"Book" club

We call it Book Club, but it's really an Eating/Drinking Club. About four hours of eating, drinking and socializing and maybe 10 minutes of the month's book discussion!

 

Barb (right) and her sister, Karen, who was visiting from Montana.

And Barb's adorable elderly dog, Boo, who shuffled around to always be close to us.

Beth always bakes a cake for whoever has a birthday that month and the birthday girl gets to pick the flavor. But there are three of us born in December and we asked for carrot cake, chocolate and lemon. So Beth made a carrot cake, lemon meringue pie and brownies!!!

Here are the birthday girls. I'm chocolate, in the middle, born on Dec. 20.

I made my sweet potato salad, which has pecans, dried cranberries and an orange-maple-ginger dressing. And there was so much more that we could hardly move when we finished.

Oh, the book was The Rosie Effect by Australian Graeme Simsion, the second of three hilarious but touching books about Don and Rosie and how Don's autism affects life. We all loved it. The blurb on the back cover sums it up: 

"Until recently, genetics professor Don Tillman had never had a second date. Then he got serious about finding a life partner, creating a sixteen-page questionnaire (see The Rosie Project) to identify the perfect match. Instead, he fell in love with Rosie Jarman ("the world's most incompatible woman"). Now they have survived ten months and ten days of marriage. 

"Though the fiery Rosie has taught him the joys of unscheduled sex and spontaneous meal planning, Don is still learning the principles of optimal cohabitation. He is certainly not prepared for the mother of all surprises: Rosie is unexpectedly expecting!"

Have a colorful day