Crime Alert

If you hear of crime in the neighborhood, let us know. This is from emails we received this weekend:

From Clay who lives on Peg Lane right off Fernway - On Monday night Clay's roommate was out on their deck around 10:30 or 11. He heard a car and door open. When he walked from the deck to the carport, a middle-aged white guy was approaching the carport near Clay's car. John confronted him and asked what he was doing. The guy said he was looking for cans! He then said he was a scrap metal collector. John told him they had no cans, only bottles. I suppose that stern voice scared the guy back to the passenger side of the truck where he and his driver sped off. Very suspicious. John did not get a license but the truck was turquoise-colored.

Later, John's Honda Pilot was broken into last night/this morning parked on the street. The only thing stolen was his iPod (worth several hundred dollars). It was showing on his tripod set up in his dash. You are right to hide things in your car when you leave. I keep all my expensive stuff like that in my console and will try to hide my CD's better. Guess it's that time of year where crooks start stealing for Christmas. Anyway, cop took down the info and gave John a copy of the report so he can file with insurance for broken glass etc.

Appetizers from 11/14 meeting

Personal Chef Emily Martin prepared three easy and delicious appetizers for our meeting. Keep these in mind for your holiday entertaining.

Onion Tarts

1 1/2 T butter(unsalted)
2 cups onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 T Herbs de Provence
3/4 cup Gruyere cheese; grated
1/3 cup Parmesan; freshly grated
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt/pepper
24 mini pastry shells(found in freezer section)

1. Melt butter in a large skillet on med-high heat.

2.Add onions, garlic, Herbs de Provence, pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Turn the heat med-low and cook for 15-20 minutes; stirring occasionally.

4.Remove from heat and add cream; gruyere and parmesan.

5.Place mixture in a food prosessor. Pulse for a few seconds.

6.Spoon mixture into tarts.

7. Place tarts on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees(preheated) for 15
minutes.


Blue Cheese Dip with Fruit
Serves 24

2 unpeeled Granny Smith Apples
2 unpeeled Pears
Purple grapes
orange juice
1 cup blue cheese salad dressing
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
4 oz crumbled bleu cheese
1 cup pecan pieces, toasted

1.Slice the apples, pears, and take grapes off the vine.Pour orange juice
over the fruit and cover. Place in refrigertor.

2.Combine the salad dressing and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat
until blended. Stir in the blue cheese and pecans.

3.Place the dip into a small bowl.You can serve room temp or warm in the
microwave for a few minutes.

4.Drain the fruit and arrange on a platter.

*You could also serve cubed French bread*


Italian Crisps
1 package of won ton wrappers (find them in the produce section of your
grocery store)
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Parmesan cheese

Topping:

3 cups roma tomatoes; chopped
1 pkg fresh basil; chopped
1/2 small red onion; minced
3 garlic cloves; minced
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Whisk oil and next three ingredients together.

2. Heat over medium heat until warm.

3. Cut won ton wrappers in fourths

4. Place on a foil lined baking sheet.

5.Brush mixture over wrappers.

7.Bake at 425 degrees for 3 1/2 minutes or until golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and sprinkle kosher salt and parmesan over wrappers. LET
COOL

8. Spoon small amount of tomato mixture onto each crisp before serving.

Wine Choices from 11/14 meeting

Cheryl from The Flask is always a popular Garden Club speaker. She brought four different wines for us to try:

Bollini Pinot Grigio 2004 ($13.96 plus tax)
Big House White 2004 ($14.19 plus tax)
Castelvero Barbera 2005 ($8.97 plus tax)
Sebastiani Merlot 2002 ($16.98 plus tax)

She also reminded us that the Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais Nouveaux arrives today.

Be sure to visit Cheryl at The Flask (743 N. White Station in the Cloverleaf Center). She can make a recommendation for any occasion.

Yard Sale: 11/18 on Charlotte Circle and Mary Ann

Several neighbors on Mary Ann and Charlotte circle near Walnut Grove are having a garage sale this Saturday and are running an ad. If you want to join in, tie some balloons on your mailbox early in the morning.

Yard Sale: 11/4 at 194 Betty Jo

Roylyn Parks is holding a yard sale with a friend this Saturday at 194 Betty Jo. She says "Some of you may know I had a booth at the Antique Market of Cordova. The antique market closed for good the end of September. I still have many items to liquidate and there will also be other household items and yes, sad to say, some 'junk' too!

"I now have a smaller booth at the new Poplar Avenue Antique Mall at Poplar and Hollywood (across from Rachel's Flower Shop). It is open now but is having a festive Grand Opening (with wine and refreshments!) Thursday, November 9 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. (I didn't get to vote on the day or time!!!!) All that weekend the whole mall is having a 20% off sale. Come check it out--the mall is beautiful! The owner also owns the Oriental rug place next door so our mall is covered with beautiful Oriental rugs.

"We'll be seriously setting up the yard sale Friday afternoon so feel free to drop by in the afternoon if you would like. Our motto is to 'sell when you have a customer'!"