I suppose its about time I wrote something on this blog, I being J, the bloke in this trio. Not only am I the bloke, I'm the meat eater and cooker and I don't live in the house (even though I think I might be getting a key for the door at my next birthday). So whats in the Supper Club for me, well its not the dough, actually it is the dough, I would do it purely for C's bread ha ha ! I enjoy the planning for the evenings, which are basically chats about food over tea/wine and chocolate, generally S chips in with some sort of logistical dilemma which we solve as quickly as we can so that we can go back to talking about food. I enjoy the practicing of dishes, which entails making my family eat things like tandoori rabbit on a tuesday night when really they want egg and chips (I have three boys aged 9,6 and 5 ).
I enjoy shopping for the food , which has encourged me to look for new suppliers in Belfast and visit shops I had not thought of before, I'm thinking about Abernethy butter and the asian food shop on Sandy Row here. I particularly enjoy the cooking on the day of the supper club and the organised mess of the kitchen. There is nothing like a work surface cluttered with good ingredients waiting to be turned into something tasty..

There is usually an touch of anxiety in the air when we are cooking on the day of the supperclub; will such and such set, do we have enough cream, how to we get everything into the oven at the same time...that sort of stuff. We generally work through this by listening to loud music and sharing a few stories and a bit of craic.
Before the guests arrive there will be a bit of a clear up in the kitchen and we can set out the cocktail glasses and the appetisers and then go and change into our good clothes, light the candles and the fire, and get ready to welcome the guests into the house. Then its all go, taking coats, sorting out the guests wine, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. There is a general air of anticipation from the guests and from us as to how everyone is going to gel, we have always found that the more random the the bunch of people the better the evening goes. We often find ourselves in the kitchen just listening to the level of noise coming from the front room, sometimes the level drops and we panic and run in to see if they have all fallen out already only to find out that they are eating (silence is often the best compliment at the dinner table).

Of course we are beavering away in the kitchen cooking and clearing up as we go, its hard work, but generally a we have a wee drop ourselves once the main courses have gone out and maybe a bite to eat too. I think this is one of the most rewarding stages of the whole experience of running the supper club for me, if you can relax in the knowledge that all the planning has paid off and the guests are having a good time. There is still a fair bit to do, clearing dishes, preparing desserts, coffee, petit fours and a bit of chatting with the guests. 
The clearing up and the chatting about the event goes on for days as we try to start planning for the next one, but we try and relax and enjoy the rest of the evening with the guests.

Thats all for now but we will to keep you up to date with our supperclub news and here's hoping that others will be inspired to take the plunge and open a home supper club in Belfast so we can indulge our foodie notions - even better maybe someone will open another one in North Belfast.