Cooking Club 8.0

Mary Kay was nervous. It was back to her place for Cooking Club 8.0, the kitchen where we had our least successful night to date (see 3.0). Plus, Ben had an aggressive Jamie Oliver-inspired menu lined up, and with two sponsored guests scheduled (only 1 attended), we were going to have a lot of cooks in the kitchen (as they say).

So Cooking Club agreed to bump 8.0 to Ben's place for a little more room, swinging back to MK's for 9.0. We're flexible like that.

It was the most aggressive, successful evening for Cooking Club. We whizzed, we chopped, I tried--unsuccessfully--to get everyone to adopt my new garlic roller, and as a first, there was a CC cheerleading contest. Bridget won. But now onto the cooking. . .

The Theme: British Night, Jamie Oliver as celebrity guest

Attendance: Ben, Bridget, Martha Ellen, Mary Kay, R. J. + Leslie (sponsored guest of ME)

Menu:

Clam Chowder (the favorite dish of the night)
Crab Crustini (second favorite dish of the night)
Asparagus, Mint & Lemon Risotto (third favorite dish of the night)
Root Salad (least favorite dish of the night)
Simple sautéed zucchini with chilli and lemon (an easy side)
Lovely Lambshank Pie (or, "Belle Upside Down Pie In a Crockpot Dish")
Good Old Bread & Butter pudding with a marmalade glaze and cinnamon and orange butter

Cost: $$$. Note: British beer is expensive, and hard to come by.

Highlights:
- Cooking Club Embroidered Towels (to be laundered by the owner of the USPS/CC Box)
- Leslie's British decorations, with flags and crowns for a royal family of 12.
- The Cheerleading Contest

- The 'Loud Clapping' Contest. Ben had the loudest, though Leslie's was the sharpest.
- The chowder. Mmm. MMmmmm! MMMMMMmmmm!!!
- Singing karaoke with no background music at the Chatham Tap.

Favorite Quotes:
- "This doesn't look like the picture." (Most of Cooking Club said this once during the evening.)
- "Booya means 1 pint" - Ben
- "Anyone hungry for a shank?" - Bridget
- "Let's go to the bars" - Leslie.

Key Learnings:
- "Pint and Pound the World Around' (Kathleen Cunningham)
- Bread Pudding calls for cccccitrussssy ssssscentttssss. Or, Bridget really does over-emphasssssize her S-essssss
- Don't rub your eyes after handling/cutting serrano peppers. You'll end up with a black eye, one that looks like Mary Kay punched you in the face.
- We need to assign roles for the future. These include: menu selection, matrix creation, spreadsheet, maybe others?
- Ben could get a job at Ben-ihana with those chopping skills.
- Jamie Oliver loves him a mandolin.
- Risotto is labor intensive. Note: Ben and R. J. knew that going in. Bridget did not. When Bridget volunteered to explore her Italian roots by being PM on the Risotto. . .guess who didn't object.
- T the R. (Trust the Recipe).
- This is the most stovework we've ever done. A stove matrix might have been good.
- No one likes 'bossy R. J.'
- Even though you probably won't get called out when you're saying it, there IS a difference between the words 'unanimous' and 'anonymous'

Lowlights:
- The root vegetable salad. Sorry, Jamie - it wasn't good.