Ready to cook, now what?

[mariexi]

I have just organized a Supper CLub with girls from Troy, Novi, Royal Oak and Bloomfield. We are ready to meet once a month, but not sure what menu, theme, etc to start with. Any suggestions out there?

[PAMMELA]

We just had our second Supper Club last weekend. We decide who will be hosting, and the host prepares the main dish for that dinner. The other members cook a side dish, salad, appetizer or dessert (just make sure to have the right combination). We do either an E-vite or via email to the host to let her know what we’ll bring and then she can email the other members to let them know so that no dish is duplicated. We decided to have everyone bring a bottle of wine (we’re big on the wine!) and then the host will also do a small appetizer, the bread and also other drinks (we had hyptinis and apple martinis for example). We also choose our date and host for our next month.

So basically, we don’t do “themes” and we don’t really even care if stuff “goes together”, just make what you want from that month’s issue. Although next month’s meeting we are doing a “bring your most favorite dish” regardless if it’s light, or from the magazine!

Hope that helps!

[kbs]

Our group has been going since the beginning of the year and we have had "themes" related to nationality of cusine- Greek, Mexican, Italian, etc; and we did do an appetizer night- but by no means are we strict about this. Our last gathering was a barbecue where we all brought our husbands/boyfriends- we had a great time, which is really more what we are all about.

Next month's meeting we are all going to cook out of October's Cooking Light- something we have never really done before.

You should pick whatever your group feels is fun for everyone. Some people may not like to cook out of their comfort zone, which is sometimes required when you do ethnic themes. Those things should be taken into consideration.

Have fun!
Kim

[hailey's mom]

Hi Kim,

I just moved to Braintree, MA. and would love to find out more about your supper club. Are you looking for new members? I absolutely love to cook and have a 1 year old daughter so it's nice to get out of the house once in a while to socialize with others.

Heather

[BeBeSchwanks]

Hi, While not an official CL supper club, several "foodie" friends and I get together regularly for dinner. The group is fairly fluid-there are a core group of three families (the original three all teach together) and we pick a country or type of food and then the three of us put together a menu and the hosts usually invites other people they know who they think would enjoy the meal. So far we have done an Asian fusion night, an "Atkins"night (right after new years when we were all desparate to recover from the holidays, India, Spain, and we are looking to do either Morrocan or Ethiopian next and plan to do a German night late this fall when the weather is cool enough to enjoy wurst and potatoes. It has been a lot of fun and there is usually some challenge, our current champion is the guy who made the desserts for Indian night.

[suzanne.n.l.]

I have to say that I'm a big fan of ingredient themes - you can check out the new issue for the S.F. club that does that. For example, everyone makes a dish with lemon in it [the issue], or for another twist, do things all in the same color. I don't really like doing 'greek' one time, 'mexican' another, but it's pretty popular.

[gardenmom]

Our Cooking Light club is one year old this month! It's a blast, a highlight of all of our busy mom lives. The hostess always chooses the theme and/or the menu, and any other "rules" of that event. The hostess is also responsible for all communication for that event.

We more or less decided the hostess gets to cook the main dish, and more importantly coordinate the cocktails and the wine.

The specific dishes of the menu or suggested courses chosen are first reply first choose, which helps motivate responses. (3/6 of us are attentive e-mailers, the other 3 seem to need phone communication, but we all have e-mail.)

Our first mtg. was a seasonal menu from the Cooking Light menu section of the website. We all cooked ahead and brought the dishes. A confidence builder.

The next mtg was with spouses during Christmas, and was a heavy appetizer and dessert buffet with cocktails of course. (We all brought 1 appetizer and 1 dessert mostly cooked ahead.) Very Fun, generated a lot of enthusiasm. The spouses really got into it (They wanted to come more often, but the are the babysitters, so not possible. We are shooting for 2 mtgs/yr. with spouses or family)

We had a main course of flank steak with bourbon sauce for the 3rd mtg., and we all got to choose an appropriate side, first come..

The 4th We had a main course of shrimp and penne with parmesan cream sauce from that month's magazine, and again we all chose sides.

The 5th mtg we had anything Asian with Ginger Sea Bass chosen as the main course. Half was done ahead, but we made potstickers and stirfry vegetables at the hostesses' house.

The 6th mtg. we had a Picnic or portable stuff theme, with Pressed Cubano sandwiches chosen as the main, and we all could choose sides.

The 7th mtg was a Barbeque theme with Adobo Pork Tenderloin chosen as the theme, and we all chose sides which 2/3 were done ahead, and the pork and the lime butter corn were done on the grill. The hostess invited the kids, but the 2 families with toddlers said we prefer a babysitter, and the other 3 with preteen/teens decided their kids weren't too interested, so it was the hostesses' family and the rest of the members with their spouses.

Our Anniversary party will be a cook-along where the ingredients will be purchased and ready at the hostess' house. We are coming at 5 rather than 6, and we are cooking everything together in teams of 2, according to the timing of the guests and their interests. (Menu/Recipes have been mailed.) For appetizer we are making a freeform savory corn/tomato tart for the non-bakers to practice. For the main We are making homemade fettucine from a 2yr old pasta roller that has never been used. (None of us has made pasta before). The sauce is a primavera cream sauce for sauce-making practice. And those who let the husbands always grill, can try their hand at shrimp with bay leaves kebabs. The tiramisu will be premade by the member for whom tiramisu is her #1 favorite, but has never made it light.

We talk about upcoming themes/formats, as well as decide who hosts next at each meeting. The person who volunteers for the event decides the date and the format and e-mails everyone.

Sorry about the wordiness, but since the hostess gets the ultimate say for her own convenience, our meetings have a loose format, which takes a bit of explaining.

We have 2 passionate cooks, 3 pretty interested cooks, and 1 cook who hardly cooks, yet from every meeting we all get so much out of the end results, that I think we are all pleasantly suprised. I hope we make it to year 2. (One of the members just moved 50 miles away, but she will commute to our every other month mtg. she says, so...?)

Best wishes on your cooking journey.