RWC Meeting March 22, 2016, Featuring Marie Saba of Cocina Marie

RWC Meeting March 22, 2016, Featuring Marie Saba of Cocina Marie

At the home of Shelly Bain at 400 Vale Street

Hospitality Chair Marnie Fitzgerald called the meeting order for President Marissa Mireur, who would join the meeting later. She welcomed new member, Anne Herrington to RWC.

The first announcement was a call for new officers for the 2016-2017 year.  The new term begins in August. Secretary Kelly Dixon reviews the minutes from the January 19^th meeting and directs members to the RWC website where the minutes are posted. A motion is made by Bunny Michel to approve the minutes and Joanne Parker seconds.

The Chairperson for the Rollingwood 5k, Roseann Ferraro, updated members on her the race and passed a clipboard for volunteers. In preparation for the race, she highlighted several ways to help.

1. Repairing directional signage: the course signage took a hit last year in the rain – she needs kids or members cut out some construction paper arrows and glue them to foam core.

2. Delivering Postcards: members are needed to tape postcards on the outside of mailboxes along the race route.

3. Posters: hanging posters/flyers in local businesses on their public bulletin boards.

4. Picking up sponsor materials: picking up checks, race bag marketing materials, prizes from our locals sponsors and delivering them to Roseann.

Anyone looking to volunteer, contact Roseann at roseannferraro@gmail.com.

She introduced "Family Sponsorships" in addition to our corporate sponsorships. All donations support Rollingwood's parks and public areas and anyone who donates $100 or more will have their name displayed on the "Friends and Families of Rollingwood" banner in the park. Donations will be accepted through the registration process or through

 https://www.crowdrise.com/familysponsors....

 To register or donate, please visit the Life is Good in the Wood 5K website and click on "Register Here": 
http://lifeisgoodinthewood5k.com/. Rosanne strongly encouraged members to register online before the race.

Next up, Shanthi Jayakumar brought the photo albums of the neighborhood that she and Flo Macklin have been updating. She reminded members of how much the neighbhorhood has changed and that they updated 40 new homes last week alone. She passed around small forms and requested that members to fill out information about their homes, including former owners, square footage, purchase price. The information will be kept in a photograph behind the picture. She emphasized that the information will not be shared, but was for historical purposes only.

Roxanne McKee updated members on the Law Enforcement Appreciation Day which will be held Saturday, April 9. She passed a clipboard around where memebrs could add their names if they were interested in displaying a blue ribbon on their mail box in support of Rollingwood Police Department.

Sandra Farrell encouraged members to stop by City Hall to see a sample of the new chairs that City Hall is planning to purchase from the money that RWC donated in 2015. They are choosing between a blue or black chair.

Finally, Marie Saba of Cooking With Marie gave a demonstration of her favorite sauces including Texas Chimichurri, Lemon Dill Sauce, Cilantro Lime Sauce and of her famous Coconut Macaroons. Memebers sampled the dips with chips and vegetables. Recipes included below.

Texas Chimichurri

•        1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed

•       1 cup cilantro leaves, packed

•       1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

•       1-3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

•       1 small clove garlic, peeled

•       Salt and pepper, to taste

•       Pinch of dried red pepper flakes, if desired

Instructions

Place all ingredients into the jar of a blender or food-processor. Blend until herbs and garlic are finely chopped, and mixture is well-combined.

Transfer to bowl. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Serve!

Coconut Macaroons

•       1 14-ounce bag (5 1/3 cups) sweetened shredded coconut

•       1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

•       2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt

•       1 Tablespoon heavy cream

•       1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Instructions

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients until well-combined. The dough will be very sticky, so wet your hands with a little water before shaping the dough into balls. Using your hands, shape the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Decorate with melted dark chocolate or candy melts, if desired. Serve!

Easy Basil Pesto

•       1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

•       ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts

•       ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

•       2 large cloves garlic

•       2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

•       ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Instructions

Place basil, nuts, cheese, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add oil. Add salt. Blend until thoroughly combined.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve at room temperature.

Best Ever Cilantro Lime Sauce

•       1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise

•       1 cup Greek yogurt

•       1 cup cilantro (some stems are okay)

•       Juice of 2 limes

•       Pinch of salt (or to taste)

Instructions

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until cilantro is thoroughly chopped and all ingredients are well combined.

Taste; add additional lime juice or salt as desired. Serve with everything.

Lemon Dill Sauce

    1 cup Greek yogurt

    ½ cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise

    2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill (some stems are okay)

    Juice of 1-2 lemons

Pinch of salt (or to taste)

Instructions

Place all ingredients into a bowl. Mix until well combined. Transfer to bowl. Serve!

Minutes Submitted by Kelly Dixon

Approved by Marissa Mireur