Supper Club with Julia Child

For the last few years I have been sharing images with you of my  Supper Club. This small group plays a huge part in my life. We are all kindred spirits who thoroughly enjoy everything about the culinary experience. The best meals I have ever eaten, bar none, have been prepared by this group and Saturday night was no exception.  Tim and I were hosting and our theme for the evenings meal was

Mastering the Art of French Cooking ; Celebrating the Life of Julia Child

It all begins with setting the perfect ambiance for my guests. I chose a very shabby chic French decor. My guest were greeted by the evenings menu blown up, framed and elegantly displayed on my distressed white easel.  I also wrote “ enter welcomed guests  “ in French on my chalkboard.

 

Simple but elegant touches set the mood, like fresh lavender, and vintage silver.

I ordered a bolt of burlap online for $1.80 yd.  and white broadcloth.  I used it everywhere. Even with the shipping it was a deal. I used it to make my own placemats. Shown here.

They came out fabulous and later this month I hope to put the instructions and links to the products I used online. Here they are on the table which I decorated in the same shabby French style.

One of my guests favorite things were these limited addition Evian bottles I picked up last year while in Northern California. They are laced in white and were perfect on the table.

I tried to use silver wherever I could, including the bar.

On the menu were some of Julia’s favorite dishes, some were from the cookbook, others not.

Tim and I made a few things but we started with

Coquilles St. Jaques

And of course matching wine.

Tim and Cindy followed with Soupe d L’ oignin

Ollie always seems to mooch something off the table.

Tim had the perfect wine for our onion soup.

   Tim and I (there are two Tim’s in our supper club) were up again and we decided to serve Julia’s signature

 Bouef a la Bourguignonne

It literally dropped us to our knees it was so good.

There wasn’t a drop left by the time we were finished.

Next up on the menu was THE dish that Julia had with her husband Paul when they first arrived in Paris. It is made famous by the movie and her book “My Life in France”. It literally leaves her speechless and her husband Paul nodding to her saying only “I know…I know…” 

Sole Meuniere

Prepared lovingly by Jeannie and Lynn

It was literally SO GOOD Cindy swooned! Ha Ha!

Is there any room for dessert? Yes!  Of course. On the menu was Julia’s favorite

Reine de Saba (Chocolate Almond Cake) .

Prepared by Taylor and Mary Lu.

It was easy to see why this was Julia’s favorite dessert and although Mary Lu confessed it was difficult to make, it was totally worth the extra work.

It was  Taylor’s birthday as well. We celebrated with a the traditional Happy Birthday and…

A vintage 1959 Bordeaux from the year Taylor was born.

I prepared French Macaroons, the recipe which I shared with you l few weeks ago. They rounded out the dessert table along with espresso.

I would whole heartedly recommend this theme for any dinner party.  There are so many fun things you can do to personalize it.

I printed up badges that said “Ecole des Gourmandes” on canvas paper and they really did look like patches. Everyone got one and proudly wore them all night. I also  took all the recipes and put them together and made my own little cookbook for each of the guests along with a handmade chicken wire basket with monogrammed coffee cups from Anthropologie for each couple.  I made a Monogrammed kitchen towel for each couple as well using t-shirt transfer paper and vintage artwork we photo shopped.  I love setting the theme of an event so I rented DVD’s of The French Chef from Netflix and played them throughout the evening. I also downloaded French themed music like Edith Piaf and the soundtrack of “Something’s Got to Give” and played that as guests arrived and while we were eating dinner.

What an amazing evening. At the end of the night we decided to take a group shot on the stairs to commemorate the the event.

I can’t believe it is over but we are already talking about our next get together. We are so blessed to have our little group. So, as Julia would say….

Bon Appetite

Amada

Comments

[Carrie]

Okay, I am swooning over the pictures. The decorations were amazing and the meals had my mouth watering even though I didn't feel hungry before I read your blog post. Just incredible - you did a wonderful job. Glad Ollie got a little something :)

[Sandy O'Donovan]

Good Morning, I a new blogger and wanted to say "hello"! I've been watching your blog for sometime now and it always makes me happy to see what creative ideas you come up with. What a lovely dinner party...it all looks so yummy. Such fun! Please stop by and visit me if you have time. xoso Sandy