Around the Table: Our September Supper Club

One of the things I’m most excited about right now is introducing something new to Dinner à la Amy: our Supper Club. It’s a chance to gather around the table, try some new recipes, revisit a few favorites, and simply enjoy good food and good company.

And because this is the Connection, Not Perfection Kitchen, I want to share more than just the menu. I want to tell you what we served, what everyone loved, what surprised us, and the little things I learned along the way.

Our September Supper Club was a little bit Italian, a little bit nostalgic, a little bit sweet — and definitely a lot of fun.

🍗 One Pot Chicken Italiano: The Easy Dinner Winner

We started with the brand-new One Pot Chicken Italiano. This one came in with very good reviews. It’s chicken and pasta all in one dish, full of flavor, and — most importantly for me — easy.

The reaction around the table was exactly what I hope for from a dinner solution: delicious, easy and satisfying. It felt like a real dinner without turning dinner into a project.

🍞 Bountiful Beer Bread Gets an Italian Makeover

I served Bountiful Beer Bread alongside the chicken, but I gave it an Italian twist by mixing in Italian Garlic Seasoning. It was a simple way to make one of my favorite pantry basics fit the whole meal.

We dipped the bread in Balsamic & Herb Avocado Oil, and it was a simple, delicious way to tie the bread into the rest of the meal.

This is one of the reasons I love having a few good basics on hand. One mix can become something completely different just by changing what you add to it.

🥗 The Forgotten Favorite: Vidalia Onion Dressing

The salad was simple: fresh spinach, red onion and Craisins, finished with Vidalia Onion Dressing.

And then came the comments: “Oh, I forgot about Vidalia Onion!”

I loved that. Sometimes we don’t need a brand-new recipe. We just need somebody to remind us about an old favorite. The dressing got a little comeback moment at the Supper Club, and people were genuinely happy to rediscover it.

🍫 Toffee Brownie Bars: A Little Naming Clarification

First, an important clarification: these are Toffee Brownie Bars. They are not traditional brownies. They’re flatter, with a rich chocolate layer and that buttery toffee flavor that makes them so good.

They were good — and I would definitely recommend them. But here’s my real-life Supper Club tip: make and serve them the same day.

I didn’t think they were nearly as good a couple of days later. So if you’re making these for a gathering, I wouldn’t make them way ahead just because you can. Make them for the party, put them out, and enjoy them.

🍒 Cherry Soda Pie Bites: A Nostalgic Surprise

This was one of the more unexpected flavors of the night. Cherry Soda Dip Mix gives you that nostalgic cherry-soda flavor, but to me it tastes more like an old-fashioned soda-shop treat than a manufactured cherry cola.

I turned it into little Cherry Soda Pie Bites with phyllo shells, cream cheese, whipped topping, mini chocolate chips and maraschino cherries. They were fun, individual little bites — exactly the kind of dessert that works well for a gathering.

Cherry Soda Pie Bites

Makes 30 bites

• 2 (1.9-ounce) packages frozen phyllo dough shells
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 packet Cherry Soda Dip Mix
• 1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips, optional
• Maraschino cherries, optional

Directions

1. Prepare phyllo shells according to package directions. Cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and Cherry Soda Dip Mix. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped topping.

3. Pipe or spoon mixture into cooled phyllo shells. Garnish with chocolate chips and cherries, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

🥃 And Then There Were Cocktails…

Of course, we needed a drink. I took my Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa and decided to see what would happen if I served it chilled.

The answer? It works. Really well.

I created four cold cocktail versions. And while everyone was welcome to taste their way through the lineup, the clear crowd favorite was the Cinnamon Roll Chata made with RumChata.

They loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. ❤️

I’m not even sure everyone fully investigated all the other versions before the RumChata one became the star of the evening. 😂

Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa Chilled: Four Cold Cocktails

French Toast Cinnamon Roll

5 oz chilled Cinnamon Roll Cocoa + 2 oz Uncle Charlie’s French Toast Whiskey

Cinnamon Roll Chata

5 oz chilled Cinnamon Roll Cocoa + 2 oz RumChata

Hot Cinnamon Roll Fireball

5 oz chilled Cinnamon Roll Cocoa + 1½ oz Fireball Whiskey

Cinnamon Roll White Russian à la Amy

4 oz chilled Cinnamon Roll Cocoa + 1½ oz vodka + 1½ oz RumChata

For all four drinks: shake with ice, pour over fresh ice into an approximately 12-ounce rocks glass, and top with whipped cream and McCormick’s Cinnamon Roll Finishing Sugar around the rim and/or sprinkled on top.

And the Winner Was… RumChata.

If you’re going to try just one, I’d start with the Cinnamon Roll Chata. The chilled Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa with RumChata was creamy, cinnamon-y and completely indulgent.

And honestly, I think I may have changed how I think about Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa. Apparently it doesn’t have to be hot!

And because a good cocktail deserves a little attention, here are a few of my own photos from the Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa experiment.

What I Took Away From September’s Supper Club

• Easy food can still feel special. The One Pot Chicken Italiano was a crowd-pleaser without requiring a complicated production.
• One product can do more than one job. Bountiful Beer Bread became an Italian-style companion simply by adding Italian Garlic Seasoning.
• Sometimes an old favorite just needs to be rediscovered. Vidalia Onion Dressing got a whole new round of appreciation.
• Serving advice matters. The Toffee Brownie Bars are a same-day treat in my book.
• And sometimes the biggest hits are the things nobody expects — like turning Cinnamon Roll Hot Cocoa into a cold cocktail and watching the RumChata version disappear.

That’s what I love about gathering around the table. It’s not about putting together the perfect menu. It’s about trying things, laughing when something doesn’t go exactly as planned, finding a new favorite, rediscovering an old one and enjoying the people sitting across from you.

Because around my table…

We pass plates, not perfection. ❤️

Dinner à la Amy • Connection, Not Perfection Kitchen