Garden Club Valentine Luncheon 2016

Tallahassee Garden Club Valentine Luncheon 2016

Magnolia Circle

Tallahassee Garden Club  Rutgers House Est. 1848

Every year just before Valentine's Day our local Garden Club Magnolia Circle holds it's very delightful Valentine Luncheon.  All of the ladies in the group work together and cook a very delicious lunch for Garden Club members who make reservations for this event.  

The lovely historical Rutgers House is the home to the Tallahassee Garden Club. 

The gazebo seen in the below photo is the latest addition to the grounds at the Garden Club.

The ladies of the Magnolia Circle are seen below preparing for the luncheon.  If you look closely you see two nicely decorated fireplaces in this large room where the luncheon is held every year.  I am taking this photo from the stage where tables are also set up and decorated so nicely for this event.

Across the hall in the "parlor" we see where members have a lovely punch table 

set in preparation for the luncheon guests.

I love to come into this beautiful old home which has lovely high ceilings, 

lovely old hardwood floors and beautiful old fireplaces.  

Old Southern camellias are blooming all over town at this time of year. The Magnolia Circle ladies always decorate the rooms with these beautiful flowers.  I love the beautiful camellia varieties we see surrounding the lovely punch bowl.

In the below photo we see one of the fireplace mantels beautifully decorated 

and we see the lovely circular table all set and ready for members to enjoy the luncheon.

Each tables centerpiece included a camellia flower and bulb plant surrounded 

by door-prize gifts for the guests at each table.

    Below we see a photo of the second fireplace mantel beautifully decorated with pretty Valentines.

Included in the mantel Valentine themed decorations was this lovely potted pink and white Hyacinth.

Another table centerpiece.

The annual Valentine Luncheon is the major fundraiser for the Magnolia Circle each year.  

Guests can also purchase raffle tickets for a variety of lovely gifts as seen in the photo below.

Of all things, I had the winning raffle ticket for the basket shown in the below photo.  Included in the basket were many useful items.  My favorite was the Valentine heart-decorated wine glasses.

When lunch was served we all enjoyed Chicken Tetrazzini,  

a Marinated Vegetable Salad, Grapes and an Italian Flavored Dinner Roll

For dessert we enjoyed Lemon Sponge Cake as seen in the below photo.

These recipes will be included below.

Since the Garden Club parking lot is located at the back of the house,  guests come and go by the back entrance to the home.  As you can see in the below photo the luncheon hostesses lined the brick walkway with very beautiful and fragrant Hyacinths.   And later these plants were given away to guests.

You can almost smell the fragrance of these lovely Hyacinths.

 Valentine Luncheon Recipes:

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

INGREDIENTS:

·      12 ounces vermicelli spaghetti

·      8 ounces fresh mushrooms

·      ½ cup sliced green onions

·      2 Tablespoons butter

·      ¼ cup flour

·      1/8 teaspoon black pepper

·      1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

·      1 ¼ cup chicken broth

·      1 ¼ cup half and half or light cream

·      3 cups chopped cooked chicken

·      ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Cook spaghetti according to package.

2.     Drain.

3.     Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cook mushrooms and green onions in hot butter until tender.

4.     Stir in flour, pepper and nutmeg.

5.     Add broth and milk all at once.

6.     Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in chicken and half of Parmesan cheese. 

7.     Add cooked spaghetti.

8.     Stir gently to coat.

9.     Transfer pasta mixture to 9X13 pan.

10.    Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

11.   Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven.

MARINATED VEGETABLE SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 cup chopped peppers (red and yellow)

·      ½ cup chopped onion

·      2 ribs celery, finely chopped

·      ½ cup sugar

·      ½ cup vegetable oil

·      ½ cup vinegar

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      ½ teaspoon pepper

·      1 can corn, drained

·      1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

·      1 can cannellini beans, drained

·      Lettuce leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Mix all ingredients together.

2.      Serve on lettuce leaves.

  

LEMON SPONGE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 cup sugar

·      4 Tablespoons butter

·      4 Tablespoons flour

·      Pinch of salt

·      Juice of 2 lemons, at least 5 Tablespoons

·      Rind of one lemon

·      3 eggs separated

·      1 ½ cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.      Cream sugar and butter.

3.     Add flour, salt, lemon juice and rind. 

4.     Stir in beaten egg yolks and milk.

5.     Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold this into batter.

6.     Pour into 12 custard cups.

7.     Place custard cups in a pan and add water to a depth of 1 inch.

8.     Bake 45 minutes, or until lightly browned.

9.     Each cup will contain custard at bottom and sponge cake on top.

10. If you don’t have 12 custard cups, a 12 cupcake tin may be used.

11. 12 servings

 

It is fun being associated with our local Garden Club which participates in numerous local and civic service projects and is home to 25 garden circles which includes over 600 members. They try to educate members and the community in the fields of gardening, horticulture, botany, floral design, landscape design, environmental awareness, civic beautification including projects and gardening education for the youth of the community.

And as you can see they have some very good cooks in the Club as well.  I do hope if you decide to cook any of these recipes that you will enjoy them as much as we did.

Also, if you click on the site below you can see the special recipes from the 2015 Valentine luncheon which were very delicious also.

http://sweetsoutherndays.blogspot.com/2015/02/annual-garden-club-valentine-luncheon.html  

Wishing you a wonderful mid-February and a very nice week ahead wherever you may be.