Ordinary Wonderment

Today's Joy: the Gourmet Cook-a-thon. Reader, one of the biggest perks of being back home in Chicago is being able to attend the monthly(ish) cooking sessions held by a group of family & friends. I've been waiting for that phone call with the magic words: dinner at Todd's. Tonight, it happened.

Todd Evanson, co-owner of Beef Villa (a delish chain of eateries in the northwest suburbs) and a good family friend, has a fabulously-appointed kitchen and usually hosts these over-the-top foodie nights. The gist is, we make dinner. But it's oh so much more than that. This group includes a restaurateur, a chef, a baker and several of us to eat the food and ooh & ahh. My job is to photograph the results.

What I enjoy most about it, is the fearless way these people I love try new dishes. They collaborate and read recipes to each other and put together a game plan. Then they dive in, sharing ideas & techniques, teaching as they go. It's like watching a culinary think-tank at work. When a dish works, they pull it off brilliantly and a delicious array of culinary creations parades across the table. On the rare occasion a dish isn't up to snuff, they sit down and taste it, inspect it and conduct a relaxed post-mortem round-table on how to improve the recipe. There is always laughter, stories to share and a signature cocktail.

I relish every moment of these decadent evenings and feel very blessed to be a part of this unique fellowship. May the love shared always be as good as the food!

Photos: Lemon & Herb Sauce Hand-Written Recipe; Part of the Table Spread.