"See if you can taste which dish it's in."
Ah, but this group loves a challenge.
This is Forking Delicious, a casual club of seven women in their 30s and 40s who meet monthly at one another's homes for themed meals, with everyone contributing a concoction. On this warm spring night, they are gathered in the Huntingdon Valley home where Min, 33, a public school teacher with a penchant for pastries, lives with her parents.
The women - who were, for the most part, strangers to one another - came together through an online posting two years ago. Their zip codes were compatible and their chemistry immediately evident. Now they marvel at the alchemy that brought them together and the strength they draw from one another.
"The older you get, the fewer and farther between close friendships are," says Kathy Simon, 47, of Riverton. She had just returned to this area after 20 years in San Francisco when she saw the online notice about a food group forming.
"And looking back," Kathy says, "it seems to me we were each thirsting for an outlet."
Three have favorite charities, and the others lend their time to help cater fund-raisers for those causes. For Min, it's women's business development; Kathy supports a gallery for emerging artists; and Donna gives to a group that helps children with HIV-AIDS.
"We are there for each other as sous chefs, business planners, sounding boards and cheerleaders," Kathy says.
Between monthly sessions, the women get together in twos or threes to attend a launch party for a new restaurant or a tasting. They seem to talk, in person or by e-mail, all the time. And when the conversation turns to a particular dish or technique, the phrase that comes up most often is: "My mom did that."
