When Johanne @ French Gardener Dishes invited me to an International Women’s luncheon (Philadelphia chapter), I graciously accepted. Johanne, a fellow Canadian and I met via the blogosphere. She has a passion for the arts, a creative flair in the kitchen, in the garden and when entertaining. We share a love of gardening, travel and food, so we immediately bonded. We had tried to get together before to visit some local gardens, but it had not worked out, so this was a perfect opportunity to join her with her club members. So why not I thought – I am International, I am woman (hear me roar), and I love food and culture, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to this invitation and meeting a blogger friend for the first time. Johanne was as fun-loving, worldly and warm as her posts portrayed, we both felt like we were old friends meeting up again after a long absence when in fact we had only just met. We talked about blogging, Fiesta Fridays, food, gardens and more food :) Do click on the link above to visit her blog and see how she incorporates food, art and entertainment in her artistic and expressive blog.
I had been to similar functions with a friend who also belongs to the International Women’s Club (Wilmington chapter), so I knew what to expect. The purpose of the International Women’s Club is to welcome women of all cultures to the area and to promote friendship, support and information about life in the United States for newcomers, but also to provide multi-cultural enrichment for the American members. The Wilmington chapter is rather large as it first started out when a lot of International Dupont employees were being temporarily transferred to this area where Dupont is headquartered. The spouses were not able to work in the USA, so they formed a social group with all types of activities, lectures, coffee mornings, you could learn a language, practice tai-chi or even take a field trip to neighboring states. The luncheons are pretty popular featuring an array of cuisines from around the world, some of the members attend with their native costumes. There are a few events where the spouses are also invited.
Our hostess was German, her house was beautifully decorated for spring and Easter. The countries represented were Japan, China, Latvia, Germany, Canada, India, Netherlands and others. It truly was a United Nations in session
An array of irresistible dishes to choose from
and lastly, but by no means least…… Johanne and I with our contributions to the luncheon. Look at her beautifully plated Grilled Chicken Satay Skewers with Thai peanut sauce and my Pear and Cheese Tart.
Happy Easter all!
Linking up with Fiesta Friday #112 co-hosted by Natalie @ Kitchen, Uncorked and Hilda @ Along The Grapevine.
Loretta,
I envy you getting to meet a fellow blogger! What fun it must be to finally meet face to face! Love all the pictures of the beautiful international luncheon and the hostess’s beautifully decorated home.
your pear and cheese tart looks divine. I would love to have that recipe , if you don’t mind sharing.
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Thanks so much Sandhya…..now if only you lived a lot closer, we’d be meeting for tea and bubbly
We’ll make it happen one day, don’t you worry. I did post the recipe a while back, so here it is in case you missed it. Happy Easter to you my dear friend. http://safariofthemind.com/2014/05/30/pear-and-cheese-tart/
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Thanks Loretta. Yes we should surely meet. Happy Easter to you! Thank you for sending the recipe link again. Your tart looks awesome.
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I envy you too! Two of my favorite ladies meeting and sharing some time together. I often imagine if I could fly all of my blogging buddies here what a wonderful time we’d have.Those dishes look amazing!
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Awww thanks so much Julie. It was indeed quite special finally getting to meet someone out there from the blogging world, (she was real too) LOL! How about a field trip to Nebraska with some of your blogger buddies? I know I’ve never been there before
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I would LOVE it if you made a field trip to Nebraska! We would have the time of our lives Loretta! I’ve thought of that before too. I met one blogger in Florida and we were fast friends and still chat all of the time.
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It’s easy to become fast friends with you I’m sure Julie
Hey you never know, like I said, I’ve never been to Nebraska, time to remedy that perhaps?
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My door is always open to you Loretta and we would love meeting you and your husband!
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What a wonderful occasion, a great lunch and you got to meet one another, that’s lovely xxx
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Thanks Elaine, and we talked about you and Selma at one point
I hope you had a great Easter.
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What fun! My unexpected pleasure of blogging has been meeting other bloggers!!!
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Thanks Mimi, isn’t it amazing how we share so much with other bloggers, and not just about cooking and baking
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a good Easter.
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What a lovely event- and what fun the two of you were able to go together.
I made your pear clafouti the other night BTW- it was SO delicious!!!
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Thanks Josette, it was quite special. So glad you tried out the pear clafouti, and glad too that it turned out so delicious
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How fine to meet a friend and make more connections. Looks beautiful.
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Thanks so much, it’s amazing how many bloggers we reach on a given day isn’t it? It was great meeting Johanne and sharing similarities.
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Yes. Connections are important to me these days.
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It was so wonderful to meet you Loretta! The warm International Women’s club members wrapped you in their welcoming embrace and were honored to have you join us. It is truly a small world and happy our blogosphere and real worlds merged on this beautiful spring day. I could not help thinking about the events in Brussels on the day of our meeting and how the International Women’s clubs throughout the world foster acceptance of cultural differences while celebrating and honoring diversity.
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Thanks Johanne, and thank you for inviting me. I felt quite at home with everyone there
These clubs truly foster cultural differences don’t they? If only this were the case around the world, it would be a much happier place. I hope you enjoyed Easter with your family. Looking forward to meeting up at Chanticleer. 
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Wow what a great occasion… its such a great thing to meet blogging buddies and sharing some time together. .. and this dishes looks fantastic. ..
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Thank you Chitra, yes it was a great occasion for sure. I know other ladies have met up too, a group in London too. Thanks for stopping by
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Such fun for all of you, Loretta! The food looks fabulous. How wonderful that a blogging friend has turned into a “real world” friend!
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Yes indeed Nancy, it was lovely meeting Johanne finally. Wouldn’t it be just great if we could all have more than a virtual party somewhere, someplace? Imagine the fun
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That would be wonderful!
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The international setting with all the delicious international food must have been an ideal place for the two of you to meet in person. Your dishes look superb and thank you for representing your country so well!
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Thanks Hilda, it was an ideal setting for sure. Thank you for co-hosting Fiesta Friday too, I know it was a busy weekend with Easter and all.
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Looks like you and Johanne had a fabulous time and the others did too I’m sure. What a great organization where you get to meet some nice people and taste their wonderful recipes
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Thanks Judi, yes it was wonderful, and such a great setting where we both got to enjoy some wonderful food and entertaining. I hope you enjoyed a great Easter Sunday.
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It sure is lovely to meet a fellow blogger ! Great company and the food looks absolutely delicious ! Your pear and cheese tart looks so yum, Loretta
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Thank you Freda, I wish we could all meet up somewhere, someday and share all our wonderful dishes. I hope you enjoyed a great Easter.
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I wish so too!! Yes I did! Thanks Loretta
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Sounds like you all had a great time with great food Loretta
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Thank you Nandini, it was a lot of fun. I hope you had a good Easter with your family.
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Well I am pretty jealous that I was not there with all of your great folks. The food was no doubt pretty wonderful and the company even better. What a good idea and lots of fun and sharing.
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How fun!! Everything looks wonderful and isn’t it great fun meeting blogging buddies??
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