Gesundheit!

The Kowalski's hosted Oktoberfest on September 10th

German Night Menu

Bretzel Rolls, Sausage and Cheese Appetizer

Schweinshaxe - Bavarian pork knuckles (but really it was pork roast)

German Napfle

Rotkohl - Red Cabbage

Haselnusstorte - Hazelnut Torte

German Apple Cake

The Varnell's couldn't make it this month so Kathy and Dieter subbed in for them. Dieter is from Germany - so that was a real treat to have his insight on things. We drank Radlers or Alsterwassers- 1/2 beer and 1/2 lemonade and German wines

drink, drink, drink

Toni's bretzels were yummy...we decided the limburger cheese was VERY potent

Again, my pictures are not the best - but I promise to get better

l to r: Toni (with Lily), Rob, Karen, Kent, Bryan, Jen,

Kathy, Dieter and Wes (maybe next time he'll have his eyes open)

Haselnusstorte

What a great night - we learned some German, shared some of our German heritage and toasted to Germany!

Ooh, la la!

The club kicked things off with our very first gathering with a French Theme at The Stein's. The host couple provides the entree and decides the theme for the night. Then everyone is assigned one of the following: appetizer, 1 of 2 side dishes, and dessert.

I have to say that everyone really did come to play! Unfortunately, my pictures aren't that great because it was sort of an afterthought to take them and then start this blog....so just pretend they are much better.

The dishes

Entree was Coq Au Vin

The Dining Room looked so pretty - we even used our china

Here's the gang: l to r - Jen, Rob, Shannon, Toni (sans Wes),

Bryan (in the mirror), Julie, Matt, Karen and Kent

French Night Menu

Baked Brie Appetizer

Simple Dijon Viniagrette Salad

Coq au Vin

Leek Quiche

Potato Galette

Basil Palmiers

Mocha Pots de Creme

Oh, lots of wine. Did I mention all the wine? Rob is an excellent sommelier...did you catch the French word I just used? So we were treated to all types of varieties of WINE. Everyone's dishes were excellent! And everyone made something they had never made before and everyone tasted something they never had tasted before. We all agreed to bring a copy of our recipes for everyone to keep just in case we ever want to make them again. Is anyone interested in the recipes? I'll post them if you are but I won't if you're not.

The evening was so much fun and we were already looking forward to our second meeting.

Here we go....

A group of friends decided to set up some "rules and regulations" for a dinner club. It was something we had hashed around for a couple years now and finally decided to get it going. Some of us are more adventurous than others - but everyone was game to give it a try. We decided to try and aim for a once a month meeting and seeing how it goes. We have had two gatherings so far - so maybe this idea will stick. Hopefully, this blog will document our adventures along the way.