Annual Garden Club Valentine Luncheon 2015 ~ Recipes Included

It was time again to make reservations for the Annual Garden Club Valentine Luncheon.  The Magnolia Circle of the Tallahassee Garden Club works hard each year planning, cooking and serving for this delightful fundraiser.

Home of the Tallahassee Garden Club

Rutgers House 1848

 The historic Rutgers House is located in downtown Tallahassee,

and is available as a charming location for weddings, receptions and civic events.

507 North Calhoun Street

Tallahassee, Florida

The 'Ballroom' or 'Auditorium' of the Garden Club can accommodate up to 100 guests. The ladies of the Magnolia Circle of the Tallahassee Garden Club decorated the rooms and set the tables so beautifully preparing for the Valentine Luncheon.

There are two fireplaces located within the Ballroom, one located at each end of the large room.  The decorations on both mantels were so festive and nicely decorated to celebrate Valentine's Day.

In the Parlor, located across the hall from the Ballroom, the Magnolia Circle ladies were serving punch before the luncheon activities began.  Yes, you are not seeing things ... That is a flashing light frozen within one of the ice cubes in the punch bowl.  Cute!

Also seen in the above photo,  surrounding the punch bowl we see several beautiful waxed Camellias.

In the below photo is the pretty Valentine themed mantel in the Parlor room.

The Magnolia Circle members have outdone themselves wrapping and preparing door prizes for the luncheon.  I love all the pretty red and polka dot paper, checks, polka dot and festive ribbons.

The luncheon is a fundraiser for the Magnolia Garden Circle to raise funds for the Garden Club.  Included in the fundraising were the interesting prizes seem in the below photo.  With the purchase of raffle tickets we had an opportunity to win a special prize.  

One of the prizes, with information seen in the middle of the table, was 20 pounds of fresh Florida Tangerines.  It was a nice surprise when they called my raffle number as the winning number.   Needless to say my friends and family have all been enjoying these fresh, delicious tangerines that arrived at my doorstep the day after the Garden Club Luncheon.

One of the lovely tables set so nicely in preparation for the luncheon.

In the below photo you will see one of the Magnolia Circle servers.  She and many other Magnolia Circle members were very busy serving the luncheon guests. Isn't she so cute in her pretty red Valentine hat!  And, notice her Magnolia decorated apron!

The ladies went all out to make beautiful decorations for each table.  In the below photos you will see some of the lovely hand-dipped waxed Camellias used to decorate the tables and placed around the room in different locations for decorations.

A waxed Camellia.

Yes, I know flash is a no-no in photography.  But,  I really like to use a flash sometime  if I really want to see details as in the below photo.

The advantage of waxing Camellias is to preserve them so you can enjoy them longer.

This waxed Camellia looked like it had been waxed and then sprayed with gold spray-paint.

It was my lucky day!  I also won one of the door-prizes seen in the below photo. I was fortunate to have my daughter Sharon with me as a guest for this luncheon and felt she should have the door-prize.  She later told me the door-prize was a lovely set of 'thank-you' notes.

I asked the President of the Magnolia Circle if they would share the luncheon recipes with all of us and they were delighted to do so.  If you would like to see these recipes they will be included at the end of this post.

Luncheon guests enjoyed:

Chicken in a Blanket,  Raspberry Jello Salad,  Green Beans, Walnut and Feta Salad.

And, Cherry Cheese Cakes

On our way out of the Garden Club I noticed these festive hearts 

decorating one of the outside bushes.

And also decorating the outside door was this lovely Valentine wreath.

I mentioned that the Magnolia Circle members were good enough to share the delicious luncheon recipes with all of us.  My favorite was the unusual "Chicken in a Blanket" as seen in the below photo at the top of the plate.   It was very unusual and delicious and made a wonderful luncheon addition.  But, I must say, everything was delicious.

VALENTINE LUNCHEON RECIPES:

CHICKEN IN A BLANKET
from
Savory & Sage Garden Club Recipes and Gardening Wisdom
 

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
  
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons pimiento, chopped
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• 2 - 8 oz. refrigerated Crescent Rolls

DIRECTIONS

1.  Blend cream cheese and 2 tablespoons butter until smooth.
2.  Add chicken, milk, salt, pepper, onions and pimiento; mix well.
3.  Make 8 rectangles out of pastry using rolling pin.
4.  Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle.
5.  Pull corners of the dough to the center top of chicken mixture.
6.  Twist slightly and seal.
7.  Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.
8.  Serve warm.

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 RASPBERRY JELLO SALAD 
from

Savory and Sage Garden Club Recipes and Gardening Wisdom

INGREDIENTS

• 2 - 3 oz. packages Raspberry Jello
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 - 10 oz. packages frozen raspberries
• 2 - 8 oz. cans crushed pineapple, drained.
• 1 medium banana, diced
• 1 cup broken pecans
• 1 pint sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1.  Dissolve Jello in hot water.
2.  Add frozen raspberries, pineapple, bananas and nuts.
3.  Mix and pour half of the mixture into a 9x13 dish; 
4.  Refrigerate until set.
5.  Hold the other half of mixture at room temperature.
6.  Spread sour cream over top of set Jello mixture.
7.  Spoon remaining Jello mixture on top of sour cream.  
8.  Return to refrigerator.

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GREEN BEAN, WALNUT AND FETA SALAD 

  

INGREDIENTS

•  2 pounds green beans, trimmed
•  1 red onion, thinly sliced
  
•  1 & 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts
•  1/2 cup white wine vinegar
•  3/4  cup olive oil
•  1 cup feta, crumbled
•  freshly cracked black pepper

 DIRECTIONS

1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and season with a large pinch of salt.
2.  Add green beans and cook for 3 - 4 minutes until tender, but still crisp.
3.  Transfer to iced water until cool and pat dry.
4.  Add green beans and onions to large bowl.
5.  Whisk vinegar and olive oil together and pour over bean mixture.
6.  Mix walnuts and feta and add to mixture.

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 CHERRY CHEESE CAKES
from
Savory & Sage Garden Club Recipes and Gardening Wisdom 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 - 8 oz. packages Cream Cheese
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 eggs
• FILLING:
• 1 & 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
• 1 can Cherry Pie Filling
• 1 can of Whipped Cream

DIRECTIONS

1.  Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs and pour into 24 lined muffin tins.
2.  Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
3.  Don't open oven; do not brown.
4.  Combine filling ingredients.
5.  After removing cheesecakes from oven, an indentation will form as they cool.
6.  Pour filling over warm cups, a little at a time, to ensure enough for all.
7.  Cool and refrigerate.
8.  Add spoonful of cherry pie filling to bottom of serving plate.
9.  Add a dollop of whip cream if desired.

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Thanks for coming along with us today as we visited the charming Rutgers House and enjoyed the Garden Club Valentine luncheon.  If you decide to make some of the recipes from this event we hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Super cold weather is forecast for all of us here in the South.   It is hard to imagine how cold it will be in other areas of the country.  Be cozy, snugly and safe for the next few days during this extremely cold weather wherever you may be.