our spring potlucks

There have only been 3 winters that I have found to be so incredibly grey and rainy that even I find myself complaining about the incessant dampness - and this was one of those years. I may have a knack for making the most of the sunny breaks, but this year was very SAD inducing. At work I love for the people I serve to walk away with a smile, which I am generally very good at. But customer service of this level ain't as easy when you have to find a hundred cheerful variations of the same weather misery chat with patrons. Combined with income anxiety and that emotionally conflicting event of the olympics...hibernation was mode of choice for our family this wet winter season. Nothing really wrong in life - just that little bit of 'blah' hanging in the air that makes some days a wee bit harder to get through.

We really wanted to break out of hiding with gusto this year, so i sent an invite to the cool cats we don't get to see often enough to come join us with a choice of 4 spring potlucks throughout April and May. Knowing we'll never find a date that works for everyone, we were looking forward to the different mix of fabulous folks that would end up arriving for each date...

Our first potluck night was "We Be Chili'n" with one pot for herbivores (a sweet potatoe black bean chili I made) and one for omnivores (buffalo and kidney bean chili that Mark made) and contributions from our friends - Allan's awesome salad, scrumptious corn bread a la Kristen, and ice cream dessert from Tanya and Nolan. Sasha, Nolan and Jacob ran around the house, and jumped like monkeys on our bed (and lucky none fell down and bumped their heads, hehe) which gave us big kids a chance to enjoy some great conversation time. After Nolan was picked up and Sasha was in bed, Mark and I had a fun game night with Tanya and Allan  :)

The second potluck night was the Melting Pot which was a flavourful dipping fest! Our house was packed for this event with 13 adults and 8 children...but what a fantastic vibe and a thrill that the five families who joined us this night enjoyed each others company so much! A big bonus that it was a beautiful day so we could keep the patio door open and enjoy the outside space as well!

The chocolate fondue provided by the JAM fam was a real treat and my fave pics are of the chocolate covered littled ones, lol

Can't believe the positive response we had to fondue night, and we actually had to start a wait list for a Melting Pot 2  which we will be having in June some time! Gotta love that fabu fondu :D

With the success of our first two potlucks I really can't wait for the May potlucks: Reggae Roots (a carribean nite inspired by my friend Erinn) and Farm Fresh with a local food focus celebrating the re-opening of the summer farmers markets soon to pop up all over town. Food, glorious food!

Sustenance for our tummies, and with a house full of good people sustenance for our hearts and minds as well. et voila! Spring rejuvenation :D