Gourmet Dinner Club (GDC)

As an extended family, Michael's cousins, aunts, uncles and even family friends are extremely close and oftentimes, get together several times throughout a week just to eat and hang out together! So to make things more exciting over the next two months, they've come up with the Gourmet Dinner Club, whereby a different couple hosts a gourmet dinner party every week. Each couple has drawn a number to see which week they will be cooking and in order to participate, each duo will have to contribute $20 per week as they attend the dinner party. With eight couples participating, the pool of money will total $1280 and will be the ultimate prize for the couple with the best dinner at the end of the eight weeks! The meals will be judged and graded upon taste, presentation, and service.

Unfortunately, I missed the first week, which was hosted by Michael's aunt Di Thao and her hubby Chu Hung, and I heard they had an amazing spread in their backyard deck, complete with (but not limited to) patio umbrellas, daiquiris, named place settings, and banana bread pudding! As avid hosts, Di Thao and Chu Hung have set the bar for Gourmet Dinner Club.

For Week Two of GDC, Michael's cousins Chi Chau and her hubby Anh Minh presented us with yummy shrimp & crouton appetizers, Anh Minh's famously tender ribs, rice, and a unique cucumber salad (???) (sorry, Michael usually does these types of entries - he's better at describing food than I am :) ... complimented by a romantic spread of red roses, candles, and topped off with a lovely-looking flan and coffee (which was served in Kiera's kiddie tea set :)

Meanwhile, the kids had their own gourmet dinner and entertainment, consisting of popsicles in high heels.

Michael and I happen to be the eighth and last couple to host, so we've got a lot of expectations to meet by then, especially as the dinners keep getting more and more elaborate! The bar keeps getting higher and higher, but we're definitely up for the challenge :: fingers crossed ::