Inaugural Dinner Club gathering

Nov. 7, 2021

Oh my goodness!  This was wonderful!!  I think Dinner Club is going to be fantastic!  This was the very first gathering of dinner club and we hosted it.  There are 6 couples in dinner club, so 12 people total.  Such a lovely group of folks.  Daddy came up to say hello to everyone and all were so glad to see him.  We all wanted him to stay and join us, but he just came to say hi.  :)  

Each couple will host dinner club one time a year.  And when you host, you choose the 'theme' of the evening.  We went first and our theme was (wait for it...) wine tasting.  :)  ha!  A bit of a 'one trick pony' aren't I?  :)  Well, it got the ball rolling!  Each couple provides a part of the meal (carry in style) so all the work is not on one family.  For our night I assigned specific dishes that paired with the wines we were tasting - and all were so gracious to agree to bring those recipes!  It truly worked out beautifully and the food was delicious!!  Some of the other couples have ideas for their theme nights including 'armchair travel', 'mystery/spy game night', and 'beers of the world'.  So many possibilities! 

We sampled Pinot Noir - 4 Ways.  The 4 types of Pinot Noir were a sparkling white, a rose, a fully de-stemmed red, and a whole clustered red.  We watched 4 short videos, one for each of the wines, and did a tasting along with the lady in the videos.  It was simple and fun and I think all enjoyed it.  I was especially intrigued by the comparison of the fully de-stemmed red and the whole clustered red.  Both were good but my favorite was the de-stemmed.  Although I enjoyed the whole cluster more than I perhaps had expected to.  

We are already looking forward to the next one hosted by Bob and Debbie!

Daddy standing at the head of the table

Brenda and Matt brought the charcuterie tray

I made parmesan crostini and roasted garlic mushrooms

Roasted pork with roasted potatoes & carrots.  I roasted that pork in a slightly different way than
normal and really liked it!  It was tender and delicious and I will do it that way again, for sure. 

Deb and Bryan's delicious roasted cabbage with bacon and garlicky creme fraiche

Nancy and Brian's wonderful beet/strawberry salad with balsamic mustard dressing

Matt and Brenda also brought fresh sliced pears - yummy!

Anne and Scott's yummy chocolate covered strawberries

Debbie and Bob's delicious Blackberry Galette - glad she made two!! 

Laura, Anne, Brenda, Matt, Deb, Bryan, Nancy, Brian, Bob, Debbie, Scott, Marvin