Books and friends= mom fun

One of my dear student's parents has been so sweet to me.  I had her oldest last year, have her middle child this year and with any luck, will have her youngest next year.  She invited me to join a book club she was starting with some of her favorite ladies.  I knew a few of them from school and church and was intrigued by the book. 

 

Green Well Salad

 

It's called Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist.  It's about food, but also community.  It's a Christian book, but not devotional.  It's recipes and the stories that go with them.  The book has been super enjoyable, the recipes have been good, and joining friends, new and old, around the table, is pretty great.

 

 

We get together at one of our homes (insert footnote!) and cook the recipes from the section of the book we read that month.  Then we feast and discussed the chapters.   (footnote- We will not be meeting at my house- they all have lovely, lovely homes with huge kitchens and plenty of room for entertaining.  My house can have one cook in the kitchen, two if you are close!)

 

Me and my mama friend

 

Last week we made (and devoured and enjoyed) steak au poivre with cognac pan sauce, green well salad with cherries and walnuts,  risotto, goat cheese biscuits (insert footnote!) and flourless chocolate brownies.  (footnote- I was in charge of the goat cheese biscuits.  No problem.  I bake.  I make biscuits.  I even tested out the recipe the week before at home since I'm not usually cooking with goat cheese and fresh shredded parmesan cheese.  They were great.  So, I measured out all my ingredients and brought them to cook at book club.  When I pulled them out of the oven, there was clearly an issue.  I had forgotten the baking powder.  They were little dough balls.  Chewy little unleavened bread clumps.  They were slightly embarrassing.  Add that to the fact that I showed up in a crazy tiny little rental car and I was pretty impressive that evening.  -We had someone bump our mini van in July and the new tailgate was finally in.  I had a little rental for three days.  Three long and cramped days.  I'm not used to driving a teeny tiny car and was pretty sure I'd be run over on the road.)

 

 

I learned some new cooking skills. I met some new friends. We talked about our kids, our jobs, and our moms.  We stayed out past 10pm on a school night!  I learned to make risotto.  The green bowl was from book club, the orange bowl was my recreation later that week with bacon, mushroom, and shrimp. 

 

 

Next month has some promising recipes and another lovely home to gather in.