Supper Clubs

[jayandstacey]

My parents used to be in what they called a "Gourmet Group." 5 couples, they'd meet once a month, rotating host houses.

The host would pick a theme and announce it a few weeks before the dinner. Part of the rotation was to have different people with responsibility for the wine, for appetizers, for dessert, for soup or vegetable each month.

The themes were pretty specific: south africa, colonial williamsburg, eastern shore, San Francisco, etc.

They kept binders - each dinner would have a few pages, including the label from the wine, each of the recipes and maybe a picture. There would be new binder for each year - and the "Gourmet Group" amassed 30+ binders.

As I think about how my life could be improved, I think about Gourmet Group and how my father died this summer and was buried next to one of the other Gourmet Group members who preceeded him. They gathered around food and it became, well, forever.

Does anyone do such a thing anymore? I grew up thinking everyone did, until the Gourmet Group was written up in the paper about 25 years into their run. I was reading some posts on dinner parties- anyone do such a 'regular' party like this?

[susanmab]

A local group I know has a monthly "dinner club", similar but not the same. House rotates, host prepares the whole shebang. Guests chip in $5 to defray host's food cost and promise to RSVP firmly for planning purposes. Anything goes as per the host's choice.

I have a coworker who does something similar to your dad's gig - they choose a theme and each bring a dish.