Announcing a new event for L.A. Cooking, Recipes, Dining (and French) Meetup Group!

What: The first meetup in 2008!

When: Saturday, January 5, 7:30 PM

Event fee: USD2.00 per person

Where: (A location for this event hasn't been chosen yet)

Event Description: Hi, dear cooking friends!

I came up with this idea about our very first meetup in 2008 when I was taking a bath this morning (one of my favorite things to do)
Actually I had another plan in mind earlier, but the messages I've got wanted me to make some changes.

And thank you for everyone who sent me very nice messages..they are so encouraging and made me really happy that I had stepped up. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to meet Mr. Farid, the original organizer of the group yet, but I know I will sometime soon. I really appreciate he started out this group and look forward to meeting him and other members in the near future.

Analyzing the messages I've received so far and other messages posted on the board, I realized there are many interests members have toward this group.

1. First of all, most of us love to cook (of course!) and want to get to know other food lovers.

2. Some just started to cook and want to borrow ideas to hone their cooking skills.

3. Some are avid cooks who love to entertain and learn new techniques.

4. Some want to share their dishes and show off their skills (yes, why not?!) and by exchanging recipes they hope to enhance their repertoire to impress their friends and family even more

5. Some are dedicated mothers and fathers and wives and husbands and girlfriends and boyfriends and fiancees and sisters and brothers who want to cook good meals for their loved ones.

6. Some are professional chefs who are very successful and generous enough to share their expertise, knowledge, and experiences to other want-to-bes.

7. Some are thinking about becoming a professional chef themselves and would like to know more about the trade.

8. Some are Francophiles who want to have their French networks expanded.

9. Some want to taste wine, talk about wine, know more about wine, and find out if there's anything better than French wine in this world.

10. And some are simply very hungry people who love to eat and explore new restaurants.


...Did I miss anybody?


So, I'm planning lots of future events to satisfy all the needs above one by one, but let me introduce the first event...at last.

I am going to have a potluck party on Sat. Jan. 5th at my place at 7:30pm.

What? Potluck? What a mundane, boring idea who anybody could come up with. Don't you have any better idea?!

Wait a minute. What makes this potluck special is that it actually coincides with Japanese new year. Unlike Chinese new year which follows lunatic calendar, Japanese people today celebrate new year according to regular calendar. For them the new year celebration is more important than Christmas and they usually prepare very traditional Japanese food in beautiful boxes. I would like to cook those to share with you giving you the chance to glimpse into very traditional Japanese food, not sushi, yakiniku, tempura, teriyaki, but authentic traditional new year food.

However, it's mainly consisted of fish and vegetables and I tell you, my boys just hate them. Oh, they are still too young to develop sophisticated taste buds yet, but I just wondered how many of us really have developed. Some people would rather have other foods as well. So that's where you can come in. This is BYOB (Bring your own beverage) and BYOD (Bring your own dish, or more precisely, bring your Oh! so yummy dish). And I'll collect $2 from everybody to cover the cost of Japanese ingredients, since they are usually very expensive around this time...have you heard of the law of supply and demand?!

And, about attendance. I know it has been a headache for every meetup organizer for people who say they would come but never show up in a hundred years...People call them "flakes." Well, I'm not particularly proud of myself, but I've been a flake myself so I can't really tell "no flakes around." I understand everybody has a busy schedule, especially when you're taking care of two years old, or someone who is two years old at heart at home or the office or dealing with angry customers or trying to get everything done for a huge party you're catering. I really understand.

So this is what I'm going to ask you. Please, at least RSVP to me telling me what you might bring. It can be changed later, but I just want to have a general idea. And I live in a two-bedroom condo. It's not too roomy, but I think I have enough room for, say, 15 to 20 people in my living room and dining room, but I'm going to clean up my other rooms so if there are more people coming, they might have breakfast, i mean, dinner in bed together?!

Anyways, sorry for such a short notice, but the Japanese new year usually ends on Jan 7th, and I'm going to have more meetups so don't worry if you can't make it this time.

And for security reason, I will tell where I live to the people who RSVP to me.

Let's meet for the first time and have lots of fun together!

A bientot!

Sally

Learn more here:
http://cooking.meetup.com/415/calendar/7001360/