So here is a Canadian girl living down under with three kids and my husband starts working in China while doing his MBA at the same time. This leaves me to hold down the fort all by myself for a good chunk of the time. He could be gone a week or more at a time and was away over at least part of the weekends often. Lucky for me I had some made some fantastic friends who became my most treasured support group during those eighteen months.
One of our friends is a fabulous cook and he would volunteer to come to my bigger kitchen and cook for our families. He also loved to entertain with his wife and kids in their home. Wine and beer were always drunk along side his fabulous food and good memories were made. Another friend who lived one street over was also a fantastic cook and she would host us along with some other friends on Friday evenings. They had a pool which was a fantastic way for the kids to end a busy week, swimming with friends. Beautiful food would be cooked but sometimes it would be spur of the moment pot-luck and sometimes we would just order pizza and drink beautiful wine. Other days I would have the gang over to my house. Casual or formal, lunch or dinner, we would have great food and fabulous company. I really wouldn't have survived those many months without my family of friends. There was also quite the party when Rob completed his MBA.
Then the unthinkable ... after six fantastic years in Australia we were to return to Canada. Gone were my treasured friends and support group. As luck would have it, we managed to land around the corner from one of my sisters and her family. I don't work outside the home so I look forward to socialising on Friday nights. Unfortunately, even though my husband looks forward to Fridays he is knackered from the long hours he works and all the travel he does. He really has no interest in going out but he doesn't mind having people over. It was then that I hatched the 'Friday Night Dinner' plan. I would plan and prep during the day on Fridays so that we could have spectacular, restaurant quality meals on Friday nights. Others could join us without the pressure of heading to a restaurant or the expense. A salute to the wonderful evenings spent at our neighbours in Australia.
I would be able to fulfil my passion for cooking and need to socialise with grown ups and my husband could kick back and relax in his home. Sometimes it is only dinner for 2, most weeks it is dinner for 4 (my sister and her partner and son over) but I am hoping to cook for 6 or 8 more often to establish a new base of great friends. I feed the kids first, something easy and kid friendly, so they can go off and play while the grown ups enjoy fantastic quality food in a relaxed home environment.
I started in 2011. It has been fantastic! I get to do what I love. I get to improve my timing, technique and even try new things. I get to hear people tell me how great my cooking is (I really like that part). And with any luck I will make some new friends who will become my new support group and help fill the void left in my life when I had to leave Australia.
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