Supper Club inspired by Julia

Last weekend was our February gathering for Supper Club. About 8 years ago we put out and also found a posting on the Cooking Light site looking to start a Tacoma area Supper Club . The posting we found was for a gals only supper club but we really wanted a couples supper club as we both were interested. We had tried to get something started initially just amongst our group of friends but it always turned out we ended up cooking time after time. Most of our friends were at a different stage of their lives at that point. So I had read in a Cooking Light magazine about starting a supper club with strangers, we gave it a try.

So one Sunday afternoon we all (the original 4 couples) met at a local Starbucks to feel each other out and see if we were interested in moving forward. It started with Robin & Shannon, Jenni & Arnie, Michelle & Tim (who have moved out of state sadly now) and us. We were all initially strangers. We decided we were all in and none of us stuck out as ax murders or anything so it seemed safe, although this was a new way of meeting people for all of us.

Over time the group grew; Kris & Jeff, Derek & Lisa, and finally Jason & Jodi joined our club. It's been a successful whim of an idea. We meet the 3rd Saturday of the month with the exception of July and August as summer just seems to get too busy for our group. For the most part we all honor our commitment and make it a priority with the occasional couple or two who can't make it.

The host/hostess choose the theme and assign accompanying dishes to the other couples. And everyone brings wine, beer or whatever drink they want for the evening. There was a time in our beginning that we all tried to stick to Cooking Light recipes but that soon faded into the background. After all these years of doing this we've hit many, many varieties of themes that I can't even begin to remember. A few I do remember; fondue night, Bobby Flay recipe night, Iron chef style secret ingredient nights (apple & hazelnut, lavender are a few of those that I remember), Thai, Mexican several times, Autumn theme, comfort food, Everything cooked on the grill, Italian, Mediterranean, the list is really too mammoth for me to accurately remember.

For this night our theme was inspired by Julia Child as picked by our hosts Robin & Shannon. They made Julia's Beef Bourguignon. G & I had made this same recipe just for the two of us shortly after we saw the movie so it was fun to try someone elses attempt.

Robin's Beef Bourguignon

This was one of our smaller gatherings for Supper Club as 2 1/2 of our couples weren't able to make it on this night. Jodi brought a great appetizer of vegetable samosas & eggplant tapanade. They were both great Sunset recipes finding Julia's appetizer recipes wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be.

Derek & Lisa made Julia's version of Cesar Salad and a green bean side dish. The salad preparation was so interesting. In Julia's version you don't make the dressing separately you make the dressing one ingredient at a time with your hands mixing with the romaine. It was delicious. Light and garlicky, not creamy and heavy. The also made the green beans with sautee'd garlic and shallot which were so fragrant and perfect with the rich beef.

Derek tossing the Cesar Salad

Lisa's Green Beans w/ Shallots & Garlic

Robin made some egg noodles with peas to accompany the wonderful beef bourguignon.

Robin's Noodles for her beef

We all sat down to a great meal and some lively conversation along with several bottles of wine.

G's Whipped Cream

G&I were responsible for the dessert course this time. I toyed with the idea of making my Gutsy Cooks Club dessert recipe assignment for the week but decided to stick with Robin's Julia theme instead. I used Julia's Master Crepe recipe and pre-made a batch of crepes to take with us. I then put together a filling bar to do make your own crepes. I put out a mascarpone cheese & shaved chocolate filling, lemon pudding, nutella for the rich inside choices. And then fresh blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, fried bananas, chopped hazelnuts. Two sauces; a bailey's chocolate sauce and a honey liquor blackberry sauce. And of course G made fresh whipped cream and put out powdered sugar and shaved chocolate to garnish. Everyone had fun making their own crepe version.

fried bananas for the crepes

The Crepe Bar

Jodi's crepe creation

My crepe creation

Lisa's crepe creation

It was another great night for our group. Everybody was  a good sport and let me photo document our meal.There's always laughter, sharing and of course lots of great food. We'll never regret this adventure that we put ourselves out there to try so many years ago now. I remember driving to Starbucks that day and saying to each other; " should we really be doing this, what if we don't like these people?" It's so weird now to think back to before we knew these great couples that have now grown into some great friends that we truly enjoy spending time with.

Food does bring people together!