weekend at the lake - part two

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For this year's lake trip, we invited our Supper Club friends along. Which meant that packing plenty of food and adult beverages were of more importance than the latest swimsuits or accessories. Each couple picked a meal to cook and we tried to eat lots of fruit and veggies. Part two of the lake weekend is all about the grub.

marrow bones

image found by way of Outpost

Marrow bones have been on a lot of Kansas City restaurant menus lately, roasted and sometimes served dinosaur-bone style on your plate. Beef marrow bone is also used to make the most delicious pho broth. We've had marrow most recently at Extra Virgin, 801 Chop House and The Rieger. With marrow, it's all good, but Kansas City chefs, take note of Chicago's Michelin-star-restaurant Longman & Eagle and their version of roasted marrow bone.

1. The presentation. Absolutely breathaking.

2. Served with a spoon and bread. Because you need a spoon to scoop out that decadent goodness from the center and bread to soak it all up.

3. It's a complete dish. Just because marrow is good on its own doesn't mean it doesn't deserve some thoughtfulness. Longman & Eagle's marrow is topped with red onion jam and served with sea salt and sour dough crostinis.

4. The price. $9. Fancy but not priced out of eating range.

Our friend just moved to Chicago and has already asked us to come up and visit. This just convinced me to get up there as soon as possible!

Food & Fashion

With digital cameras, I often hear people say photography is "easy" or that they can take a picture that is "just as good." When true artistic conceptualization, skill and talent come together to create images like these food and fashion shots by Fluvio Bonavia , you see that photography is much, much more than just pushing a button. I especially love that prosciutto ring...although it wouldn't last long on my finger....as jewelry. via lushlee 

Shout Out

Just a shout out to fellow local Kansas City blogger and animator, KC Food Guy and his blog Food, K.C. and Other Things. Some of my favorite links (all Asian-related but I'm biased) from his posts are...

{+}  The United States of Sirircha / New York Times, Dine & Wine, May 17, 2009

{+} F*ck Yeah Cilantro / a site dedicated to cilantro, my absolute all time favorite herb

{+} Twitter + Kogi = One Hot Taco / Newsweek, video / Drool-worthy Korean BBQ Tacos- Kogi founder Mark Manguera talks about how Twitter changed his business

Supper Club

Who likes to clip out recipes and let them sit stagnant in a folder, on the fridge, but more often, underneath a stack of junk? In order to dust off some of those recipes, we started a monthly Supper Club. The group is limited to eight so it's not overwhelming and everyone gets a chance to talk (very important when we are all social butterflies and loudmouths). It's been so much fun that friends are clamoring to join, but this is an exclusive club and very hard to get into. :) Our solution? The hosts get to invite two extra people to dinner. Here are some guidelines if you want to start your own exclusive foodie club:

1. Choose friends who enjoy cooking and eating. It doesn't hurt to know someone in the wine business either. Ahem, Craig.
2. Keep the number of the group relatively small.
3. Do it regularly, but be flexible.
4. Come up with basic ground rules. For us, the host provides the main course, everyone else chooses a side, appetizer or dessert to complement the theme...and it's always on a Monday.
5. Have fun! This is about enjoying the food, wine and company, not talking it to death.

George and I hosted this month's supper and the theme was Argentina. The setting was all about bright colors, a casual setting and one huge box of paper napkins. We ate like kings: grilled clams, roasted artichokes, corn & shrimp salad, Caesar salad with cheesy crisp, roasted garlic, grilled corn, Asado (rough cuts of meat, charred and grilled) with chimichurri, quinoa, and carrot cake cookies. Some food snapshots...