Looking for a Mother's Day Dessert recipe?

Chocolate and cheese and cake! These are a few of my favorite things... But my most favorite person is my mother. A great way to celebrate the mothers in your life this Mother's Day is with the White Chocolate Cheesecake on p. 129 of At Your Service. It tastes delicious as is, but can easily be customized with a variety of toppings. I drizzle caramel sauce on it, and it is divine!

White Chocolate Cheesecake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 
2 cups Lorna Doone cookies, finely ground
1 ounce white chocolate, grated
32 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
3 ounces white chocolate, grated
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce white chocolate, shaved

For the crust, combine the butter, cookie crumbs, and 1 ounce white chocolate in a bowl. Press into a 10-inch springform pan.

For the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese and 1 1/4 cups sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Add the salt and mix well. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well at low speed after each addition. Stir in 3 ounces of white chocolate. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cool for 10 minutes. 

For the topping, combine the sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and mix well. Spread over the cheesecake. Return to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Cover and refrigerate immediately. Sprinkle with 1 ounce white chocolate before serving.

Serves 10

One of my all-time favorite "girls'-day" events is Hollydays, which is a holiday market put on by the Junior League back home in Baton Rouge. Every year I would go with my mom or sister and have a great time. I first became interested in Junior League back then but didn't join until I moved to Georgia and was looking for ways to make it feel like home. I joined JLGNF in the Fall of 2013 and have made some amazing friends and met women I truly admire.

- Courtney Clampit, 2014-2015 Active Member

Stuck in a rut... with a cookbook?

I’ve owned the Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton’s cookbook, “At Your Service” for four years.  I’ve tried MANY recipes out of this book: the Chocolate Cola Cake, Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce, the Fruit Salsa.  All amazing! And I love this cookbook so much that I’ve bought one for many of the women in my family.

Of course, I haven’t been able to try EVERY recipe in this cookbook.  But I thought that I’d found all the really fantastic ones that my family and I love.  These select ones have been my go-tos.  My tried and true recipes that never fail me. 

While I love having this relationship with “At Your Service”, I had no idea I’d gotten too comfortable with it.  Who knew you could get stuck in a rut with a cookbook?

It took my step-mother-in-law, Judy to point this out to me and show me the light of a fantastic new recipe that I’d never noticed before: Urban Legend Cookies.

Why hadn’t this recipe stuck out to me before?  I was floored that I hadn’t ever tried this nutty, chocolaty cookie before!  How had this recipe really been in my cabinet for four years without me ever noticing?

This made me realize that I had another reason to love this cookbook even more!  There was still so many recipes to try that I had yet to discover!  And I’m so excited to jump in a try more in 2015!

In the meantime, I’m going to share the Urban Legend Cookie recipe with you! And if you haven’t purchased the “At Your Service” Cookbook from JLGNF you’re really missing out. But you can buy it here!

2 ½ cups rolled oats
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
4 ozs premium milk chocolate, grated
1 ½ cups pecans, finely chopped

Process the oats in a food processor or blender to form a fine powder.  Mix the processed oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Add the chocolate chips, milk chocolate and pecan and stir to mix well.

Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 5 dozen.

- Megan Blair, 2014/2015 V.P of Communications

Quick Dinner recipe from JLGNF's "At Your Service" Cookbook

Rushing around the house, getting your kids to soccer practice and trying to prepare a healthy meal for your family can be quite a challenge. The JLGNF’s “At Your Service” Cookbook can help you and your family by offering delicious, quick and easy recipes that you can prepare ahead of time or on the same day. The Chicken Tetrazzini recipe on p.98 proved to a great recipe that our family will enjoy over and over again. I even used a store bought rotisserie chicken to speed up my time in the kitchen which is great way to incorporate flavor without compromising taste or quality.

Delicious Breakfast Treat from JLGNF's "At Your Service" Cookbook

Back to school means back to rushed morning routines for many of us. So why not slow down this weekend and enjoy a delicious and decadent breakfast treat?  Pain Perdu from At Your Service (p 46 ) is a simple and quick recipe that provides a tasty beginning to your day.

Pain perdu or "lost bread" in French, is a great way to reclaim stale or "lost" bread. The hard bread is softened by dipping in a mixture of egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. The slices cut on a bias are pan-fried in butter and traditionally dusted with powdered sugar and served with jam or syrup on the side.

Hot Crab Dip - Easy Peasy

League member Julia Child Alexandra snapped a few photos this week as she whipped up our Hot Crab Dip. She makes it look so easy! 

Assemble the ingredients (Julia would call this a mise en place)

Heat the mayo and cream cheese

Add the prepared ingredients

 

Mix in the remaining, fresh items (crab and green onion)

Serve and bask in the glow of your compliments!

 Alex, when is the next party? We're on the way! 

 

As always, you can find this recipe along with other culinary delights in "At Your Service", the Junior League of Gwinnett and North Fulton's very own cookbook.

Family Brunch ~ All About Olivia Style

Hello, friends! We hope you're enjoying this wonderful holiday season with all of your loved ones. Are you hosting parties in your home? So many of us are at this time of year. Luckily, our trusty "At Your Service" cookbook has just the thing, pre-planned menus for many different types of events.
League member and blogger Nicole recently hosted a family brunch and turned to "At Your Service" for inspiration. She tells us about it over on her blog All About Olivia. Please stop by and read about her fun gathering and menu choices! Leave her a love note in the comments too. We bloggers adore that!

The direct link to Nicole's blog: http://markandnicoles.blogspot.com/2012/12/at-your-service-brunch.html

Happy Holidays, dear friends! ~ JLGNF

Northside Woman Celebrates Thanksgiving with the JLGNF

With Thanksgiving upon us and holiday gatherings in full-swing, Katie VanBrackle at  Northside Woman decided to put our tried and true "At Your Service" to work. Listed within the article are enough of our cherished recipes to prepare a fabulous holiday feast of your own. This year we're thankful for all of you, so enjoy!

Notice the ending sentiment, "..as any good Southern hostess will tell you, if the recipe comes from a Junior League cookbook, you can’t go wrong!" We could not agree more, Katie!

Read the full article here. Purchase your copy of "At Your Service" here.

Your Southern Peach Reviews "At Your Service"

 

Recently, we asked local blogger and League friend, Your Southern Peach, to review our beloved cookbook. We could not wait to hear her unique take on the book and she did not disappoint! We love how she highlighted what an asset the book is when planning a gathering. From pre-planned menus to entertaining tips, "At Your Service" should be a go-to for every hostess (and host!).

We recommend following Amy's blog on a regular basis while she shares her insight on decorating, entertaining, family and her killer fashion sense. A peach indeed!

Please read her review of "At Your Service" here and purchase your copy of the cookbook here.

Spiced Pecans - The Perfect Gift

A very special thank you goes out to Amy at Forever29 for her review of our At Your Service cookbook- specifically one of our favorites.. the Spiced Pecans!

Amy decided to utilize her cooking and crafting skills to make a special gift for her son's teachers. No doubt they appreciated the personal touches. And we can imagine her house smelled amazing over this beautiful fall weekend!

She has even generously provided the recipe over at her blog. Find that here.

You can purchase your copy of At Your Service here.

Have you made these? How would you package them? Would you share or keep them all to yourself? Tell us is the comments!