Our Week of Culinary Conquests

While we were on our vacation to Hilton Head Island, Diann and I enjoyed using our official Biltmore Estate cookbook. We are finding it's a lot of fun - and quite efficient - to share the kitchen and actually cook instead of dining out!! (Though we did this, too.)

With two of us working together, we tackled recipes that we'd probably not attempt on our own.

Like Beef Wellington. It was sooooo good!

We made individual

Wellingtons instead of a whole tenderloin as it wasn't available in the local grocery store.

 

On the side:  oven-baked corn on the cob and oven roasted asparagus spears.

Another meal, we brought back the Salad Pizza recipe from last year's trip to Myrtle Beach.

Scones?  Yes, please!  We made these to go with breakfast one day. Warm out of the oven!!

Pre-baked scones

Another recipe from last year, made by Diann, is the Amaretto-glazed Peach Slices.

 

 

 

As we had no amaretto, a few drops of almond flavoring worked just fine!

She also did most of the work on the Rustic Apple Tart.

 

 

The smell of this baking was heavenly!

There were a couple of times when we got online recipes, too, with Paula Dean as inspiration for the Key Lime Pie meringue and the Baked Brie with nuts and brown sugar and a puff pastry crust.

Ooey, gooey cheesy goodness!

Towards the end of our week, the reserved ingredients (we only grocery shopped once!) went into the delicious Vanderbilt Mountain Strata.

 

 

This was one of the easiest, tastiest stratas I've ever made!  In fact, it was made again for my family after we returned home. 

You can obviously tell we threw calories, low carb, no sugar out the window for our week of culinary conquests and I have absolutely no regrets about it - and as for my waistbands, they have learned to keep quiet!!