Rita made Prosciutto-Wrapped Apples. Pretty presentation, nice combination of flavors and textures, and really just requires assembly rather than cooking. Wrap prosciutto around apple, arugula, and white cheddar, then drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Kamy made Last-Minute Party Dip, and brought some olive bread to go along with it. This is actually from the first Magnolia Table cookbook, which we lovingly gave her a hard time about, but she made up for it by also bringing Silo Cookies (see below). Super simple but tasty dip that uses ingredients you could easily keep around.

Tina made Sweet Kale Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing. She felt that the dressing recipe called for an awful lot of sugar, so she halved the amount. She also used avocado oil instead of canola oil, and rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. It was delicious and plenty sweet, so I don’t think more sugar was required.

Revi made French Lentil Soup. With onions, carrots, celery, and ham hock, this soup reminded me so much of my mom’s split pea soup, only with lentils instead. So naturally I was a fan. But other people liked it too, so it wasn’t just my nostalgia that made it good.

I made a Braided Loaf. Not to toot my own horn, but I loved how gorgeous this bread turned out. It’s the prettiest bread I’ve ever made, but to be honest… not the tastiest. Good dunked in the lentil soup, but on its own a little plain and dry. I did make it the night before, but the recipe said it could be stored for up to 3 days.

Naran made Cauliflower Couscous. There’s not actually couscous in this dish – it’s riced cauliflower. A good mixture of flavors. I especially liked the tart-sweet pop of the dried cranberries, and the crunch and nuttiness that the almonds added.

Eileen made Chicken Florentine. She was worried that the sauce was going to be too plain, consisting of only shallots, garlic, white wine, cream, and a little bit of salt. But it made for a lovely subtle dish that you could savor rather than be hit over the head by.

Anthony made Seafood Gumbo. This was my winner of the night. Brimming with shrimp, crab, and andouille sausage, plus okra, onion, celery, bell pepper, corn, and tomato… it was an abundance of all things delicious. Food dreams are made of.

Rayann made Weeknight Salmon. The salmon was moist and flaky (props to the air fryer for perfect re-heating just before serving) and I enjoyed the herb and lemon flavors. Rayann used fresh garlic rather than garlic salt, which I’m sure made it even better.

Rayann also made the Baby New Potatoes and Fresh Dill to go with the salmon. As you may have heard before, I don’t generally go in for potatoes, but these were pretty tasty. Adding just a touch of salt really enhanced the herb flavors for me.

Kamy also made Silo Cookies. These have oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts. They’re supposed to also have peanut butter chips, but Kamy didn’t have any. The cookies were still a tasty treat, but I bet they would have been even better if they’d had the peanut butter chips too.

Nothing to do with the cookbook, but Revi also brought a sampling of honeys and peanut butters from her travels for us to do a tasting. It worked out perfectly to try them with Anthony’s bonus chocolate cake, strawberry sauce, and green tea ice cream. Such a fun way to finish off the night!