I enjoy Cooking with Friends. Truly.

Yesterday has seen the 10th episode of Cooking with Friends. It was an event I’m proud to have held. With me were L, a first timer here at Cooking with Friends, and W, a seasoned veteran of culinary delights. Both assured me they had a great evening and the food which we prepared together was awesome. For this occasion I made something special: Soutzoukakia, a meatball dish from Greece.

I have imported this recipe from a vacation on Crete, Greece, when I had the chance to take cooking classes in the tiny hotel I was staying in. The friendly chef entertained all my question and showed me several recipes, the details of some are lost to time and some others in the combined mess of my hand-writing and confused note-taking that occurs when learning several dishes at the same time and working with limited amount of paper.

I’ll be frank with you: I had doubts about this episode of Cooking with Friends. I seem to have picked a bad date for the invitation. After 3 days of waiting I only had a handful of replies to the invite and one confirmation. In contrast to that, all slots for the event in November were gone within less than 24 hours. I even debated if cancelling the event to avoid a bad experience for my newcomer would be preferable.

In the end I got a second positive reply and we held the event. Great food was made, no accidents happened, I’ve made some notes for refinement of the dishes (technically a lie, I’ll make some notes after publishing this, probably) and we’ve sat together until the early night, playing Carcassonne, a board game. I admit not liking many board games, but this one, which is about clever thinking and construction instead of racing or battling others, fits my taste.

In the end I’m just rambling but I wanted to note how much these little social events tend to improve my mood. They do wonders for my mental health. This week has been harsh before, I had at least two days on which I felt awful and noticed some setbacks at work more than I should have but most of that has been blown away by the happiness I get from successfully holding such an evening. I needed to share that this is something that makes me happy, despite the work and effort that goes into it. Or maybe because of it. I couldn’t say.

Should you be on the guest list and be reading this: I’m extraordinarily glad to host you. Thank you.