AfricanKelli

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Talked some friends into joining me for dinner this week at Gallo Blanco. If you live in Phoenix and haven’t made it in for a meal yet, andale! The food is great, the staff is kind and the atmosphere is eclectic.   The fish tacos, in particular, are my favorite. Also, the guacamole is so, so good — rivals that of the locally famous guac at Barrio Cafe.

These chilaquiles were gone before I could come up for a breath. Yum.

~K

I’m hosting a small brunch in a couple weeks to celebrate Easter. These invitations are what spurred the idea.

My take is less colorful, but inspired. I’ve had my eye on the bird stamp for a while. Now, to hunt down some champagne glasses, table cloths and cake stands. Ebay? Borrow? Any great sources or suggestions?

If I’ve learned anything from the community dinners of the last few years, it’s not to be intimidated by hosting small gatherings. As long as there is is food and good music, nearly everyone will be happy. (And those who aren’t? They may not ever be, under any circumstance.) The extra details — like those above — are simply icing on the cake. In truth, most just want to come, relax and not think about whatever chores they have waiting at them home and work.

I’ll be putting together a tutorial for how to host a fun, practical and memorable gathering; apologies to those who find this pretentious, but I’ve had many inquiries in how to throw a party on a budget. Really, having others over doesn’t require a lot of money, but the creativity to buy, borrow and improvise as necessary.

Now, someone talk me out of buying this. And this. And these!

Choking on my own words,

Kelli

make limoncello.

My friends Juliann and Jennie are super smart librarians who can drink me under the table. Our outings regularly involve new restaurants and swapped recipes, books that are secret gems of the library, Meatloaf lyrics, and wine. Red wine, to be precise.

They recently decided to make limoncello with the current bounty of Arizona citrus. They threw a limoncello party this weekend and it was, as described above, more fun than you can imagine. We sat outside by a great fire while the men smoked cigars as we sipped our limoncello, enjoyed countless rounds of bruschetta and homemade biscotti (these foodies know no limits) and laughed until my cheeks hurt.  This is a new group of friends for me — but one where I’ve quickly found a comfortable place. And they seem rather comfortable with me too — calling me on my BS and deliberately not laughing at my jokes when they could have been told better.  Juliann and her hubby are two of the most generous hosts I’ve ever encountered. They’ve had me over countless times in the last year and each time I’m surprised by the caliber of their welcoming friends into their home.

It also helps the Js are as sarcastic and cynical as I am about many topics. Much like their limoncello, they are tart and strong. We three are the sole members of the “Anti Vampire Book Club,” where the only rules are: no poetry (not my rule) and most certainly no vampires. If you knew them, even if you are a Twilight fanatic, you’d understand. And you’d be laughing.

~K

My friend Shailesh, who is originally from Nepal, and his wife Aimee, invited me and a handful of other friends over this weekend to make dinner. We learned to make momos. I’d never made dumplings before, and while I’m sure I’ve eaten something conceptually similar, these won’t soon be forgotten.

They were out-of-this-world good.

I mean it.

The sauce? I could have sipped it from a bowl if it hadn’t lit my mouth on fire.

And dumplings are super easy to make! Who knew? It goes a bit something like this:

Take a giant bowl of filling (no idea what this includes other than ground turkey)

Dumpling papers, which are essentially squares of pasta

A bowl of water to get your fingers and the pasta a wee bit wet

And then watch your favorite Nepali go to town.

Once you’ve done this 3,000 times — place them in a steamer for 12 minutes.

Then top with a variety of excellent spicy sauces,

Some very American salad

And Greek spanikopita.

Inhale. Repeat.

It was fun that the dumpling table included: two Austrians, a man raised in the Azors, a Puerto Rican, a woman born in Columbia to a bull fighting father, and two American girls, plus our Nepalese host and his family. I live for this kind of diversity in Arizona! It was a delight to hear everyone’s stories and what brought them to my desert.

A great night of community among new friends.

~K

If there is a theme to my closest circle of childhood friends, it’s that we all attended United Methodist churches as youth. We were a part of Methodist Youth Fellowship.  This means we spent our summers playing late-night, sweaty, parking lot volleyball tournaments against each other. We passed our winters curled up in drafty cabins or hunting jackalope on Mingus Mountain. We danced far too close wearing far too much Jovan/Sand and Sable to Boyz II Men at countless dances and lock-ins. We adventured for weeks in vans trekking across the western United States volunteering  in forests, sleeping on hard church floors and eating copious amounts of Taco Bell until we thought we would eventually ring.

And at some point, we became adults and scattered.

It’s funny to think of it now — the Yas — all in this group. As are many of my closest male friends. I spent so much of my teenage awkward years in a church fellowship hall flirting, eating pizza and rolling my jeans, it is amazing I learned anything from my pastor. Most of my friends don’t attend church today. Just as I can’t imagine my life without it, they cannot image theirs with it. To each is own.

On top of a few of the other changes happening around here this week, I’ve accepted a part-time gig at my church to help with children’s ministries. I am really looking forward to creating a MYF group, strengthening Sunday school curriculum, getting more kids and parents involved and making church a fun place for little ones to come spend time.

So — this is where you come in. Do you have any happy memories of church as a child? What and how did you learn that you still remember today? If you are a parent, what types of activities do you like to see your children involved in with church? What seems to work?

I am completely new to this type of ministry and would love any suggestions of books, activities, etc you may have. So, please delurk and leave a comment.

~K

P.S. Get the girls in the car and we’ll still sing any Boyz II Men song at the top of our lungs. Also, we’ve been known recently to still enjoy copious amounts of Taco Bell.