Supper Club = A Love+Hate Relationship

A few months ago I approached a few of my friends with the idea of Supper Club.  The premise: bring a small group of friends together biweekly for a night of homemade dishes to promote closer friendship and socialization in combination with our favorite things (food, alcohol, music).

Much to my shagrine, what started as a small gathering of friends and family has now grown into a baker's dozen - some close friends, others not so close.  When you live in a 1 bedroom condo, it's hard to provide seating and enough counter space for so many people, so I was a little worried the first time we hosted the larger group at our place.  We are working through the growing pains, however, and I think we're well on our way to a new tradition among friends.  This is a rotating party - with the hosts providing the main dish (or "theme" in some instances), and the others bringing dishes to accompany the main course.   

Lasagne night at our place!

Matt slices up the cucumbers...

...for a yummy salad with homemade dressing.

Chris and Amity brought homemade cheese gnocci with garlic pesto and shredded parmesan.  Amity usually puts her culinary degree to good use on Supper Club night.

Everyone gathered around the coffee table to eat.  We did the best we could with our small space!

Flash forward 2 weeks to the Tex Mex theme, hosted at Blake and Lamanda's new house.  A comfy, 3 bedroom house with a huge backyard, that is quickly becoming a home for our new artsy friends.  They've only lived there a few short months, and the place already feels more lived in than our condo, which has been occupied for over a year now.  I mean this as a compliment.  It was warm, cozy, and lots of fun.  Lamada's green chili enchiladas were to die for!  And, I know I ate more than my fair share of Amity's homemade queso with ground beef, pico, and avocado.

The only snapshot I took was of the sopapilla cheesecake I made the night before (twice, as it turns out).  Jason accidentally dropped the entire dish on to our stove top, where it quickly spilled all over the place - causing us to run to HEB for more ingredients, and a rematch with the new recipe.

Poor cheesecake!

5 second rule!  We decided to sample a bit of the crust, just to make sure it was good.

I'll keep the posts rolling on Supper Club, and maybe start including some recipes, as well!

I Want It Now!

Now that the weather is starting to cool down here in Austin, Texas, the urge to get out on my bicycle has returned!  I'm so excited because I live close to downtown, and many bike adventures are just a hill away. 

I will buy a new bike in the Spring, and have had my eye on a few commuter bikes that I'm now in love with (and I don't know how I'm going to wait another 6 months to buy):

The Trek Belleville WSD - beautiful, simple, makes my heart go pitter patter.

The Gary Fisher Simple City 3 - I'm completely in love with the COLOR!

Question - How will I ever choose?  I have a tough time deciding what to wear in the morning or which color nail polish to buy.  The Trek comes equipped with front and rear racks (which is super cool because I'm always carrying stuff around).  But...the Gary Fisher is such a beautiful color...I'm absolutely in LOVE with it!  They are both in the same price range.  The Gary Fisher is aluminum, while the Trek is steel.  Lighter would definitely be better.  I guess it's all going to come down to the test drive.  Thoughts, suggestions, anyone?

No Place Like Home

I had a thought last night while driving home on a cool Austin evening (windows down, Wilco on the iPod).  For the first time in a long while, I felt at home.  This was a bit strange, considering I was in my car (not on the couch reading a book or enjoying a glass of wine with Jason over dinner).  It made me think about my definition of home.  Those who know me know that I've moved 7 times in the past 7 years, and I finally bought my first place about a year ago.  Most of the time I'm happy and the fact that I'm now a home owner (no more renting!) makes me feel more secure.  Sometimes, however, I feel trapped.  These recurring thoughts come back to me...of grabbing up all my books, music, dog, a bag of clothes, and my favorite boy...loading up the car and breaking free.  Or, I start wondering how quickly I can pay down my mortgage, so I can move somewhere new, somewhere different.  It's weird...I love my little condo, but sometimes...

It brings to mind a comment my father made a few months ago.  We were visiting his hometown of La Prior, TX (the first time, for me).  My Dad drove us past the house he lived in as a young boy, and we visited the cemetery where my Grandfather (whom I never met) is buried.  Dad proceeded to tell us that after they moved from La Prior to Corpus Christi, they moved about once a year after that.  Why?  "Because Mimi (grandma) never could quite seem to get settled in a place.  She was restless."  I didn't say anything at the time, but this really stuck with me...because it's exactly how I feel. 

So, back to last night...I started thinking, maybe "home" for me isn't a place.  Maybe it's a feeling I get when I hear a certain song, or when the air smells like Fall and there's this energy in the air that makes me feel like change is coming.  It's the way my dog's paws smell in the morning, when he's still lounging in bed, or the sound of fingers sliding across the strings of an acoustic guitar.  It's the feeling of a good hug from Jason...my Dad's whistle...the Christmas tree at Mom's house...Matt's contagious laugh, or watching Jeff's eyes welling up at his wedding.  It's a high school marching band practicing down the street early in the morning...a good run on a cool morning...church bells, seagulls, waves.  I can take these with me anywhere I go..and that feels like home.