Dream Group

For over 25 years I have belonged to a group that meets once a month to discuss and analyze our dreams.  (The kind you have while you are sleeping.)  February was my month to host this event that begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends somewhere around one o'clock.  So, of course, this involves food.

It's a chance to try out new recipes as these gals are pretty adventuresome.
I started with Praline-Pecan French Toast.  (Recipe is in Southern Living, Feb. 2011).  I actually have a very similar recipe that I called Night Before French Toast so I blended the two. 

The changes I made to the magazine recipe are as follows:
8 eggs instead of 4
3 cups of milk rather than 1 cup.
My recipe says you can chill for 4-36 hours and this time I did the 36 hours.
I baked it for 45 minutes which is about 10 minutes longer than the SL recipe.

It was pretty tasty so if you can't find the recipe, just leave me a comment and I will forward it to you.  You won't be sorry.  Oh, yes, the little pitcher with the reddish sauce is for pouring over the French Toast.  It is blood red oranges with all the membranes removed.  Drizzle with a little honey, rest for 5 minutes and stir gently.

The second item on the menu was baked peaches and sausage.
Six-eight peach halves are place in a well greased glass baking dish. (pie plate works well) Pour in 1/2 cup peach juice.  Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teasp. cinnamon, and 1/4 teasp. ground cloves. Sprinkle over peach halves.  Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. ( I wish I had taken a picture at this point as they were beautiful but you will have to use your imagination.)  By now you have browned one pound of pork sausage and drained it on a paper towel.  You remove the peaches from the oven and spinkle with the sausage.  Return to the oven for 15 minutes.   Could not have been easier.  I would have taken a picture at this point but all you could see was the sausage.

Now we come to what is billed as "Chocolate of the Gods Mousse with Raspberries and Mint."  This comes from House Beautiful May 2010).  Again, if you can't find it I will send it to you.

This is really easy to make as it is all done in the food processor.  It has some rather unusual ingredients including balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, and coconut oil.  Gross you say?  Hold on!  THERE IS MORE.  It also has l cup of cocoa powder and the secret ingredient....Avocados!  Don't jump to conclusions my friends.  It is beautiful.

  I had no complaints from the girls

as you can see.

Of course, it's not all about the food.  It is also a chance to use the the thrift shop dishes.

Even though I had used these dishes for Thanksgiving, I had not had the chance to use them for dream group.  The story behind these can be found here.

The thing is, I had found a tablecloth and six matching napkins at a resale shop that were perfect with these dishes.

That started things off.  Because my chair seats and chandelier shades are a burnt orange, that seemed like a logical accent color.

My mantel decorations from Christmas had been stripped down from this

To just the mercury vases and white and silver twigs.  No birds, no ribbon, and nothing in between so, I just added a bit of the burnt orange leaning towards salmon color.

They really are prettier than the pictures.  I just have a tough time getting good pictures in this room.

The table was very simple with just a couple candles in the same color.

The little bags were filled with candy favors and topped with a tissue paper that I found in just the right bluish color.

I wanted to use my snowflake placecard holders but there really was no need for placecards.  So I pulled some cards from my deck of Medicine Cards which is about the discovery of power through the ways of animals.

The color of the cards blended nicely with the table setting and

it offered the opportunity for more introspection and discussion.

And as a good friend will, Vicki arrived dressed in the colors of the day.

That was accidental.  We had not talked about my table setting.  But then, speech is not always required between close friends.