You should go, you never know who you're going to meet. |
You never really know what life will throw at you next. Mystery Dates started as a way for Kathleen and I to explore the world together, and we soon discovered an amazing ancillary benefit has been meeting new and different people. Most everybody has been cool, but every once in awhile you meet a few people that you really jive with...
Way back in my college days, I worked part time as a cook in a couple of the cafeterias. The skills I learned there would stay with me for the rest of my life, but unfortunately slanging sloppy joes to 400 college kids doesn't happen very often any more. So I thought it would be fun to learn to cook on a smaller scale with a meal that Kathleen and I could both enjoy.
I started by searching for cooking classes and I found a bunch of them, but there was one in particular just around the corner from us that had the perfect menu items:
Way back in my college days, I worked part time as a cook in a couple of the cafeterias. The skills I learned there would stay with me for the rest of my life, but unfortunately slanging sloppy joes to 400 college kids doesn't happen very often any more. So I thought it would be fun to learn to cook on a smaller scale with a meal that Kathleen and I could both enjoy.
I started by searching for cooking classes and I found a bunch of them, but there was one in particular just around the corner from us that had the perfect menu items:
- Freshly Squeezed Margaritas |  |
FISH TACOS?!?! DONE!!! I signed us up and prepped Kathleen to wear something casual.
 | We walked over to the building after getting home from work and took the elevator up to First Class Cooking. Up until now, Mystery Dates had all been at businesses or restaurants, so Kathleen was a little confused riding in an apartment building elevator to someone’s residence. "Not to worry" I told her, secretly hoping I hadn't made a huge mistake booking a cooking class at a stranger's home. As soon as we opened the door, all misgivings were instantly relieved. We were warmly greeted by Emily and about 8 other people getting comfortable in a giant, stunning loft. A large kitchen and island provided plenty of room for everyone to gather around for the cooking class and a huge wall of windows overlooking the city framed the long community table where we would dine. Nice! |
We got settled and started introducing ourselves to the other "classmates", whom were mostly couples and a small set of friends. A particularly boisterous guy claimed he was never going to learn everyone’s name so we were all “Steve” for the evening.
| Time to get cooking! Emily gave us a rundown of the menu items and quickly set about giving tasks to those that were interested. A few of the other guys and I seemed to naturally gravitate towards the freshly squeezed margaritas station, which were astoundingly easy to make and tasted terrific. The great thing about the class was being able to do as much or as little as you felt comfortable doing, jumping in and out of prepping and cooking the different items. |  |
Emily was very accommodating and provided plenty of instructions and tips to the novices. I even earned the name “Chop-Off” for my knife skills (no, I did not chop off any fingers)!
By the time dinner was ready, everybody was in a pretty jovial mood (thanks fresh squeezed margaritas!). The conversation flowed as if we had all known each other for years and the food was pretty scrumptious (way better than cafeteria sloppy joes). As the meal wound down and the class drew to a close, several of the couples decided to head to the local pub for a nightcap to keep the fun times rolling.
People were raving about how much fun was had, so we all thought this was worth trying on our own. Emails were exchanged, long goodbyes were said and we were on our way. Months later, we got together again. A few people dropped off, and we invited another fabulous couple to join us — and voilà — Supper Club was born! In the five years since, we have celebrated two engagements, two weddings, two 5 year anniversaries, three babies, and countless fabulous meals (no sloppy joes yet).
This Mystery Date was a lot of fun in its own right, but it will be remembered as the serendipitous reason we met the Supper Clubbers.
By the time dinner was ready, everybody was in a pretty jovial mood (thanks fresh squeezed margaritas!). The conversation flowed as if we had all known each other for years and the food was pretty scrumptious (way better than cafeteria sloppy joes). As the meal wound down and the class drew to a close, several of the couples decided to head to the local pub for a nightcap to keep the fun times rolling.
People were raving about how much fun was had, so we all thought this was worth trying on our own. Emails were exchanged, long goodbyes were said and we were on our way. Months later, we got together again. A few people dropped off, and we invited another fabulous couple to join us — and voilà — Supper Club was born! In the five years since, we have celebrated two engagements, two weddings, two 5 year anniversaries, three babies, and countless fabulous meals (no sloppy joes yet).
This Mystery Date was a lot of fun in its own right, but it will be remembered as the serendipitous reason we met the Supper Clubbers.
