BOOK CLUB IN MY OLD LOG CABIN
Last Friday I hosted my Well “Red” Book Club in my old log cabin.
It was an especially exciting meeting because we got to Facetime with the author of our book, Kristy Woodson Harvey. Kristy and her mother Beth are the voices behind one of my favorite blogs: Design Chic. In addition to being a prolific design blogger, Kristy is also an award winning author of 2 books of fiction, with several more on the way. I told you about Kristy’s 2nd book, “Lies and Other Acts of Love” in a previous blog post. Well, my Well Red (Red is in reference to wine;) Book Club wanted to start with Kristy’s first book, “Dear Carolina”, so this is the book we discussed last friday.
I had so much fun getting ready for this luncheon meeting. Most of these girlfriends hadn’t yet seen my new/old log cabin, so this was a chance for me to kill 2 birds with one stone: have a Book Club meeting and show off the newly renovated vacation rental we call Stone Hill Cottage.
I started by making some simple floral arrangements for the table and to place around the cottage. I decided to use fresh parsley as my greenery, as it looks great on a table with food. I added a mixed bouquet of white and green flowers from Costco, along with beautiful peonies from Trader Joe’s. (More on flower arranging in a future post, as several people have asked me to do that.)
I always like to set my table well in advance so that I have one last thing to do on the day of the event. So the day before hosting the Book Club in my log cabin, I spent the day there doing as much advance prep as I could.
In planning my menu I had decided to serve a make-ahead recipe from Sunset magazine for Poached Orange-Fennel Salmon with Dill Crème.
Therefore, I cooked the salmon and the dill sauce the day before Book Club and then pulled them out of the refrigerator to serve at room temperature the following day.
I also washed and prepped the veggies & salad fixings, and prepared the dough for my garlic rolls a day ahead. Everything was then ready to pop in the oven the day of Book Club.
Fast forward to the next day, I assembled a pretty antipasto platter with items purchased at Trader Joe’s: 3 types of crackers, 2 types of cheese, nuts, edamame hummus, blue cheese and walnut spread, some assorted cured meats and slices of fresh apricot made a delicious and attractive starter to serve with the obligatory wine. After all, we are the Well “Red” Book Club.
When it was time to eat, I placed everything on the island in the kitchen for a help-yourself style buffet. The menu included Barley Pilaf, Poached Orange-Fennel Salmon with Dill Crème, Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Asparagus, and Herbed Garlic Rolls. I also prepared a delicious Chopped Kale Salad that is not pictured.
By the way, do you like my new/old scale? I picked that up on my recent trip to Northern California at a great vintage consignment store called ReHealdsburg.
And for dessert one of my girlfriends made my favorite: Coconut Cream Pie in honor of my birthday. It was a divine ending to a wonderful day.
Oh… and yes, we did discuss the book, Dear Carolina, which, by the way, I loved and highly recommend. It’s a story about one baby girl, two strong Southern women, and the most difficult decision they’ll ever make. I hope you’ll read it. You can get your copy by clicking here. I regret to say that we were having such a good time Facetiming with author, Kristy Woodson Harvey that I failed to take a photo of that very fun experience. She was super sweet, articulate and cute as can be!
So there you have it: BOOK CLUB IN MY OLD LOG CABIN
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