A Valentine from Edie

February 15, 2013

Edie, our hostess with the mostess

By Sheila

If you are lucky, your friend Edie has Book Club the week of Valentines Day. We were lucky this week. I explained in a previous post that when we have book club, the hostess selects the book, hosts the event, and prepares food for the group. The only requirement is that it's hearty enough that we can call it dinner and that it is accompanied by wine. Well, I can tell you that once again, it exceeded expectations and was a real treat.

Edie claims to not have a special Valentine this year, but I can tell you that in fact she does. She has a group of friends that she treated extra-special by going all out with her Valentine preparations. Let me describe the menu:

yummy hot cheesy bacon appetizer
heart cut-out roasted potato and tomato appetizer bites
salad with raspberry vinaigrette
rolls with a heart shaped imprint served with heart-shaped butter
heart shaped individual meat-loafs with pink mashed potatoes

heart imprint on bread with you guessed it- heart shaped butter on the side

And in case you thought that was more than enough, the dessert bar was never-ending. She made Ann's recipe for Champagne Cupcakes and an assortment of hand made chocolates and truffles that we took home in a - you guessed it - heart embellished goodie bag. Oh, and a peach muffin thrown in for a breakfast treat. These are all referred to at our house as breakfast appetizers, by the way.

Our to-go treat bag.  Made my husband's day!

As an aside, we did read and discuss the book The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman.  This story provided good discussion and was a book that we all enjoyed reading.

Next month we are at Ann's. No pressure, but she is the foodie of the group, after all. I will tell you right now that when the group comes to my house in May, we will be looking forward to lowering the standards. And of course, we will be dining al fresco. I am hoping that if the flowers and hummingbirds are distracting enough, maybe no one will notice if the food is not at the top of the culinary food chain!