Unfortunately, I have to bow out and I've been really looking forward to it. Maybe next time!

I just got a call from Yumi (ymas) and she regrets that she cannot attend tonight.

justjoan also regrets to inform me that she won't be able to attend. My +1 will be delivering a catering order when the event begins, but plans on showing up late. So, I guess we're down to 8 1/2.

my apologies to all for missing what i'm sure was a wonderful evening. apologies particularly to molly. i know how disappointing it is when people cancel, especially when you've gone to the trouble of cooking a fine meal. unfortunately i couldnt give advance warning. i hope to see you all next month. justjoan

Molly, thanks for hosting. It was a wonderful night as always. And as much as I loved all the desserts, I think my favorite food of the evening was your pot pie.

Molly - I'll add my admiration for your pot pie as well as thanks for hosting. I'll post back later with pictures. I hope others do as well.

A deliciously sweet event! Thank you Molly for hosting and all the participants that shared their goodies! Pictures soon to come...

Thanks to everyone who showed up last night for the dessert exchange. I enjoyed hosting and, as always, eating.

Even though I don't have the pics to do it justice, I'm going to share my thoughts on the wares:

1. I was surprised and a little disappointed that noone brought a strickly chocolate dessert, although I really loved the chocolate and curry on Cinny's Mom's apples (IMHO the Mexican ones could have used more heat, but I'm a chile nut).
2. I really liked how gingery my steamed gingerbread pudding turned out and I liked the flavor of the fig ice cream, but should have pureed the figs more as they turned too icy.
3. The crabapple jelly was delicious - I think I would have preferred it on a more savory bite like an English muffin. Eli, can you come over tomorrow morning?
4. Very intrigued by the calamansi, a fruit I had never encountered before, and enjoyed the slight juice flavor in the cupcake and frosting. But, what I really enjoyed was the peel which I found out is edible, like a kumquat, and even more delicious. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamondin
5. The poached pears were perfect and I loved the salty caramel and peanuts.
6. Baba au rhum was drippingly alcoholic and perfect (according to Justin, even more so with bourbon butter sauce poured on top )
7. I loved everything and was halfway pleased we had a small group so I could try it all fresh.

Some pictures from last night's exchange . . .


foodie1's Calamansi Cupcakes


figmolly's steamed gingerbread pudding with bourbon sauce (bourbon sauce not pictured)


carrienation's baba au rhum


Pucca's Pumpkin Gingerbread Bars


eli's crabapple jelly kolacky


Cinny's Mom's Vosges-inspired chocolate apples


my poached pears with caramel & toasted peanuts


figmolly's fig ice cream


figmolly's chicken pot pie for dinner


figmolly's asparagus-green bean salad for dinner

Another great event with great food. Thanks so much to the FIGS for the awesome dinner! I could have eaten two bowls of the pot pie. As for the desserts, it was especially fun to try foodie1's Calamansi cupcakes. I've never had calamansi before and really enjoyed its flavor in the cupcakes. Kudos also to eli and his homemade crabapple jelly, sourced from urban trees, no less. Everything was excellent, per usual.

FIGs, Thank you for your generous hospitality. I LOVED the chicken pot pie!

After trying eli's kolacky, I am determined to check out the crabapple supply at my parents now. I am glad to have tasted the calamansi - I googled it soon after learning that foodie1 would be bringing it.

Joan - sorry to have missed you. Hope you feel better.

Thanks to Molly for hosting--the pot pie and salad were delicious, as were all of the dessert offerings (which I thought were a perfect combination of fall flavors). I was reasonably satisfied with how my baba au rhum turned out, but in the future would probably amp up the rum a bit and reserve about half the rum syrup to pour on just before eating (too much of it ended up on my kitchen table!). I hope to make it to another one of these some time.

Another great dessert exchange. Thanks so much to Molly for hosting and the making the delicious chicken pot pie.

I wrote a lengthy write up on the event in my blog... so to cut and paste it here would be a bit much. However if you'd like to read it and view additional pictures, you can check it out here:
http://joelens.blogspot.com/2009/10/oct ... -swap.html

Here are some excerpts:

Maureen's Chocolate Covered Apples
inspired by Vosges Chocolates
One of my favorite aspects of these dessert swaps is seeing the culinary creativity come out in each of us. Maureen outdid herself and made some of the most creative candied apples I've ever had. Vosges is a popular chocolate boutique here in Chicago (and a few other locations around the world) that's known for some unique flavor combinations. Wasabi & chocolate, yellow curry and chocolate, chile and chocolate... these are just some of the combos that Vosges are known for. Well Maureen took these chocolate combinations and applied them to chocolate covered apples. For the swap, she mimicked the Vosges flavors and coated apples with these delicious chocolate flavors including:
- Woolloomooloo: roasted/salted macadamia nuts & coconut
- Naga: Indian curry & milk chocolate
- Black Pearl: wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds & dark chocolate
- Oaxaca: guajillo/pasilla chillies & dark chocolate


Eli's Crabapple Jelly Kolachy
Eli has a great eye for opportunity. He harvested some crabapples from urban trees and with them, he made this fantastic crabapple jelly. Totally impressive, since I'm oblivious to crabapple trees to begin with, much less thinking about turning them into jelly! With the jelly, he made these delicate and light crabapple jelly kolachy. The flavor of crabapple is not quite appley but very distinct. If you have crabapples near you, you should consider turning them to jelly!

Foodie1,

I'm glad the whole community was able to share with you, though it would be nice to reciprocate in full rather than excerpts.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Foodie1,

I'm glad the whole community was able to share with you, though it would be nice to reciprocate in full rather than excerpts.

Regards,

Cathy- here is the text from post - sorry its so long. I didn't want to c&p and take over this thread with my thoughts of the event... but since I know you don't like clicking on links to blogs, here you go...

It's been awhile since I've participated in the monthly dessert swap friends of LTHForum hosts. In fact, the last time was back in May! With these dessert swaps, friends get together and bring a dessert to share. Everyone helps themselves to the buffet of sweets and takes them home to indulge. It's a great way to try some new and interesting desserts that you may not make yourself or even thought of trying.

This month, our dessert swap was hosted by Molly of Fig Catering. Molly grew up in a restaurant owning family and worked as a personal chef. She now partners with Justin Hall and handles the desserts and other sweets of the business. To whet our appetites before the desserts, Molly prepared a delicious pot pie and a tasty green bean and asparagus salad.

I loved how Molly prepared the pot pie on the stove, versus baking in the oven. A large pot of savory chicken pot pie filling was ladled into our bowls and topped with a buttery biscuit. It worked perfectly to serve 8 sweet toothed friends!

Chicken Pot Pie (picture)

To pair with our individual pot pies, Molly also prepared a beautiful Asparagus and Green Bean salad. I loved how strikingly fresh and green the salad was! It was topped with a heavy hand of parmesan cheese and toasted hazelnuts.

Asparagus Green Bean Salad (picture)

So let's get down to business, shall we? I love these swaps because the table is graced with so many delicious sweets and I tend to learn some new things every time...



Pucca's Pumpkin Gingerbread Bars (picture)
These pumpkin and gingerbread bars were delicious! I don't believe I've had pumpkin and gingerbread together in any application, but the combination really tasted like fall. They were moist and so flavorful, where I could taste a nice balance of both the pumpkin and gingerbread flavors.



Molly's Steamed Gingerbread Pudding (picture)
with bourbon sauce (not pictured)
Molly's steamed gingerbread pudding was so perfectly moist and the addition of her bourbon sauce was a delicious compliment. I'm going to have to try making steamed puddings just so I can enjoy that wonderful texture.



Carrie's Baba au Rhum (picture)
with freshly whipped cream (not pictured)
Have you had a Baba au Rhum before? A baba au rhum (or baba au Savarin) is a yeast dough baked in a ring mold or bundt pan that's been soaked in rum syrup. European countries have a similar dessert made with dried fruit, but this one has none and is served without any filling. Carrie also prepared freshly whipped cream to garnish our slices of cake. I loved how the flavor of rum was in every bite!



Wendy's Poached Pears topped with Caramel & Peanuts (picture)
One thing I love, especially in the fall, is caramel. Wendy went all out with her dessert of poached pears. After poaching the pears in water and sugar, she placed them on a platter and drizzled warm, buttery caramel over the top and sprinkled toasted peanuts. The soft texture of the pears combined with the creamy caramel and crunchy peanuts was fantastic!



Maureen's Chocolate Covered Apples inspired by Vosges Chocolates (picture)
One of my favorite aspects of these dessert swaps is seeing the culinary creativity come out in each of us. Maureen outdid herself and made some of the most creative candied apples I've ever had. Vosges is a popular chocolate boutique here in Chicago (and a few other locations around the world) that's known for some unique flavor combinations. Wasabi & chocolate, yellow curry and chocolate, chile and chocolate... these are just some of the combos that Vosges are known for. Well Maureen took these chocolate combinations and applied them to chocolate covered apples. For the swap, she mimicked the Vosges flavors and coated apples with these delicious chocolate flavors including:
- Woolloomooloo: roasted/salted macadamia nuts & coconut
- Naga: Indian curry & milk chocolate
- Black Pearl: wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds & dark chocolate
- Oaxaca: guajillo/pasilla chillies & dark chocolate



Eli's Crabapple Jelly Kolachy (picture)
Eli has a great eye for opportunity. He harvested some crabapples from urban trees and with them, he made this fantastic crabapple jelly. Totally impressive, since I'm oblivious to crabapple trees to begin with, much less thinking about turning them into jelly! With the jelly, he made these delicate and light crabapple jelly kolachy. The flavor of crabapple is not quite appley but very distinct. If you have crabapples near you, you should consider turning them to jelly!



Molly's Black Fig Ice Cream (picture)
Our hostess spoiled us once again with another sweet treat - ice cream! Sure, it's October but how can you resist an ice cream made with black mission figs? I've grown to love figs and it was delicious to try it in an ice cream. This just goes to show that ice cream great any time of year, and this fig ice cream was a fabulous way to take advantage of fig season!



Joelen's Calamansi Cupcakes (picture)
And then there's my Calamansi cupcakes. Not exactly fall but I hoped the orange tops would allow it to fit in. It was great to share a new fruit that not everyone was familiar with and to give them an opportunity to try it for the first time!


So that was our sweet filled evening of desserts and I'm already looking forward to next month! Stay tuned and if you're looking for a reason to get friends together, why not hold a dessert swap of your own?!