start a supper club

...and made a plan to select one new thing to cook each weekend.
Last weekend it was cheese and potato soup. Pretty rich but good.

Had my friend Pete and his wife Lisa over last night. The girl’s cooked and it was simple and fun. Inviting people over and feeding them…I mean it’s so damn simple and people love it, so why don’t we do it more? Anyway it’s not a supper club but the goal does remind me to invite people even one by one.

Some people put a notice on the magazine’s bulletin board for their town and just get 6-8 people they’ve never met together. You pick a theme, like Southwest or Italian. Other supper clubs have been as big as 25, kind of difficult except with a backyard. Last week I had a few people over for board games and chili. It went great with the slight exception of my neighbor who insisted we play the ouija board. Dude. Come on. He also told me a lady died in my house. I did NOT need to know this information. I didn’t know him that well except to chat him up in the driveway on my way to and from work. He’s one of those guys you want to say…who put the quarter in you? Except for the temporary creep out factor, it was fun. I plan to have people over more. Maybe not the neighbor.

This will be a great excuse to keep my place tidy. And to round-out my dish collection. I love to get neat mis-matched dishes and glassware from thrift/vintage shops and garage sales, which is also something I need to get around to doing more.

Everyone who knows me knows I love to cook and can pull off quite a meal. And I love all the little details, like pretty printed napkins and tables cloths made of large squares of vintage fabrics.

I’ve done lots of dinners for most all holidays in the recent past and a few birthdays. I loved it when my random assortment of vibrant friends came in and out, bearing yummy food, bottles of wine, board games, and little hostess gifts. It’s the spirit of it all.

I haven’t done it for a while, and I miss it. I am also considering putting together an outdoor picnic party…but that will be another post.

I’m trying to cook regularly and get a few things down that are mine. So I love tortilla soup. Found a recipe, corn, tomatoes yep. All the good things. It said add one or two adobo chilies. I found a can. They were small. What the hell was I thinking? I thought hmmm….these are abnormally small so I’ll add six. SIX.

Our lips were on FIRE. A great big pot of soup so hot that only one person in the world will enjoy it, my boyfriend. Oh well, I continue to learn.

We crammed into my little kitchen. Everyone had a job. There was much chopping and creating and it was chaos. By the time we got to the table it was like Thanksgiving. Too much food and
8 p.m. but it was fun and I think they really appreciated it.

Cooking Light mag has this supper club thing where everyone brings or cooks on the spot some of their featured recipes. Then rates them etc. Gets squashed drinking wine and fall down giggling. Okay maybe you can skip that last part. I like the friendship potential in inviting people over for a bite. So seldom done. Why?

I had one friend over last Sunday night and cooked for my boyfriend at his place the other night. It’s working….writing things down works. Also it helps we’ve officially entered the cold weather, cook and sit on your butt to watch movies season.

My friend Terri was the one who finally succeeded in getting our supper club off the ground. I said this was worth doing, but I just can’t decide. I almost like our impromptu suppers better-the ones where we’re just hanging out and decide to go to the store and buy a bunch of ingredients and all cook supper together-rather than the big organized “supper club” events. But hey, as long as I get to have good food, good wine, and good conversation with my friends, I’m not about to complain.