Clubbing

Tonight I’m doing up my notes for our book club meeting tomorrow night (I’ve yet to start the ones for my other book club…) and I’m grinning like a crazy person.

Because not only do I get to eat and write about food for a living, but I get to read books about it and then meet with a bunch of folks to talk about it – over a meal.

Ahhh.

And in rereading sections of books about food, I assess and reassess my opinions, my patterns and sometimes even the dishes I make.  All based on things I’ve read.

I wrote awhile ago about making a cabbage dish around the frenzy that is St. Patrick’s Day and just a few nights ago, I went out and got celeriac, after skimming a recent article about how it doesn’t get enough love, and made a beautiful, velvety soup, daubed with fresh herbs and fresh ground pepper.  Now thanks to our most recent book, The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones, I’m craving James Beard cookbooks and simple American food like liver and onions and the hearty dishes of Miss Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.

I learn something new out of each book and it turns out, I put it to the test in the kitchen, long after the book has been read and put aside.

I fully intend to make some of the recipes from the book – Frozen Maple Mousse, Sorrel and Leek Pancakes and Martha’s Paprikash with Little Dumplings.

But just you watch. I’ll go to the meeting tomorrow and we will be spouting a flurry of ideas, with exchanges of ingredients, books and recipes flying across the table.

And in a few days, weeks and months, somehow it will all end up as dishes being simmered on my stove.