My first WedSpag!!!

Hello everyone!! I am Jenn from My Life with the Crazies and this is my first blog over here at Wednesday Spaghetti!! Lora is such a gracious hostess... and I was thrilled to jump on board!

Tonight marked my first ever WedSpag night here in my Crazy House! ( ok... that's not entirely true... I cook pasta ALOT in my house with 3 kids... one of them being a vegetarian and all..)

I actually was thrilled to start this here in my home town in Massachusetts because I have been so busy with work and sports and kids... and dogs... and blogging.... and twittering... well... you get the idea. So I haven't seen alot of my friends as of late and I just thought, "what the heck?"

Alot of my friends are busy moms and fortunately or not most of them don't cook much so they always seem to love when I cook and they can just come eat and socialize for awhile.(or I atleast think they like my cooking!)

I also am an avid photographer so alot of my posts contain pics! I hope you all can handle a little food tease!!

I invited my bestest girlfriend Julie and her Hubby Seth and their son Ty over for dinner tonight.Julie is a busy workin mom and isn't really a culinary expert. Once, shortly after moving into my new house... which has a gorgeous large kitchen with awesome island in the middle.... Julie commented that she would have to come over weekly for cooking lessons complete with video camera manned by my teen... and I would teach and do alittle Emeril for everyone while being filmed. ( We never did get around to that but it would be great to have a WedSpag on video, don't ya think?)

So they arrived... it is gorgeous tonight here in Mass, so the little ones headed out to play in the yard... the big boys retreated to the living room to discuss video game strategies while Julie and I hung in the kitchen cooking. Julie's younger teen sister even joined in the party and she and my teen hung out chattin.

A good time was had by all and it was so fun to catch up even for a few hours!

Here are some pics of our first WedSpag!

I look forward to more to come... with more people joining us!!

My Sad, Sad Journey Towards Friendships

First off, thanks to Lora for inviting me to the secret society. I have never met Lora in real life as I live in the great north woods of New Hampshire. "You have internet there?" you ask. Why, yes, we do, only if we have power after we clear the ice off the lines!

Anyhow, I met Lora from stalking her indiscriminate Twitter banter. If any of you are on Twitter, you are familiar with most of the pompous, self promoting drivel that is on there, which is why Lora was so conspicuous.

And that is the short story of how Michele was invited over for spaghetti dinner.

When Lora invited me last week I was excited but apprehensive as this is something I have struggled with for years (female friendships... not eating spaghetti!) My friends from youth are spread from Washington to Rhode Island, which means I see very little of them. And building new female relationships has been an issue most of my adult life. I had my first child at 23... not too young (or so I thought), until I realized that most women at that age were still out partying and bar hopping, while I was home with a papoose attached to my nipple. Other 'moms' that I encountered were just... not cool. They wore mom jeans, gossiped about other mothers, and would make snide comments about piercings and tattoos (both of which I have).

It took me years to find women who I could be comfortable around and actually spend time with without wanting to jump out the nearest window. Now, I have a very small group of wonderful friends. But unfortunately, at this point in our lives, it is simply time that holds us back. After my invite to dinner, I immediately asked two girlfriends to join me. One works Wednesday evenings and one just can't get here in time once her husband gets home from work.

I will persevere. I might just have to pick up a random drunk chick at a bar and promise her a ride home, only to take a 'wrong turn', bring her to my house and force her to eat spaghetti with me... and LIKE it!

So, tonight, it will just be me and my 3 mini-girlfriends (AKA my daughters) and my hubby for spaghetti and garlic bread, which I bought special just for the occassion. I will raise my glass and send you all good cheer.

Hello to all the new kids!

Do you know what is amazing? That a 99cent bag of semolina and a 2dollar jar of crushed tomatoes and spices can bring a group of people together.

Well, and maybe a couple fresh braids of mozzarella and about ten bottles of wine and a whole bunch of websites where everyone talks about themselves so that others may get to know them before they even get to see them really helps the whole process along.

Wednesdays just got bigger, and bigger is always better.

Check the sidebar to the right to see the new spaghettiers.

I look forward to seeing everyone of you around my table again sometime soon.

And I love getting emails on Thursday mornings about all of the spaghetti dinners that are happening around the world. You guys rock. It's nice to sit down to dinner on Wednesday night and know that people who are near to my heart but far from my kitchen are doing the same thing we are doing at my house. It warms my cockles.

I love when my cockles are warm.

sunday brunch

ladies, would any of you be willing or able to do a Sunday Champagne brunch? I'm dying to serve these.
I think when this thing finally gets off the ground, Board meetings will be Sunday mornings and instead of doing annual Board appeals there will just be donations made then. That way you will feel like you are actually getting something for your money and it is spread out over 10 installments throughout the year. Plus I know none of you are in church, tithing your hard earned dollars away.

Scrumptious Saturday!

As some of you already know, I have decided to start a dinner group similar to Wednesday Spaghetti here in Baltimore. The first-ever Scrumptious Saturday was last night--you can read all about it on my blog, In So Many Words.

The Wednesday Spaghetti ladies are always welcome for Scrumptious Saturday! If any of you are ever in the Baltimore-area on a Saturday, stop in for a great meal and good company--you have an open invitation.