Photo credit: Erich Ferdinand via Flickr It will be Ilise’s and my turn to host the next supper club, coming up pretty soon, and since selecting the theme is Host’s Choice we’re pretty excited about this one.
Most times the hosts announce the theme to the rest of us in a low-key, understated way, usually via email within a couple weeks of our previous dinner.
Not us. Not this time.
We came to the Fondue Dinner in January with our theme all picked out AND an interactive group activity to bring it to life.
The theme is: Classic French Cooking Techniques. And the method we chose to dramatize the process of selecting courses and techniques was …
… a knife draw, ladies and gentlemen.
Yeeess, what a good idea to invite a group of wine-swilling, cheese-eating, fondue-dunking idjits (myself most definitely included) to play with knives at the end of a long, indulgent evening! Luckily everyone went home with the same intact body parts they had upon arrival, but in hindsight that little activity could so easily have gone horribly wrong.
Yeeess, what a good idea to invite a group of wine-swilling, cheese-eating, fondue-dunking idjits (myself most definitely included) to play with knives at the end of a long, indulgent evening! Luckily everyone went home with the same intact body parts they had upon arrival, but in hindsight that little activity could so easily have gone horribly wrong.
How it worked: Before the knife draw, each “team” called dibs on their course of choice: Drinks, Appetizers or Dessert. Then they drew a knife which displayed a pair of classic French techniques. Each team has to use one or both of them in preparing their course. Each knife had distinctly different techniques posted and there were more knives than teams – keeping it interesting. At the same time, we chose not to make it too difficult or out there – this is still our dinner, after all. Here’s how it all shook out:
Dan & Greg -- Drinks -- Batonnet and/or Mousse
Ellyn -- Appetizers -- Coulis and/or Flambeé
Ilise & Ann -- Main Course -- Julienne and/or Buerre Noisette
Kathleen & Karen -- Dessert -- Mirepoix and/or Bain-Marie
I can’t wait to see how everyone tackles this challenge! Stay tuned. A full report will be forthcoming before too long.
Dan & Greg -- Drinks -- Batonnet and/or Mousse
Ellyn -- Appetizers -- Coulis and/or Flambeé
Ilise & Ann -- Main Course -- Julienne and/or Buerre Noisette
Kathleen & Karen -- Dessert -- Mirepoix and/or Bain-Marie
I can’t wait to see how everyone tackles this challenge! Stay tuned. A full report will be forthcoming before too long.
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