Cindy Mayron
The winning recipes of the Quail Creek Strawberry Recipe Contest, sponsored by the Food & Beverage Committee, were featured at the Grill June 11-15. The Strawberry Pie was on the dessert menu; the Strawberry-Rhubarb Buckle was served at the Coffee Bar; and the syrup was featured as a daily cocktail special at the bar.
Kimberly Nichols won 1st place with her Strawberry pie, a cream cheese filling on a cinnamon crunch cereal crust and Strawberry-Rhubarb Buckle. She was awarded dinner for two at the Grill Restaurant (temporarily located at the Madera Clubhouse until the newly remodeled restaurant reopens this summer). Jim Graham received an honorable mention with his Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup.
“We received seven strawberry recipes ranging from strawberry pizza, berry cobbler, strawberry beurre blanc sauce, pasta salad and the multi-use syrup,” said Ben Baird, recipe contest chair. Committee members first did a blind tasting evaluating each recipe for taste, texture and general presentation,” he added. Then the samples were reviewed by the culinary team and tallied. Chef Aris made the final winning selections.” The committee sponsors multiple contests a year (which is only open to Quail Creek residents) featuring different foods. Last year recipes for pumpkin, bacon, chocolate desserts, luncheon salads and pies were just some of the contests held.
Kimberly and her husband, Brian, have lived in Quail Creek for nine years, having moved from Sacramento. “I’m an avid cook—it’s my hobby,” she said. “In 1999 I attended a six-day course at the “Cooking with Friends Cooking School” in Julia Child’s home in the south of France. We prepared an entirely new menu each day. I love to cook, bake, and try new recipes—especially French dishes. I’m starting to create my own unique recipes and tweaking existing recipes, as I did for the pie, changing the crust from pretzel to crushed cereal.” If you’re wanting to find the nicest places to eat in Sacramento you’ll want to look into some of the best restaurants in Sacramento.
Jim Graham is the family cook for wife Carmella. “I like to be creative, especially with brunch and BBQ. We have belonged to a monthly brunch group for the last four years, never having repeated a recipe,” he said. Jim is the chair of the Food & Beverage committee and worked for 30 years in the hospitality industry in California.