Food Club

Who knew that I would leave the Bay Area, with its high concentration of 'foodies,' only to find another delightful group of gourmets? These women love to cook and eat great food, and a few times each month they get together to do just that. I've been invited to join them for the remainder of my time here -- hooray!

Here I am, toasting with Kerry, Liz, and Alison as we embark on the preparations for a fantastic dinner.

Ali hosted the gathering at her place, sporting a super-cute pink panther T-shirt.

Kerry raises a glass. She has actually trained and worked professionally as a chef.

Liz celebrated the beginning of October break by concocting some Thai iced tea. It was delicious!

Here are the raw shrimpies, spending some time in their saucy marinade. They're not much to look at now...

But in the end, they're looking downright sexy in their next of coconut rice, n'est-ce pas?

Ready to eat. Ali's son and a couple of his friends joined us for the meal, and there was another toast (with the Thai iced tea this time) before we launched into the food.

Afterwards, there was dessert (I made fresh ginger cake) and coffee with Amarula, a divine creamy fruit liqueur.

Kerry (holding the Amarula) cracks up as she watches Liz take a dainty sip from her wee little coffee cup.

There was ambiance (votive candle in coconut shell -- try this at home!), great company, laughter and conversation, and a few luxuriant hours later, all of us had bellies full of delicious and well-prepared food. That's 'food club' in a nutshell, really.

The aftermath: the kitchen was tired and so were we. Can't wait 'til next time, ladies!