Our Supper Club

Happy Sunday, 

Part of what TOWANDATUDE means to me is completing something you intended to begin! My intentions are good, but I rarely meet the finish line. I had three goals for this year and here it is, the end of September and I finally completed one! My intent in telling you about it is to encourage you in getting busy with making your goals come to pass. The holidays are nearly upon us and we all know what that means, the making of another New Years goal list!  

I have wanted to have a “Supper Club” for a few years now and here’s where that dream started. We have hosted a once a year intimate outdoor supper for the past four years. Each of us have said how much we enjoyed that evening every year, the relaxed conversation, the food and participants combined were a real hit. I read some articles in different publications talking about “The Return of the Southern Supper Club”. Wouldn’t it be great to duplicate our yearly dining experience on a monthly basis? Was that too much to hope for? I began to throw the idea out to this certain group and they took the bait! Last night was our “First Official Supper Club Evening” and I am writing here to tell about it. Some of the participants are readers of my Blog, so it’s a way to report in to them and a way to encourage you to begin your own “Supper Club” and give yourself something fun to look forward to during the winter months.

Appetizers on the "back-back porch".

Our little yellow house of "funky-shway" (our version of feng-shui ) was the host home this month. It comes with some challenges however, our dining room table sits on our back screen porch, which is nice in the winter and early spring months, but a bit warm for ten people sitting around the table in September! In some parts of the country, fall has begun, not so here in humid south Florida. My reminder note to each of our guests was,. “..remember no A.C. dress accordingly!" I had a fall theme for the evening with decorations and menu plan, but it was still 85 degrees. What troopers my friends are, persevering on despite the heat! I’m calling it “FALL FEVER”

Our dining table on the screen porch all ready for guests.

There are many ways to carry out your Supper Club plan, the one I used was to provide the main entree’ and delegate each course to a different participant, letting them know our main course and asking them to do their homework to find a recipe that would complement our dish.

Here is our Menu from last nights Fall Fever delicious dining with friends:

The Appetizer: Attendee’s D&G made a delicious salsa comprised of corn, avocado and cilantro and served with root vegetable chips. 

Drinks: Our friend B. brought yummy Fall Beers and an assortment of red wines. I especially enjoyed the Sam Adams Seasonal Ale he brought. I included chilled bottles of S.Pellegrino on the table and  pitchers of iced lemon water.

Our first course: was made by D. She prepared a peppery Arugula Salad that had cubes of roasted butternut squash, cranberries and candied pecans with a delicious red wine vinegar and honey dressing. (Lucky me, I got to have a plate of leftovers of this for breakfast this morning. Wake Up taste buds! Here comes deliciousness)!

The Main course: was Grilled Apple-Bourbon Pork Chops with Faux Mashed Potatoes (nope, not potatoes, it’s really cauliflower!) and Applesauce full of lots of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Vegetables were provided by our friends D&J. They prepared a medley of delicious roasted root vegetables.

Dessert: My lovely neighbor friend C. is a gifted baker. We were so lucky to have her Pumpkin Cheesecake topped with chocolate ganache, she also served us chocolate zucchini bread.

In all, it was a lovely evening with friends over good food and drinks with delightful conversation. My note to self critique of the evening:

1).Next time add one more leaf to the table!

 2).Don’t make something you have to grill while your guests are left visiting (be with them) also; when you grill pork chops and have to put them on hold they dry out too quickly!

3).Never, Ever, under any circumstances leave your blind, 16 year old, killer Cockapoo in the house alone for the time you are outdoors enjoying your guests! (enough said)!

So friends, on to the next Supper Club endeavor for me and moving on down the list to my #2 item of goals for the year…starting a book club. Yep, for about thirty plus years I’ve wanted to belong to one, and I am determined to make it happen before the year is out! Gotta go, I have phone calls to make! 

What’s your dream idea? Share it with us here or on the Facebook page! If you’ve already got something going, how about a picture? You might inspire the rest of us to GET BUSY with our TOWANDATUDE inspired dreams!