Submitted by Julie Chernoff
NOTE – CLICK HERE TO SEE THE 3-14-15 FEATURE IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.
We had a great turnout for the winter edition of Dames Who Read, held on January 27 at Dame Amy Morton’s Found Kitchen and Social House in Evanston. The evening opened with a glass of wine and a game: Dame Patty Erd put together a “Sniff Test” based on elements of the evening’s discussion book, “Delicious!” by Ruth Reichl. Each Dame was given a note card to be filled in after smelling the 12 essential oil samples on offer. A few came with clever clues, while some we were left to puzzle out on our own. The winners, with seven out of twelve correct answers were Past President Jen Lamplough and me, which led to a “Smell-Off” and a plentiful box of baker’s spices and extracts from The Spice House. Who won? Let’s just say that my house smells like bergamot!
We sat down to a delightful family-style dinner, prepared by Found’s much-acclaimed chef, Nicole Pederson. We started with platters of beautiful Midwestern prosciutto and Parmesan, accompanied by grilled bread (from Hewn Bread in Evanston) and truffle honey, inspired by the protagonist’s work in a great NYC Italian deli. Next came delicate Squash Ravioli (pumpkin in the book, but Nicole wasn’t happy with the current pumpkin supply) with red quinoa, pea tendrils, goat cheese and buerre blanc. It was a great combination of flavors and textures—and a reminder of the sensual (literally) aspects of Reichl’s fiction. Dessert, of course, was Nicole’s rendition Billy’s famous Gingerbread Cake, and it was beautiful.
