Orchids and Sweet Tea!

**Our next featured recipe blog is ORCHIDS AND SWEET TEA! **
This is a food and wellness blog that uses complex flavors and simple ingredients. She offers recipes from all diets in order to cater to the entire 'foodie community' (which is what we hope to do here as well!). She describes her food as "healthy comfort foods with a little Brooklyn Flare + a touch of Jamaican Flavor + a whole lot of Southern Charm". We are very excited about this one! Plus the name of the blog just screams SUMMER!

If you can't find what your looking for on this blog, or if you can't find diet specific items, just plug it into the search bar. For example, plug in "vegan" and this page comes up: Vegan recipes. Just explore and have fun!

If the event is "full" just jump on the waitlist no matter how long it is! As events get closer it is likely that you may be moved to the "going" list if people drop off.

EVENT ROAD MAP:

• Peruse the blog and choose at least one recipe. Don't feel obligated to double the recipe - everyone will take a small portion, and not everyone will eat every single thing. So feel free to prepare one regular recipe as written, but you can make more if you really want to.
• Leave a comment, and let us know what you're bringing. Please try not to duplicate dishes. We want to experience as many recipes as possible! Hopefully we will all find new blogs and recipes that we really love and can add to our cooking repertoire as time goes on!
• Prepare your dish at home and bring it to the event. If you are preparing a hot dish, think about how you want to keep your dish warm. We have a microwave and a stove / oven available for warming. You might also consider a crockpot, warming tray, chafing dish, or insulated carrier. It may also be just as tasty served at room temperature! Whatever works for you - just plan ahead!
• Attempt to arrive on time (by 6:00) with your dish. If you arrive late, there is a good possibility that your dish may not get eaten. We want everything available for sampling at the beginning and we will probably start each event within 5-10 minutes after 6:00 just to give everyone a chance to settle in.
• Place your dish on the table, label it, get a name tag, and grab a cup of coffee :). You can either create a label for your dish at home or use the provided labels. You can indicate if your dish is vegan or gluten free (or any other special diet.
• Allergies: Please label all nuts, nut based flours, coconut, gluten, dairy, shellfish, and mushrooms for allergy purposes. We have members that are allergic to these foods. (If anyone is allergic to something other than what is listed, please let me know).

RSVP:
Please be sure to change your rsvp if you cannot attend. Please do not wait until the last minute to do so. This makes it very difficult for people on the waitlist to research recipes and have time to cook. No-shows make it impossible for others to attend. If you don't show up for a meetup or back out last minute, we may scoot you over to the wait list for the next event to give someone else a chance. We want to be fair to everyone and give everyone equal opportunity to enjoy these events! :)

PROVIDED:
We will provide paper goods, disposable utensils, serving utensils, name tags, labels, take out containers, coffee, tea, creamer, and water. If, at any time, anyone would like to contribute some keurig cups or tea bags, feel free!

Some people may opt to bring their own plate to cut down on trash. That is fine! Just please be aware, there will not be time / space for every person to wash their dish at the end of the evening. Perhaps you can wipe it down and wash it at home. This is purely a personal choice, and we will always have paper plates available! Also, if you would like to bring your own take-out container, there will probably be an opportunity to take some left-overs home at the end of the evening! Tomorrow's lunch? :)

$$ CONTRIBUTIONS:
We don't officially require payment for events, however it is suggested that attendees contribute $2 - $3 at each event (contribution bucket provided). We don't keep tabs on who contributes and we will continue to run this fun group regardless of donations, but Meetup expenses do add up, the cost to organize a group increases each year, and it does take time and effort to make things nice :). If you would like to see what your contributions are going towards, all expenses and donations are recorded, but the link often doesn't work on mobile - only on a computer. You can find a record of expenses and contributions here. We appreciate any and all donations!

We are looking forward to meeting you, discussing recipes, and spending time with you around the table! See you soon! Have FUN exploring and cooking!

Christine and Alison