A Food Lover's Dream Book Club - Julia Child's Inspired Potluck

Last week I crashed a Book Club.  Crazy ha?  People crash weddings, parties, maybe free conference lunches. But book clubs?  You might not be so surprised or perplexed once I tell you the nature of the said book club - food enthusiasts, meeting to discuss As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto.


It all started with a photo on Facebook.  My friend, Brook of Learn to Preserve posted a photo of a single steamed artichoke with tarragon lemon butter sauce - her contribution to the evening's book club.  I was intrigued!  


I have been to quite a few book club gatherings before - usually held at a local restaurant, where over drinks and food the book club members would discuss the book for 5 minutes and then move on to the latest and greatest life happenings.  This book club, was going to be different!  The guests, some of my friends from the Seattle's food community, were gathering for a French, Julia Child's inspired potluck at the home of Myra, Seattle Bon Vivant.

Myra's Roasted Chicken

Thinking that it was too last minute to join this time, I asked to be invited to the next book club.  Instead, I received a generous invitation for the future and the present!  And off I went (not one to show up empty handed, but short on time to whip up one of Julia's dishes, I decided to bring a raw Beet, Daikon and Radish Salad I was testing for Robyn.)

I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but this was by far one the most delicious potlucks I've attended in a long time.  More exciting though, was our discussion about the art of writing letters, cooking for the ones you love, traveling, and loving food.

 Kate McDermott's  beautifully shucked Totten Inlet Virginicas from the Taylor Shellfish Melrose Shop

 Potatoes: Karen Rosenweig's Potatoes Dauphinoise and Kate's Tarragon Potato Salad

Cheesy Goodness (gougeres) from Sonja Groset and Cheese & Pate from Lorraine

 Dana Wasserman Wootton's Radicchio Tart and Rachel Strawn Thibodeaux's Cake

Sadly, I missed taking photos of lovely contributions from Nazila's Cherry Clafoutis, Jeanne's Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake and a few others that I must be forgetting due to the divine food comma.


I look forward to the next time we meet to discuss The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) by Robin Mather (that's one long title!)