I had dinner with 10 strangers the other night. Well, 9, because I had a date. And she was gorgeous. I’ll get to that in a minute. Cozying up with strangers for a homey meal at a person’s house you’ve never been to sounds weird, no? It’s actually called a ‘pop-up’ dinner. Pop-up dinners are my new favorite way to meet friends and eat good food. It starts with a chick (or dude) who loves to cook and makes seriously delicious food. Their friends tell them ‘you should open a restaurant!!!’ for years before they actually consider it. A pop-up dinner party is their first foray into a restaurant. The wannabe chef opens up their house and cooks food for anyone who buys a ticket. In my case, the chick was Sherrie, and my date was my friend, Erin. It was a lovely night. The theme was strawberries/ Springtime/ vegan + gluten free (mostly). We started with a strawberry shrub and finished with coconut panna cotta with salt and pepper strawberries. If you’re drooling, well, so was I. Sherrie sent us home with so many berries that I’ve been putting them in everything lately! Strawberry yogurt pie, strawberry gin fizzes, you name it, there are berries in it!
The inspiration for frozen blackberry limeade:
When I had some berries that were on their last leg, I tossed them in the blender with ice, lemon juice and a touch of raw sugar and made lemonade slushies! It was almost like that time I made peach wine slushies, but better because I could drink them before noon!
With an ambiance like this, how can you really go wrong, though? The sun quickly set, and this is the last photo of the food I took for lack of better light. But the entire menu was fantastic: strawberry-chamomile shrubs, toast with goat cheese and pea shoots, risotto with roasted veggies and a fried egg, vegan coconut panna cotta, and a tea cocktail with Amaro, post-dessert.
As soon as I snapped this photo, I slipped my phone in my purse and enjoyed the evening company and food, technology-free. It was a fantastic night that warmed my heart. The multitude of frozen berry lemonade/ limeade slushies that came into my life afterwards were just a perk. This frozen blackberry limeade was completely inspired by Sherrie, and happily, it’s stayed in my kitchen ever since. I also happen to have a daughter who is obsessed with blackberries, so as soon as she’s open to frozen things, she’ll be enjoying this!
