Friday 2 October 2009

To the USA for $20!

Firstly, I apologise for the miniature sized pictures, which come from Google Images. I forgot to take photos...more to the point, I didn't have time before our meal was devoured!

We took a little trip at our dining table last night. All the way to America and back again, with a meal from 'The Potluck Club Cookbook'. Boy was it good!!!!

We began our journey with Sloppy Joe's, which I served with a salad of lettuce, mini roma tomatoes and cubed cheese. Of course, two of us had rye bread instead of burger buns. It didn't look anywhere near as good, but there's no point in suffering unnecessarily! I've tried making Sloppy Joe's before, but this recipe was by far the superior one. I had no idea what a 'can of chilli sauce' might be, so I simply added a bit of extra water and some cayenne pepper for the boost of flavour. Even Miss Mischief, who usually has her burger outside the bun, thought this was pretty good. I'm going to plan this for our first night camping in the future. It's way easier than regular burgers and still very quick.

Next came our dessert. A rare treat in our non-dessert home...Dh was not going to forget the cream or cinnamon I asked him to stop for with dessert on the menu! My local Safeway happened to have everything I needed, although I opted for smaller quantities than the recipe called for. Very exciting....considering all the things they don't have! The kids were a bit skeptical about the idea of marshmallows in a salad, but the taste won them over. Dh suggested this would be a great summer dessert because it was so refreshing. You know what I loved? Apart from the cream everything else comes from the pantry. YES! The recipe did call for whipped topping, but whipped cream worked perfectly well.

We all really enjoy this meal from start to finish. It was quite an adventure, as the kids had not had ambrosia salad before and none remembered having sloppy joe's. They were tickled at the idea of visiting a country via our meal table and felt that if you can't get on a plane then this is the next best way to travel.

So far, the Potluck Club Cookbook has delivered a very firm four out of four successful recipes that will be revisited in our home! I wonder what will tempt me next!

4 comments:

Left-Handed Housewife said...

My mom used to make sloppy joes when I was a kid--this is a very nostalgic meal for me! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm just sorry you had to have yours on rye bread! (Though, actually, I really do love rye bread ...)

frances

Tracy said...

Trust me, the rye was worth it. I would've been awake all night with indigestion.

Rel said...

Great to hear. I had an American friend cook us Sloppy Joes when I was a kid - loved them :)

I don't have a slow cooker - can crock pot recipes be converted to an oven??

Tracy said...

A casserole can go in the oven no problems. The Sloppy Joe recipe says to put it in the crockpot. I just did it on my stove top and simmered it for maybe 10 minutes. It was perfect.