Cooking Party EU Summit at Michigan B&B

We hosted another Chef Night at the Munro House B&B. People from across Michigan came to Jonesville to spend a weekend getaway culminating with a cooking party on Saturday night. It began when 2 couples called to organize a Chef Night. They picked the date, and we advertised the event on the internet to fill in the additional chefs. We ended up with a total of 10 people in our kitchen participating in the cooking party.

We decided on a diverse menu of European flavors and referred to this event as the “EU Summit”. Our recipes came from England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the USA. 10 amateur cooks in the kitchen combined their skills to create a feast.

We gathered at around 4:00 p.m. and gave an overview of how the event would progress. Teams of two were paired up with two recipes to prepare–one being relatively simple and the other being more complex. We stressed that this was not a competition, but a chance to get out of our comfort zones to prepare a recipe we might not regularly try at home, and to have some fun.

Appetizers were prepared and served while the main courses were being prepped. An awesome Italian Bruschetta was served fresh out of the oven. Jumbo Shrimp Parmesan came shortly after and was followed by Seafood Nachos–there were no leftovers. The portions were big enough to whet our appetites and get us excited about what was to come next.

After all of the food was prepared, the table was set. We sat down to continue our feast with a German Potato Sausage Soup with Cheddar Bay Biscuits–thank you Red Lobster. An authentic Greek Salad was served next. Then came the entrees: British Beef Burgundy and Italian Chicken Piccata. On the side was a spinach, cheese, and sausage casserole. Thanks to the French, we saved room for dessert and enjoyed our Chocolate Creme Brulee. We went 10 for 10 in successful tasty dishes.

Somewhere along the process, someone mentioned Italian Mud Slides and it just happened that we had all of the ingredients on hand. These ice cream drinks were very refreshing on the first day of 2009 to reach 80 degrees in Michigan.

We were cleaning on the go, so when dessert was finished, all we had to do was load the dishwasher to be over 90% finished for the night. The chefs were having a good time and decided to continue the festivities with a Euchre tournament. Four teams of two played cards while two non-players put the finishing touches on the kitchen. At 10:30, we had finished an awesome feast and 3 games of Euchre. Surprisingly, only one person did not order a big breakfast the next morning. This evening of interaction and cooperation brought people together to enjoy a productive evening of entertainment and camaraderie. We are anxiously awaiting our next Chef Night Cooking Party, TBA.

Mike Venturini – Innkeeper
“Life is good in Jonesville”

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