Thursday Night Cocktail Snack

I thought I might throw out this simple hors d'oeuvre to keep with TNS First Thursday theme. This is my first time participating in this, I really wanted to do something different and adventurous. Well, then I remembered that this week is parent-teacher conference week, and Thursday was the designated "No Students" day, so I had a kid around the house who needed to type up his world explorers research project (Sir Walter Raleigh). Add to that the need to get to the store, and the quest for clear report covers (yay Staples!). That sort of put a damper on my hope for a really cool snack to go with an expertly made Manhattan.
Enter my notebooks full of clipped recipes that I never seem to make. I have them sorted, so went to the apps section and found this beauty from a 2006 Sunset Magazine (no, I'm not old, I just like Sunset). Garlic stuffed mushrooms, what's not to like? I bought some "stuffing mushrooms" at Trader Joe's which seem to be about halfway between a good portobello shroom and the little creminis. Worked great, they had really short stems, so there was not too much waste. Oh, and I only made a half batch because I was low on panko and TJ's seems to have discontinued theirs again. I love this because it is pretty much pantry ingredients - garlic (a LOT), cream, salt, panko and mushrooms. I cooked the garlic in the cream for about an hour until it got soft enough, then just mixed in the panko, stuffed the mushrooms and popped them in the oven. Wow, these were really good! For the vast amount of garlic used, they were not strong at all, but very sweet and mellow. I would definitely make these again, they are less greasy than the usual sausage stuffed mushrooms. I wouldn't say healthier.. the heavy cream and all. And went well with the expertly prepared Manhattans.