Intro
We begin circling the emails on Monday, unless someone is particularly excited about a recipe, then they may start the Thursday before. They usually start with one person saying, “I want to make x recipe. I’ll need you to bring x, y, and z.” Or sometimes it’s as simple as a clean-out-the-fridge-salad where we all bring whatever lingering vegetables, beans, herbs, nuts, etc. we have hanging out in our fridge. We’re always so pleasantly surprised about how delicious our randomly crafted meals are.
Really, it’s not about the food though. It never is. Our every other Wednesday night dinner is about friendship, life, consistency, and community. We are brought to the table because of the food (and a bottle of wine) and as we empty our plates we’re being filled in a much deeper way than food could ever do on its own.
For the past five years we’ve been meeting together every other Wednesday. The group has changed a bit over the years. At one point it was nine women, right now we are five. In that time we’ve walked through elation, depression, marriage highs and marriage lows, parenting struggles, job promotions, new homes, brain tumors, marathons, death, and new life. We’ve cried uncontrollably but we have laughed more. Each week there is hardship and there is joy. There is sorrow and there is delight. We never know what our time will have for us be we do know who will be there.
I’ve wanted to talk about this group here for a long time. Each time our meals come together I want to write about the beauty of a community sourced meal. I want to write about the importance of the table and how much I love using food as the reason and sometimes the excuse to gather but what I care about more than the food is what happens at the table. Dinners with these girls always illustrates that point beautifully. It’s never the point of the food to outshine the purpose and yet it is so often the reason why we gather. I mention on the video that it’s the food and the wine that bring us to the table but it’s what happens at the table where life happens. The longer I live and the more meals I cook I grow deeper and deeper into this truth.
It’s not easy for us to get together. Between us we have 11 small children. We have work and lots of sniffly noses to wipe, and lunches to pack, and calendars to try and make sense of and yet we gather. Every week there are sacrifices that have to be made in order for us to come together at the table but we are committed to one another.
After five years together, I can’t imagine doing life without these women. I am braver, stronger, and a better person because of what each of them has added to my days. They have held my hand in my darkest moments and celebrated with me in my brightest. I’m so grateful for the food that brings us to the table but most of all I’m just thrilled that these women meet me there every other Wednesday.
A Wintry Le Grand Aioli from Not Without Salt on Vimeo.
A Wintry Le Grand Aioli
Le Grand Aioli is a classic Provençal dish whose star is the golden hued aioli. Typically there is fish to dip in as well along with an array of vegetables. We’ve winterized ours by roasting an assortment of seasonal vegetables as well as mushrooms. We also boiled a few eggs and roasted a chicken to add a bit more heft. Feel free to use whatever you’d like in your grand aioli.
Roasted or Rotisserie Chicken (your favorite recipe or store bought is great here)
For each guest
1/2 lb of roasted vegetables per person, such as carrots, beets, cauliflower, fennel, squash, chanterelle mushrooms
2-3 oz of green beans per person, blanched and shocked in ice water to preserve bright color
1 soft boiled egg
Nicoise olives
A favorite bread, such as walnut
Serve with Caper & Preserved lemon aioli, recipe follows…
CAPER & PRESERVED LEMON AIOLI
Makes about 1 cup, serves 6-8
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup neutral oil (such as grapeseed, canola, vegetable)
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon minced preserved lemon
Mince garlic very fine. Add salt directly to the garlic. Use the flat part of the knife to press it against the board seven to ten times until a fine paste forms. Add this to a medium bowl along with the mustard, lemon juice and egg yolk. Whisk to combine.
Add the oil in a very slow stream, whisking continuously. Once an emulsion begins to form start to pour in a steady stream of oil. After you add all the oil it should look like very loose mayonnaise. Stir in the capers and preserved lemon. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Serve alongside roasted chicken and roasted vegetables, eggs and olives.
Serve with Mirassou Pinot Noir.
This post was kindly sponsored by Mirassou Winery and they are offering a special coupon to help you #ShareTheSun with family and friends throughout the season.
This recipe looks great but even better is your heart warming thoughts on your Wednesday group of friends. You are blessed to have these women in your life.
Kathy, absolutely. Blessed is exactly what I kept thinking as I wrote this.
Yes! I love this, so much. xo
Thanks, Tara. We should cook this together soon.
Wow, looking yummy, will surely try it,thanks for sharing 🙂 do visit my blog too for more yummy recipes
Lovely all around!
This post is melodramatic. Stop being so pretentious and just post your recipes.
Hey John, you are completely welcome to skip over the narrative and head straight to the recipe.
This post is so beautiful, Ashley. The words, the video, the emotions, the recipe. I am lucky to be able to say I have friends like that here in Portland. And those dinners we share (or in the case of last week, brunch) nourish my soul in ways that can’t be fully explained. There’s a kind of magic to gathering around a table with food at the center.
Also, I have to say that I continue to be inspired by your photography and how it unfolds so organically from your everyday life. Thanks for sharing your creative self with all of us and happiest of holidays to you and the family!
What a beautiful meal! I love how you used a communal meal to highlight the importance of building close, consistent relationships with others. I’d love to do something like this with my small group and have everyone bring a 1/2 lb wintry veggies of their choice 🙂
Alexa, I love that idea. Such a great way to make this meal even easier on the host and also get people involved. Let me know how it goes if you do do this!
Ash, this resonates grandly. ‘elation, depression, relationship highs and lows, parenting struggles, new jobs, changing homes, brain tumors, death, and new life….crying uncontrollably and laughing more..hardship and joy… sorrow and delight. ’ I have to recommend the book With Love, Making Headway. It’s an indie publication, so only available through Volume Foundation . org … and I know finding time to read is a mini feat in itself(!) but it’s beautifully written like you do, with strength and warmth [^ & melodrama .. ^ 😉 ] and the reassurance of a good friend. It relates to everything you mention, and the Foundation raising the support for it are all about the value of sharing real experiences & the power and significance of simply coming together.
And on that note, thanks for journaling so openly here & allowing genuine discussion… and all the best of the season to you!
Thank you so much for this lovely comment. I am going to check out that book right now. Thank you!
Your words really touched me. And having friends like that is such a good thing. Nice recipe too ♥
Hey Ashley, making this x5 for my annual harvest party (35 guests this year) and this is one of 9 courses. How far in advance can I prep the aioli? And do you serve with warm roasted veggies, cold, or room temp?