Ethnic Culinary and Outdoor Weekend - Houston!

We will be joining about 20 of our Houston members for this! Yay!
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Get ready for a jam-packed weekend of delicious food and nature in some of the best and beautiful parts of Houston! If you choose to participate in all of the optional activities, this weekend will include a Saturday Cultural Cooking event, woodland full moon night hike, and fireside snack and chat, as well as a Sunday morning lakeside bike ride or walk, and an Indian food culinary crawl! Please follow the links provided to rsvp for the outdoor nature activities. You are responsible for your own travel and overnight accommodations.

You can participate in some or all of the events. The details of the culinary portion of this event are here:

Cultural Cooking "Fan Favorites" edition: Saturday, Jan. 11, 10:00 AM
This will be in the Beltway 8 / I-10 area. The private address will be shared with attendees the day before the event.

NEO has a tradition of hosting Cultural Cooking events as a way to promote cultural diversity, understanding, and appreciation. Your RSVP to this event includes all of the ingredients to cook an amazing feast together. No cooking experience is necessary. Kids are welcome to attend with their guardians, and kids 12 and under may attend for free.

While these events usually focus on learning about one particular region of the world, this one will be comprised of several "fan favorite" recipes from all over the world that we have taught at previous events including Filipino, Italian, Indian, Russian, Nigerian, and French. After we feast on our delicious culinary creations, there should be plenty of leftovers to take home, so bring some to-go containers.

The number of dishes we cook will depend somewhat on how many people RSVP since the RSVP fees cover the cost of supplies, but we plan to cook the following:

• Indian Samosas
• Russian Smoked Salmon Blinis
• Nigerian Meat (or veggie) Pies
• Filipino Chicken Adobo with Rice
• Indian Vegan Coconut Curry
• Italian Tiramisu
• French Creme Brulee (you get to use a torch!)

Please check out our Signup Genius page to see if you can bring a kitchen tool that will lighten my load and help things go more smoothly.

Feel free to bring any additional goodies you would like. This is a bring-your-own-beverage event. You may bring alcohol as long as we are all being responsible adults.

I hope to see you there! Be sure to come hungry, and bring some to-go containers or zip-lock bags. Because this is being hosted at a private address, the address listed is in the general area of the event. The specific address will be sent to event attendees via Meetup email the day before the event.

Full Moon Woodland Night Hike
Saturday, Jan. 11, 5:00 PM, Memorial Park

Full Moon Fireside Snack and Chat
Saturday, Jan. 11, 8:00 PM, Memorial Park

Morning Bike Ride or Walk
Sunday, Jan. 12, 9:00 AM, Arthur Storey Park

Culinary Crawl - Gandhi District Indian Food
Sunday, Jan. 12, 11:00 AM, Gandhi District
Roop Sari House, 6655 Harwin Dr. # 101B, Houston, TX 77036

We always have a great turnout for this event, and it's a ton of fun! If you haven't experienced the glory that is our Indian Culinary Crawl in Houston's Gandhi District, don't miss this one!

Come enjoy some urban hiking while trying out several delicious Indian restaurants! Our culinary crawls work like this:

We sample several restaurants (hiking between each one) in the Gandhi District (that is the actual name of this area at Harwin & Hillcroft). We will order several items from each restaurant and sample them "family style," meaning we will share everything. Our samplings will consist of traditional Indian drinks, salads, appetizers, soups, dosai, curries, chaat, and desserts.

We will meet at a great Indian clothing shop to take a look at some traditional clothing, jewelry, mendhi (made with henna), and bindi. You may choose to purchase something to wear or accessorize with to enhance your Indian Culinary Crawl experience!

We will split the cost of food/drinks at each location, so please bring about $40 in cash (primarily 1's and 5's). You may not end up spending that entire amount. By the end of this event, you will sample dozens of dishes and have a better sense of what dishes and flavors you prefer. The food is amazing, but remember to pace yourselves. Don't fill up at the first 2 places! Vegetarians are going to love this event, but there will be plenty of meat for the carnivores too.

Children are welcome to attend the culinary crawl, but no dogs, please.

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Payment can be made here via Paypal or Credit Card. You can also pay fee-free via your bank's Zelle feature to "contact@neoproject.org" or at this QR code link. If you pay via Zelle, please message me so I can add you to the attendee list.

Because we have to plan ahead for events and purchase supplies in advance, NO REFUNDS CAN BE ISSUED for this weekend unless it is canceled. If you cannot attend for any reason, you can give your spot to someone else or just consider it a much-appreciated donation. Thank you for understanding.

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NEO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to lead more outdoor-oriented lives for better health, well-being, and resilience. Much of our work serves schools and historically under-served communities. If you like what we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation at neoproject.org/donate. There are multiple donation options available. Your dollars make a difference!

Thank you!