North Carolina

Once a month, my mom gets together with some of her friends to play bridge and eat dinner together. My mom plays bridge with the husbands while the aunties chat and prepare dinner. Since I was in town, I helped prepare dinner and chatted with the aunties (rather, I listened to them since I can’t speak Chinese that well). For May’s party, we drove to Asheboro, about 30 minutes from Greensboro, for the monthly party.

Here’s this month’s spread:

Sauteed vegetables:

Short ribs:

Whole fish with garlic and ginger:

Stir-fried noodles with shrimp:

Ribs with black bean sauce:

Edamame with black pepper and sesame seeds:

Mung bean noodles with peanut sauce and cucumbers:

Spinach with shrimp:

Cold plate homemade kimchi radishes, bean sprouts, thinly sliced vegetables, bamboo, and sliced liver:

Aunt Yimin preparing her dish, fish cutlets with chili peppers, cilantro, and various sauces:

The fish dish:

Her husband, Dr. Zhang, made a fruit focaccia – the focaccia was topped with almonds, cherries, blueberries, and apricot or raspberry jam:

A picture of me with the Zhang’s:

The party was really fun; my mom had fun playing bridge with her friends and I had fun helping the aunties prepare dinner. Since the potluck/bridge game rotates every month based on the guest list, everyone said they’d drive to NYC for dinner in August!