A Feast of Biblical Proportions

I have no pictures of this event, which is a shame! Last night my book club, Loose Pages, discussed The Red Tent. It is a novel written 10 years ago based on Dinah, a woman mentioned in the book of Genesis. Our hostess, Lisa, decided to take us back in time to share some of Dinah's gustatory experiences. Starters were unleavened bread served with a number of different goat cheeses, fig jam, a variety of olives, and pomegranate martinis. Dinner was a delicious spread of cucumber/onion salad, lamb &/or chicken with a sauce of freshly squeezed orange juice+thyme+honey, couscous, plums, nectarines, grapes, and bread with olives baked into it. Dessert was a quarter of a fresh pomegranate served with honey + sweet honey/red raspberry wine in which a slice of bread was dipped. Yum, yum, yum. It was absolutely wonderful. Our discussion focused on women's lives, including our own, ranging from the days of the Bible to today. Our next book choice is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

The Discussion - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet

Loose Pages came to my house for our book discussion last Wednesday (4/29/09). The dinner was a delicious combination of Chinese and Japanese tastes: Black Bean Chicken, 5 Spice Spare Ribs, Baby Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce, Crispy Baked Gau with Green Tea Ice Cream, Sake, & Plum Wine. We ate dinner with Chinese chop sticks (different from Japanese or Korean!).

Our discussion was lively. A lot of it revolved around the owner of the Panama Hotel, Jan Johnson. We looked her up on the internet. She is an interesting person with an interesting history! The book discussion was punctuated with a dramatic splash of red wine on the carpet, which caused a ruckus for a bit, as several people tried to clean it up. Dang. I need to keep some Red Wine Away (or whatever it's called) nearby. Luckily, there was a full bottle of club soda available. Oh well, not to worry - it looks fine now.

After eating, talking, cleaning, talking more, and savoring the evening, it was time for everyone to head for home. Our next book is "Will You Take Me as I Am?": Joni Mitchell's Blue Period by Michelle Mercer. 

Keep reading!

Loose Pages Explore a "Hotel on the Corner..."

Loose Pages went on a field trip on Saturday, April 25th. 

Inspired by our current book selection "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet", one of our members designed an outing that had us following Red Hat ladies (not on purpose!); visiting Japantown and Chinatown; eating Dim Sum for lunch...

    
walking through Kobe Park; visiting the Panama Hotel, where we got an excellent personal tour from the owner; visiting Uwajimayas; and riding the rails.
    
It turned out to be a great adventure on a gorgeous day with great gals. This was the view from the train on the way home - beautiful!

I am hosting the dinner and discussion on Wednesday. Everyone loved the book, so it should be interesting.