Thursday, February 12, 2009

Book Group


Tonight was book group, we all met at Eustacia's house. It's a treat when she hosts- because she makes amazing pizza. I say this all the time, but if I could eat only one thing for the rest of my life it would be pizza, and Stai's is really good. Her crust is chewy with a little crunch around the edges, the tomato sauce is hearty and perfectly thick, and the cheese is not overwhelming but subtly sharp. She takes tenderlovingcare with her veggies, she really enjoys veggies- so she knows exactly how to prepare them and meld them into the pizza. My favorite is her roasted veggie, but Hubbabubba loves her pesto eggplant which is on wholewheat crust (he won't babysit unless I bring him back pizza). Stai actually got me over my eggplant fear with a slice or two of that pizza.

I offered to make dessert, and in honor of Valentines Day I decided to try a rich, moist, endless chocolate pound cake. Hub got me Jacques Torres' "A Year In Chocolate" for Chanukah, and I have been dying to do his pound cake recipe. It calls for 15 eggs, 1 pound of butter, a vanilla bean, cocoa, and some honey, how could it be anything less than sublime, right? I must've done something totally wrong, because it was dry and dissappointingly weak in the chocolate department. I have been known to be a tad haphazard with my measurements. And I don't think this cavalier approach works well with French Pastry Chef baking.

As always it was a good time. I didn't read the book, but it sounded good. I'm hosting next month, to make up for my disappointing cake. I'm thinking of doing a fondue night- 2 savory cheese fondues and 2 dessert fondues. To be continued.... It's nice to have a mini-celebration every month. Forget about stuff for a while, and just get a chance to be with girlfriends to talk and relate without interruption for 3 or 4 hours,wine and food included.

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