Supper Club

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Being young and single is an interesting time for a motivated chef. As much as I love and want to cook, I don’t always have people to cook for, and I can’t afford to constantly entertain larger groups.  I also certainly don’t always have the time or energy. I often have weeknight obligations, and if I get home from work late, pouring a bowl of cereal becomes an effort.

I began formulating an idea to form a “Supper Club” in the summer. My initial ideas were ambitious, developing theme menus, formal dining set-ups, coordinating every dish, but eventually I settled that I would just throw the idea out to my girlfriends by inviting a bunch of them over for dinner.  We picked a date the majority of us could meet, invited a few extra friends from our respective networks, I swiffered my apt floors, lit some candles, put out some cheese and crackers, crudités and dip, and we gathered. 

I made a big pot of chicken and dumplings from a recipe I found on williamssonoma.com, one of my favorite resources for shopping and meal planning. It was late September and beginning to feel like fall, so I chose something with apples and apple cider vinegar.  This recipe also caught my eye because it had dill, and I love dill, especially dill pickles.  I used boneless thighs and breast because I knew we wouldn’t be sitting at a table and it would be difficult to cut meat off the bone balancing plates while sitting on the couch. The night before I had done a Passover dinner with my sister, C and brother in law, T, so I was able to repurpose a pumpkin dessert I had made for that.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/chicken-fricassee-with-dumplings.html

The real star of the show, however, was a Pinterest dessert a friend of friend brought.  B wrapped chocolate chips in crescent roll dough and baked them off---divine.

At the end of the dinner we all agreed to keep our “Supper Club” up, and a few weeks later gathered at the home of a few of the girl’s in our group for a lemony shrimp pasta.  We celebrated a second Thanksgiving together in November, and in January gathered twice, once for another delicious shrimp dish with feta, and a second time, a smaller group of us met for some of the best pizza in Philadelphia, Tacconelli’s. 

Second Thanksgiving Plate!

We are meeting tonight for fajitas. E, the hostess, is a vegetarian, so while she will prepare a vegetarian fajita option, K volunteered to take care of chicken for meat eaters. I am bringing a dessert, M is bringing an avocado salad, and others will be providing plenty of wine and maybe a few other treats.

I am sure plenty of groups of women do this all over the country, at all different ages, and in all sorts of cities and suburbs. I like to think, however, that our group is special, and I’m sure if you have a “Supper Club”, you feel the same about yours. I encourage everyone to try to do this, whether it is with a few friends, a lot of friends, coworkers, or family members. 

The important thing is that is a chance to share embarrassing stories, drink a lot of wine on a weeknight, and eat some really tasty food.  I don’t think anyone can say no to that.