The Great Luncheon Club Adventure

OK, not really…
But you are invited to hear all about it.

I have always been a club joiner.

Years ago, the husband and I joined three other couples to form a dinner club. It was budget friendly fun for a group of couples with little ones. Once a month, we met at one home while our children shared babysitters at another one. Our husbands played along as the wives planned dinners by theme and divided up the meal preparation among us. Great fun!

Then our friends moved away and life got busier.

There isn’t always time for dinner clubs in the carpooling years you know...

But here I am, perched on the edge of that empty nest and in the need of a new adventure. Fortunately, several of my friends feel the same way. We tried to get the husbands on board, but not all were willing. Well, of course…

So we ditched the party poopers and formed a luncheon club instead. We think that will be more fun anyway. We can be as girly as we want without navigating through a mine field of snickering testosterone.

We’re  I'm just goofy enough to make up rules. They are pretty simple, but here they are:

1. Luncheons are No Capri Zones. In fact, requested dress is a skirt or casual dress.

2. Please come to the front door. Back door friends might be best, but not at our luncheons. The one  possible exception is my sister’s home. Her back door sits in the middle of a flower courtyard far too lovely to divert guests away from it.

3. This is a luncheon and not a tour of homes. Don’t meander off the common path unless invited. This allows the hostess to focus on the luncheon and not that other stuff that women are  prone to stress over… you know what I mean…

4. Plan to stay, and have fun.

Our first luncheon was at my home during my 29 days of giving.

      
I posted this picture then.
(I feel the oddball need to say that salad plates were in the refrigerator with salads on them... )  

 Since then, we have crystallized the group to six lunching ladies.

Yesterday,
.We gathered at another friend's home for a delicious meal featuring
shrimp and grits.

This is the south, people...
Grits are not just for breakfast around here.

This is the kind of picture you get when you try to snap pictures like Agent 99.

That's because only one of the friends present knows that I have this blog, and I was already looking like the  freaky photo lady.  I probably need to fess up about it before next month so I can get better pictures.

I did, however, snatch the recipe. The hostess had first eaten it at a bridesmaid’s luncheon in Charleston, South Carolina. It is, appropriately, called

Charleston Creamy Shrimp and Grits

Creamy Grits:
1 cup water
2 oz. butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup Half and Half or whole milk
¾ cup Quick Grits
In a small saucepan combine the water, milk and butter. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and add the grits, cook until grits have reached your desired degree of doneness.

Creamy Charleston Shrimp
4 strips of bacon sliced into ¼” pieces
1 can Rotel tomatoes
8 thinly sliced scallions, keep the green and white parts separated
Salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup of flour
1 ½ cups Half and Half
1 pound Shrimp (She uses large and cuts them into smaller pieces)

Cook bacon until crispy in a sauté pan. Add Shrimp, scallion whites and garlic to the bacon and grease. Sauté until Shrimp begin to firm up. Dust the mixture with flour and stir until well blended. Add Rotel and Half and Half, stir until well blended. Season with salt pepper and cayenne to taste. Simmer 15-20minutes.

Garnish with the remaining scallion greens.

********

A wonderful time was had by all, and once again...

we yakked until 5:00.

I think I'm going to like this new adventure.

Of course, I want to choose a name...
And possibly wear a floppy hat...

All in good time, Debski.