Approachable Appetizer Class

We had our first Approachable Appetizer Class today.  The first one was held at Swanstone Gardens in Green Bay WI.  Milly, Bonnie, Amy, Ginny, and Dawn were there for the fun.  It was nice to meet a few new people, and to see several familiar faces.  

Our approach was making appetizers that are made with easy to find ingredients, but ratcheted up a bit. We built our appetizers and then tasted them.  Everyone had great ideas about how to make each recipe their own with flavor profiles that appealed to them.

Here's how you set up your breading ingredients when deep frying.

Everyone enjoyed the first appetizer.

Remember!  When you are making a plate, make it look appealing.!  Color and texture are important.

Use fresh and organic ingredients whenever possible.  

Aren't these stuffed peppadews and tomatoes pretty?  

Black bean dip is a tasty and extremely healthy option for an appetizer .  It is also very versatile.  Pam uses it on her baked potatoes. 

Everyone was asking questions, giving suggestions and taking notes.  It's great to have such good interaction.

We finished up class with a lovely Tassie with cream cheese and lemon curd.  That recipe is found below.

The Cactus Flowers couldn't find lemon curd in the store.  Besides, we'd rather make everything from scratch.  So we found a recipe that worked for the class.  It was easy and oh so tasty.  Give it a try!

Lemon Curd:

3 large lemons, zested and juiced

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

Place zest and sugar in food processor and blend.  Add juice and egg, blend until smooth.  Slowly add melted butter.  Blend until well incorporated.

Place mixture in the top of a double boiler.  Heat the water to only come to a simmer.  Stir until mixture thickens.  DO NOT let it come to a boil.  Pour lemon curd in a covered container and allow it to chill completely in the refrigerator.

This will last for about 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

For those who are interested in taking the class at Swanstone, there is another class being held on Aug 3rd and one on Aug 4th.  We would love to see you there.  

Thanks for a great day everyone!!