Those of us who made it to the family reunion on Sunday had a lovely time. Sadly, the turnout was small - only 17 attended, but it made for an intimate atmosphere and great mingling! My husband Steven and I were the hosts this year and we decided to try a couple of new things so we had a silent auction of donated items and a cooking contest. Here are photos of a few of the items donated for the auction:
This was a beautiful breakfast basket donated by John & Donna Lepore - the eggs were fresh from their chickens and all sorts of other breakfast goodies and handy kitchen items.
A lovely ceramic gift box - donated by Marie.
Cookies and Milk basket donated by Rose. ("biscotti e latte" en Italiano!) Here is a Chocolate Kahlua Cake made and donated by Janet Lepore:
Cara Carbone made and donated Josephine Carbone's Biscotti - she donated 3 lovely packages, they were so beautifully done you'd have thought they were purchased at a bakery or specialty food store!
There were quite a few other items donated as well, but these are all the photos I managed to get. I hope everyone is enjoying the items they bid on!
The proceeds from the auction reimbursed my parents (Gary & Suzanne Carbone for those who haven't met me or aren't sure how I fit into the family tree) for the hall rental, Steven and I for assorted reunion expenses and we had $40.00 extra that we passed on to John & Donna Lepore, who are hosting the Carbone Family Reunion 2013. (Thank you John & Donna for volunteering to host!)
The winners of the Blue Ribbon Cooking Contest were: Joel Carbone in 3rd place with his Steak and Black Bean Chili, Rose Eaton in 2nd place with Chicken Tetrazzini and Cara Carbone, first place winner with Cara's Garden Delight #4 - Inverted Pizza! Each of our winners took home a colorful ribbon and Cara also took home the coveted "Golden Mold" - a golden jello mold in the shape of a bunch of grapes (I know, totally appropriate, right?!)!
I'm sorry to say that although I did manage to get photos of ALL of the other contest entries, I did NOT get a photo of Cara's - but it was BEAUtiful (and DElicious!)! Participants were required to provide a recipe so we could post it here on the family recipe blog. So, without further ado, here is Cara's blue ribbon, winning recipe!:
Cara's Garden Delight #4 - Inverted Pizza
1 sheet puff pastry
1 lb Sungold tomatoes, roasted*
1/2 lb zucchini, shaved
3 slices prosciutto, torn into 1/2" pieces
A few sprigs of fresh oregano
1/2 C grated Parmesan
1/4 C goat cheese
6-8 fresh basil leaves
1/4 C pine nuts
1 roasted rosemary chicken breast, sliced (optional)
red pepper flakes
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Layer tomatoes, zucchini, prosciutto and oregano into 9" tart pan. Roll puff pastry on floured cutting board. Trim to round, leaving a 1" overhang. Gently place [pastry] over tart pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Invert onto serving platter. Top with chicken (if desired), Parmesan, goat cheese, pine nuts and basil. Slice & serve.
*drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Season with salt & pepper. Roast for 2 hours at 375 degrees. Drain excess liquid. One large jar of sun dried tomatoes may be substituted.
Chris' note: This is a great late summer recipe when your garden is most abundant. The pastry is flaky and crisp. The tomatoes tasted like they were sun-dried (they were quite sweet and balanced nicely with the other flavors), the zucchini, basil and oregano gave it a really fresh flavor while the goat cheese gave it a nice tang. Try this recipe - you won't be sorry, then send us a photo to include here!
