On Sunday, I enjoyed book club with my dear friends. We should probably call it food club, though, since the incredible meals tend to overshadow the book discussion. And with delicious food like this, who could blame us?!
Our book selection this time was the Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I enjoyed the book and how it unfolded over correspondence.
Ahh, but enough talk of the book and on to the food… For appetizers, Christina made a fancy version of Scottish eggs (a quail egg rolled in chicken sausage and breadcrumbs and then fried to a yummy crisp). They were amazing!!
Our main dish was this scrumptiously rich dover sole stuffed with crab and shrimp.
And here’s the ultra-talented chef, Christina! Thank you, Christina for working your culinary magic. I love getting to hang out with the book club ladies! I’m guaranteed good laughs, great food and a grand old time.
Today’s creation: the “exploding box.” After seeing my Unfolding Your Life Vision collage books and my collaged dream boxes, a lady launcher made me one of these surprising structures since she knew I would appreciate it. I love how the box is simple yet complex. And that it unfolds!
I tried to follow a pattern that I found online. However, I don’t do so well with measurements and instructions, so I ended up just reverse engineering it from the one I already had.
I haven’t figured out yet how I want to decorate the inside pages. I might play with seasons, directions, elements and/or stages of my life. I’ll save that for another AEDM post! What fun!
Speaking of fun, I had my friends over for book club this afternoon. We dined outside in the warm sun and chatted a bit about Jodi Picoult’s page-turner My Sister’s Keeper, but mostly we just gabbed. I love the excuse to get together and catch up.
P.S. – Some of you have asked for instructions to make an exploding box. I found another link that looks like it makes more sense than the one I tried to use, so check out these directions.
P.P.S – Here’s a link to my finished Year-in-Review exploding box.
Kristen’s book club selection was Isabel Allende’s sweeping historic novel Ines of My Soul. I was engrossed by this tale of the strong and independent Spanish conquistadora who is said to have helped build Santiago, Chile. In the story, Ines has a talent for making empanadas.
Since we book club ladies love our themed meals it was a great excuse for Francisca’s famous empanadas (from her mom Ines’ secret recipe). With rolling pin in hand, Francisca gave us a lesson in how to assemble these savory treats.
We learned how to fold and seal the dough to keep the spicy goodness from seeping out. We crimped the edges with a fork and coated the pastry with a glistening egg wash.
We dined on a cheese platter and fresh tomato salad with red onions and cilantro as the emapanadas cooked to a golden brown. I can’t tell you how utterly amazing these empanadas were. We each took home a few and I am looking forward to eating one tomorrow!
Some of my favorite book clubs have been when we do something interactive together like practicing yoga, teaching each other how to knit or sharing our creative projects.
It’s my turn next! What suggestions do you have for a great read? Would love to hear. Thanks!
Our book club pick for this round was artist Beatrice Wood’s autobiography, “I Shock Myself.” Francisca dished up a delicious bohemian spread of lentils, quinoa, beets, salad, pita bread, hummus and all sorts of other goodies. Christina picked tangerines from the tree.
As an homage to the creative process, Francisca asked us each to bring pieces we’ve been working on. Christina, Francisca and I shared some knitting, Kristen brought photos and of course Lily brought her latest creation…
… Jacob whom we all met for the first time.
We are on our seventh year of our book club. And even though we hardly talk about the books, we know it’s more about just spending time together laughing, eating, enjoying each other’s company and…
just being silly together (Francisca and I sporting our “Blue Steel” Zoolander poses).
Ahhhh, another perfect book club afternoon!
Just returned home from a late night at book club. Another gathering filled with fun, laughter and good food. Our book this time was The Friday Night Knitting Club so as an homage to the book, we met on Friday night, Christina cooked a meal of delicious vegetable lasagna (per a scene in the book) and we knitted together. Christina and I taught the other three gals how to cast on, knit and purl. I loved getting to share this pastime with my friends and getting them hooked on the relaxing quality of knitting.
Since I don’t have any photos of art to post today, my art is a quick haiku in honor of our dear book club…
The book club ladies
Lemon surprise pudding high
Scarlet letter shirt
We knit 2gether
We eat, pray, love 2gether
We laugh 2gether
[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, knitting[/tags]
