Cooking with the Dillmans: Book Club Menu

I love hosting people in our home. It's first off, a great excuse to clean my house and reorganize as well as add some things that I might not have been in a rush to do so (more on the changes later!) But also because we get to cook yummy food for our friends. Book club is one of my favorite excuses!!

Since I work late during the week I needed a book club menu that was super easy and that I could prepare almost perfectly ahead of time. I thought about different appetizers but I just didn't want too many options so I decided to make a meal.

We're going Country ladies and gents! 

• Crock Pot BBQ
• Baked Mac and Cheese
• Banana Pudding Trifle
• Caterpillar Veggie Tray
• Fruit Salad

I found this recipe for BBQ in the crock pot which is the perfect solution to being at work all day and needing something ready when I get home. I've made BBQ in my crockpot before with a dumbed down recipe of a bottle of BBQ sauce and a can of coke and it was pretty good but not like I'm used to. (I guess because I love a vinegar based BBQ because I'm from Eastern NC!) I also LOVE to serve the BBQ on mini Hawaiian rolls, they just taste a bit better. I also had to serve coleslaw on the side because I love coleslaw on my BBQ sandwiches. The bbq came out great and it's such an easy week night meal. We made nachos the next day and they were even better!!

 via pinterest

Next on deck was Mac and Cheese. I do LOVE Stouffer's mac and cheese, it's quite amazing if you haven't tried it, but I thought I'd step up my game for book club. I decided on a baked mac and cheese so I could whip the ingredients almost before go-time, and pop it in the oven to be done once everyone was here. I found this recipe for classic baked mac and cheese and shredded my own cheddar the night before. The recipe came out OK, I had rushed it and wanted enough noodles so there were too many noodles and I don't feel like they cooked all the way.

Of course we had to have dessert! Since we were going with the southern theme, there's nothing more southern than banana pudding, plus I love banana pudding. We had received a trifle bowl as a wedding present so I occasionally pull it out and make a nice dessert. I found this recipe that was an adaptation of "not yo' momma's banana pudding" by Paula Deen. Although I could NOT find cheesman cookies, I went with vanilla wafers because I still love those as well!! The dessert came out so good and everyone loved it!

 

via pinterest

During our book club we also surprised my friend who is expecting a baby girl with a book shower! We get to shower the new baby with tons of books for their shelves for years to come. I just happened to walk into Old Navy one day and see the Very Hungry Caterpillar pull toy and picked it up because it was adorable! So then of course I bought the book and also decided on making a little veggie tray to honor her again! I found the inspiration on Pinterest of course. I used cucumbers, green peppers, sugar snap peas and a babybel cheese as the head!

  via pinterest

Everything was delish! We also had a great time discussing Me Before You, it was a great book that we all really enjoyed and one that really made you think about all the different purposes and decisions we make as humans. Between our own self, those we love and those who come into our lives unexpectedly. I highly recommend reading it!!

xoxo,
Amanda