Once I was a cook ...

In one of my lifetimes in this lifetime, I used to cook.  A lot.  In fact, I often welcomed the challenge of gourmet dishes.  In FACT, many many moons ago, a small group of friends - six of us - started a monthly gourmet meal night in our homes.  Scott & Susan, Lynette & Rick, Rod & me.  The rules were simple:  the hosting couple had to try a new recipe, including dessert, and the others brought the bread and wine and dessert drinks.  At least I think that's how it worked.  The super cool rule was if the meal was a flop, we agreed we would hop in a car and hit the Jack drive-thru. 

Rod & me - the music biz ones

We could cook.  Oh, and I think we used to dress up for this dinner club thing we had going.  We used to frequent restaurants together in Houston, and so kept the fancy going at home.  Well, we'd probably go out 'for cocktails' afterwards.  After all, we were dressed up.

Rick & Lynette - the business-minded ones

My first meal was a Julia Childs' Steak Au Poivre dish.  It was a hit.  All the meals were fantastic.  So much fun.

Scott & Susan - the glamorous ones

And then there was the Party.  My God we loved to party.  Big city life.  4-star restaurants, clubs, concerts, Austin, Dallas, New Orleans, Acapulco.  








These pictures are from a New Years night in 1979.  It looks like the apartment in New Orleans we stayed in.  It belonged to our favorite club's owner and was filled with antiques.  We must have intended to match.  And the beards!













My guy and I moved 30 miles north of Houston and met another great group of friends.  We would often all sit out in our webbed chairs in the plush lawn of our nice apartments, and 'solve the problems of the world' well into the evening while sipping on beer and wine.  I remember often having a big pot of gumbo going, or a plate of chicken/pecan/apple crepes, or a just-caught from the Gulf morsel cooking on the stove.  Our big, corner apartment was nearest the communal lawn, and friends would walk in and stir the pot, add some seasoning, grab a beer, watch a game.  Got a ski boat.  The big city life sort of morphed into county.  Sort of.  The music business still kept us tied in.

My cooking skills are beyond rusty now.  I lost the fire for it years ago.  It seems to take too much work.  I do enjoy throwing together a crock pot meal now and then.  Toss all ingredients in in the morning, turn it on, and come home after a long day to a house that smells like dinner.

All this reminiscing leads to this morning.  I made a pot of vegetarian soup - tomatoes, brown rice, spinach, beans, what have you.  Came home after a long day of work and the house smelled like dinner.  It's Friday night and it's soup and pajamas.  Boy have things changed.

A hearty, hot meal awaits.  Life is good.

 Trialing this weekend.  Up at 4am tomorrow.  Glad I have some soup to come home to.