If you have read Dine & Dish for any amount of time, it won’t be any secret to you that I feel like I’m not living in the right place. As lovely as Kansas is to raise a family, I have always had a very strong pull towards east coast living. The coast of the Carolina’s, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard…I have always felt like that is where I need to be.

Well, with four kids and a husband pretty much firmly planted in his “forever” job, my dream of moving East is most likely not going to happen. So, what does one do when they are faced to continue the rest of their life living in Kansas? They bring the East Coast to the Midwest!

This past weekend we hosted a shrimp boil, a classic coastal living party with our neighbors, right here in our Kansas backyard. Instead of the rush of waves, we heard the rush of traffic passing by. Instead of buying shrimp fresh off the boats, we got ours “fresh” from Costco. Our firepit was freestanding in our cul-de-sac versus dug into the sand. The squeal of kids took the place of squealing seagulls. The end result, however, was the same regardless of the location… we all had a fantastic time eating delicious shrimp and being together.

So yes, I would adore east coast living and hope that someday I’ll get to experience it first hand, but as I sit back and count my Kansas blessings, I would have to say the only way you are getting me there is if I can bring my friends and neighbors with me.

Original Old Bay Seasoning Shrimp Boil

4 quarts water (16 cups)

1 can (12 ounces) beer (optional)

1/2 cup OLD BAY® Seasoning

2 tablespoons salt

8 medium red potatoes, quartered

2 large onions, cut into wedges

2 pounds lean smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces

8 ears fresh corn, shucked and halved crosswise

4 pounds unpeeled jumbo shrimp (21 to 25 count)

Bring water, beer, OLD BAY Seasoning and salt to boil in 12-quart stockpot on high heat. Add potatoes and onions. Cook 8 minutes. Add smoked sausage. Cook 5 minutes. Add corn. Cook 7 minutes.

Stir in shrimp. Cook 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into large serving bowl or platter. Or, mound on paper-covered table. Sprinkle with additional OLD BAY Seasoning, if desired.

For our pots, we used Turkey fryers filled with water and that worked out great!

We had our fourth dinner club this past weekend and had such a great time. Each and every time we have dinner club makes me wish that I had the money and resources to have people over every single weekend. I absolutley am in my element when a group of friends are gathered around the dinner table enjoying each others company. I love that our every other month dinner club forces me to entertain on a regular basis because I love it!

Our theme for this month was Farm Fresh. The idea behind this theme was to encourage everyone to use the bounty of fresh ingredients that are available in our area this time of year. We enjoyed a wonderful Mozzarella and Tomato Basil Salad, Sesame Green Beans, Vidalia Onion Bake, Ted’s Special Mini Loaves, Mojo Beef Kabobs and Strawberry Shortcake. We also had two delicious kinds of Sangria, Strawberry Daiquiris and frozen Margaritas. Everything was delicious, the company was wonderful and we had a great time. If you haven’t started a dinner club yet and you love friends and food, do not wait any longer! Get one started today… you will love it!

Before I leave you with a recipe, I have to give a little shout out to Anne of Cooking with Anne. A couple of months ago I won a copy of the The Healthy Beef Cookbook and $100 gift card from her blog. The premise of the giveaway was that once I received the cookbook and gift card, I was to try a recipe out of the cookbook and blog about it.  The Healthy Beef Cookbook is put out by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and is a cookbook that anyone who loves to cook with beef needs. This cookbook is going to be a staple at our house, especially over the summer grilling season.

The first recipe we tried were the Mojo Beef Kabobs and they were fantastic. Ignore the photograph… I’m sure that the Cattlemen are probably cringing at the site of the charred edges of beef on the kabob, but my husband started brushing  the sauce on the kabobs right before he took them off the grill and the edges of them caught on fire!! The kabobs were fabulous, nonetheless, and we will be making them time and time again. Thank you Anne and the Beef Assosiation! Readers, you can plan on seeing a lot more recipes from this cookbook on Dine & Dish in the very near future.

Mojo Beef Kabobs (from The Healthy Beef Cookbook)

1. 1 pound boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick
2. 1 teaspoon coarse grind black pepper
3. 1 large lime, cut into 8 wedges
4. 1 small red onion, cut into 8 thin wedges
5. 1 container grape or cherry tomatoes (about 10 ounces)

Mojo Sauce:
1. 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2. 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3. 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano
4. 3 tablespoons olive oil
5. 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
6. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
7. 1 teaspoon minced garlic
8. 3/4 teaspoon salt

We had our second Dinner Club on Saturday and I thought it was another big success. The food that was shared was fantastic, the friendship was great and the conversation was the best! I love this eclectic group of people… there is never a dull moment.

Dinner Club came and went and I was so caught up in enjoying the company that I totally forgot to take pictures of the food. You will have to take it from me, everything we had was delicious!

I did manage to snap a photo of our table before everyone came. Much to the belief of some of you (DeAnn!), I am not Martha Stewart. I do not have a crafty, creative bone in my body. That is why, when I came up with the idea for the place cards for our Rustic Italian Dinner Club, I was especially proud of myself! My husband and I have a collection of wine corks that we have saved over the past ten years. I decided it would be neat to cut a small slit into the top of the wine cork, use a die cut to cut oval shapes out of card stock scrapbook paper (the paper had a black and white design on the other side) and write each guests name on the blank side of the paper. Then, it was as simple as inserting the card stock oval into the slit of the wine cork. Voila – you have a simple, inexpensive and creative place card for your dinner party!

Now, for those of you here for the food, here are some of the recipes from our Rustic Italian Dinner Club menu. Each couple is assigned to bring something. I was in charge of the main dish and the bread. If you haven’t started a Dinner Club yet, I hope that my posts encourage you to do so! With the right group of people, it can be a lot of fun!

Appetizer: Ali’s Amazing Bruschetta

Salad: Rustic Italian Summer Salad

Bread: Italian Cheese Bread

Side Dish: Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Main Dish: Spinach Chicken Manicotti with Creamy White Sauce (I used Manicotti instead of Cannoli & added garlic. Recipe recommended to me by SB’s Bea from On My Plate)

Dessert: Italian Cream Cake