Feeding Friends Forever!

So, a little about me…..

Long before I started this website (10 years ago), and wrote some sections of a (a new idea THEN) cool life story/recipe book that was never finished, I cooked for my friends.  Sometimes it was the famous Cosmo Card Club that I started in Jan of 2001  – a fabulous group of 8 gals (and many of you subbed) that played cards, drank cocktails and ate scrumptious food up until I moved to PA in 2014 – supporting one another through marriages, divorces, messy breakups, job issues, natural disasters, an adoption, 3 cancer diagnoses and even the loss of our beloved Terri MConnell.  Sometimes it was just me entertaining various groups of friends 0r making something (think bouillabaisse Terry B) and calling someone to come share at the last minute.

But my favorite was what I now call “international nights” – or basically themed evenings where I would invite a group to experience food from just one country – usually one I’d just visited.  As I’ve been lucky over the course of my career to travel far and frequently – these happened many times over.  Belgium, Italy (think penis pasta!), Sweden, Spain, Greece, etc. I spent my away time experiencing restaurants, cooking with locals in their homes, browsing grocery stores for stuff I couldn’t get in the US (I STILL want Belgian mayo (used nothing else for years!) genever, and a jar of chanterelles!) and best of all – collecting recipes and cultural experiences.  Most of my good friends do not even live in the US – lots are in Belgium (as I traveled there multiple times a year for 25 years) and my goddaughter and her mom, my friend Ingela live in Sweden.

I’m going to give you just a small sampling of some old pics of these events (not too much to overwhelm you out of the gate – there are plenty more and I’ll try to do this regularly) just pique your interest, I hope..

I’m starting with a favorite pic of some favorite long time friends – all quite distracted with eating at the moment I took this!    circa 2003

the famous Smoked Salmon Gallette that Shannon Berry and I chatted about just last week of FB – as well as an awesome prosciutto san danielle with Winesap apple marmellatta from Batali’s Babbo cookbook

Cooking some favorite’s with Ingela in her kitchen – just off the Grand Place in Brussels (where Charlotte was born) – I see the salmon gallette, the Blake house salad, and I believe I’m making roasted garlic and mushroom risotto 

Swedish night – after attending my god-daughter Charlotte’s christening (she will be 18 this year) I collected family recipes for Mousse de Salmon, Shrimp & Salmon Roll, Skagen toast, herring, roe créme frâiche and her brother Goran’s Swedish meatballs as well as a fish pie one of her friends made

Not sure what all is in that spread (that cheese looks yummy) but as evidenced by the 2nd pic – that’s me hosting Card Club!  let the Cosmo’s and feasting begin!