Sunset Mesa Supper Club

Paulette Silver was putting the finishing touches on her desserts in her Sunset Mesa home the other day. She had made chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate truffles, chocolate chip banana bread and a chocolate pudding dessert she calls Chocolate Delight.

Are you sensing a chocolate theme?

It was for a dinner party that night, and all those goodies were for sharing by the six attendees—Paulette and her husband Rick Silver, Jacqueline and Glenn Lieberman and Kit and Megan Plumridge.

But Paulette didn’t just make the desserts, she made the serving dishes as well, in a new side business venture she is developing with Sue Gellerman of Calabasas. The two friends scout out vintage dishes and serving pieces, then combine them and embellish them in unusual ways to make one-of-a-kind collectible pieces that are like table jewelry. Called “Pieces of Time,” the serve ware is sold in consignment stores, at home parties and soon from a website (for the time being, contact them at supaserveware@gmail.com).

But back to the party! Silver was cool, calm and collective because this was to be what the group calls “Supper Club.” It is a progressive party with each course at a different house, all in the Sunset Mesa neighborhood of Malibu.

The six convened at the Lieberman house at 7 p.m. for cocktails and an appetizer of salad with balsamic vinegar topped with crab cakes with a wonderful spicy sauce. This was followed by a walk to the Plumridge home just down the block and around the corner. There, they had a main course of beef Bourguignon and green salad that included beets cut in a heart shape to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Finally, they finished off the night at the Silver house for all those sweet treats and some after-dinner drinks.

The group has been doing Supper Club roughly every other month for about two years. It always begins at 7 p.m., and each course takes one or more hours, depending on the mood of the group. If they want to linger for two hours over the main course, they do. If appetizers only take an hour, that’s fine. Timing for each course is flexible.

Paulette ticks off all the reasons a progressive party works:

• “It’s a lot of stress to plan and throw a whole dinner party. I can usually do one or two things really well, but doing the whole party is hard! This way I can just do one course perfectly.”
• There is no driving!
• You get a little exercise walking from house to house between courses.
• Rotating the courses between couples keeps it fair and interesting. If you made the desserts at one party, you might get assigned the main course for the next one. “In our group, Jacqueline keeps score, and keeps us on-plan with who is up for what course at the next party.”

She also has advice if you’d like to try this in your neighborhood:

• Start off simple. Call a couple nearby friends, and see if they want to do it. “It works perfectly with three couples.”
• Find out any allergies or dislikes early. “Luckily, all of us eat everything, so we haven’t had any issues.”
• Be as creative or as simple as you want. If you feel like making tuna-noodle casserole, make it without apology. “This is a homemade meal. It doesn’t have to be show-off food.”
• Make the whole experience as easy as possible. “Make your party all about hanging out with friends.”

Paulette said one month they took Supper Club on the road, eating out at a restaurant. The group apparently looked like they were having so much fun, they attracted the attention of another couple dining nearby, who, when they found out it was Supper Club, asked to join.

That couple beat me to it. I was going to see if the group had room for two more.

CHOCOLATE DELIGHT

Source: Paulette Silver

Combine: 
1 cup flour, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1 stick butter at room temperature

Press evenly in a 9- by 13-inch glass baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until light brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine:
 8 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 cup Cool Whip

Spread onto cooled crust.

Mix: 
2 small boxes instant Chocolate Pudding Mix (can substitute any flavor) and 3 cups milk (I use whole milk…what the heck!)

Beat 2 minutes. Spread on top of cheese mixture. Spread additional 1 cup of Cool Whip over top. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut into squares and serve. Yummy!

Serves as many as 16-20, or as few as 3 (if the noshers are teenagers! She ought to know… she has three sons—Jason, 23, Alex, 21 and Matthew, 20).