Monday, May 07, 2012

Dinner Club

Over a year ago I got invited to be in a dinner club. It is made up of people who love food :)

How it works: Couples rotate each month. The hosting couple picks a theme and prepares the main dish. All the other couples pick the other courses that go along with the theme and we get together and eat and eat and laugh. We get together once a month. Usually on the last Friday or Saturday of the month.

Themes we've had: Moroccan, Murder Mystery 80s, Halloween, Letter R, 100 Mile Challenge, Cajun Creole, East Indian, Man Night, French, Iron Chef - Lemon, Seafood, Finger Food, Mexican, Brazilian, Harvest, Nursery Rhymes, Martha Stewart, Kung fo Fighting and Literary Night

This past month we hosted and our theme was literary. So you had to have found the idea or food in a book that was NOT a cookbook. I have been reading a series of books by Louise Penny that take place in Quebec. And I thought of the theme because food plays a major role in setting the scene of the book.

For appetizer the Metz's brought Bruschetta. The drink the Edward's brought was Butter beer inspired by Harry Potter (it's not a kind of beer just in case you are wondering). (forgot to get a picture of both!)

Then the main course I did was Slow Roasted Lamb sandwiches on Rosemary Cibatta buns
Rosemary Cibatta Buns
Toppings for the sandwiches were Homemade Onion Marmalade, Mustard Aioli, smoked gouda cheese, argula and tomatoes
Slow Roasted Lamb sandwhichs

Then I made a favorite salad of mine to go with it.
Main Dishes

hahaha Shawn...
Shawn goofing it up


Dessert by the Murphy's where Lonnie made sampita and krempita. Some fancy European pastries that she had written about in her journal when her and her hubby were dating years ago.
Two French Pastries

From a different dinner club...
Queen of Hearts Tart
Pistachio & Pomegranate encrusted rack of Lamb

FAQ about Dinner Club:

1. Do you make everything? Yes. Most of the time! One month someone made homemade ketchup, I tried homemade mayonnaise, Aioli, etc.

2. How do you pick your themes? Whatever strikes our fancy :) I think one of the best parts is picking out the theme! And no we aren't ruled by the theme. One month someone had the nursery rhyme theme and Regan ended up writing a nursery rhyme that went with the soup I made.

3. How many couples? Five.

4. Do you have the same people? Yes. It has been so fun getting to know everyone even better over the course of time. We did have some other couples that dropped out and a couple new ones that attend now.

5. Sounds like crazy food - ever have plain things? Nope. We all think that's kind of the point of dinner club. Fancy food most kids would hate on fancy dishes most kids would break.

6. Do you get tired of doing it? Nope! It's literally one of my favorite things we do as a couple. A couple people we know do a dinner club now but they go out to restaurants each month. That works for them and living in the city. We all love to cook and entertain! We play games after or chat. It's the best!

5 comments:

Tyler and Kristin Smith said...

I'm so impressed. I don't even know how to pronounce half the stuff you were eating.
Maybe I should finish my masters or something...ha!
Looks like fun. and good eatin'. Winning combination if you ask me!

Marie said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dinner club.

I was just thinking today that I wanted to make that fruit tart again. Ahhh, summer fruit!

Catherine Dabels said...

I want to be in your dinner club. Especially if Sean and Lonnie are there. Plus the food looks delish. And I want to see your house. I love the white plate wall. I want a white plate wall.

Michelle Barbeau Photography said...

looks like fun!

Abby Metz said...

:D