DC Food blogger potluck

So yesterday, at the very sane time of 5:00 pm, the Food Bloggers of the Washington, DC metro area had their first potluck to show off our skills at cooking and purchasing. The potluck was courtesy of these two ladies and it was held at this gentleman's well appointed group house. I kid you not this group house rocked and I lived in group houses for all of my single life in DC (and one year of my married life). The kitchen was huge with plenty of counter space and a island where the stove was. Eatfoo said that while the layout was perfect, the appliances were hit or miss which led to a great question - would you rather have a well designed kitchen with so-so appliances, or a small kitchen with high quality appliances?

The potluck itself was a total blast. This was an eclectic group, from law students in their 20's and older couples in their 40s. You could easily have a conversation with anyone in the room and the conversation was lively and witty. We talked about blogging but even more about cooking and living in DC. You totally knew it was a foodie room when we were talking about the joys and frustrations of living with roommates and one person said, "And I knew I had to hide my knives when I found my Henckles in the dishwasher." A collective gasp ran through the room as if we were ladies in a small Southern town talking about the Mayor's gay son have an affair with the seminarian. This led to a 20 minute conversation about knives.

And the food? Most excellent. But what would you expect from a Food blogger potluck. I love the sugarcured pork belly serve by our host that was accompanied by a raisin-yoghurt sauce (much better than it sounds), some kind of sugar-salt crumble and the delightful carbonated orange segments. Somehow our host was able to put orange segments in a carbonator (normally used for club soda) and infuse the orange with bubbles. The result was fruit that danced on your tongue. But EVERYTHING was wonderfully made. The menu included two kinds of bread (Irish soda and wheat), an Irish Guiness stew with some of the best beef I've ever tasted, some Italian chicken croquettes, a nicely season Indian potato salad and an Israeli couscous salad, and my contributions - Vietnamese clay pot chicken (the catfish didn't look good at the store) and two kinds of dumplings. Dessert included an amaretto cake, a walnut cake, an old-fashioned vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, and mint brownies. We all ate seconds and thirds and packed up many plates of leftovers.

The over the top element to this happy potluck (as if local beef and sugar cured pork belly wasn't enough) was getting our own mixologist who made up cocktails specially for the gathering. The one with blueberries just rocked!

But don't take my word for it. This person had a good time too!