w/ Guacamole


Soup & Sandwich Fixins

Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

February gathering

The 28th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Theme: Soups & Sandwiches

Date & Time: Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 6:30pm

Place: Chad & Karen's

We need signups for the following:

• Soup # 1
• Soup # 2
• Soup # 3
• Soup # 4
• Sandwich # 1
• Sandwich # 2
• Sandwich # 3
• Sandwich # 4
• Dessert (it would be great to somehow keep within the theme... maybe ice cream sandwiches or something of the like?)
• Drinks

Some of our favorite wintertime combos are soups & sandwiches. Let's try a few! We can go with old tried-and-true favorites like chicken noodle soup or club sandwiches, or go for a more unique approach. For the sandwiches, if possible, cut them into appetizer-sized samples so we can each try a bit of everything. For the soups, just make enough for everyone to sample about a half serving's worth - a regular 6-person batch will probably suffice.

Some soup recipes can be found here, and some sandwich ones here.

African cuisine

Fried Plantains with Tomato Salad

Doro Wett - Chicken Stew
Stir-fried Beef Stew

Mashed Potatoes w/ Vegetables
Leek, Apple & Feta
African Wines
Azifa - Lentils with Onions & Peppers
Injera - Bread
Chocolate Rum Cake

January gathering

The 27th gathering of the Ragamuffin Cooking Club is hereby announced!

Theme: African cuisine (Chad & Karen have a cookbook if you would like some recipe recommendations)

Date & Time: Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 6:30pm

Place: **Jonathan & Jill's** (see email for directions!)

We need signups for the following:

• Appetizer (only if we have everything else covered)-
• Main dish 1 - stew dish - Chad & Karen
• Main dish 2 - non-stew dish
• Bread - Phil & Rose
• Side dish 1 -
• Side dish 2 -
• Dessert - Jonathan & Jill
• Wine -
• Non-alcoholic drinks -
• Paper plates & bowls, cups & plasticware for up to 16 -

Hope to see you there!