One of the secrets to elevating homecooked meals from yum to YUM is in employing the power of condiments. To me, a well-stocked pantry isn’t only about having an adequate supply of essentials such as lentils, beans, grains and canned goods, but also key building blocks of flavor. Dried mushrooms, homemade stocks (or bouillon cubes – I won’t judge), anchovies, tomato paste and fried shallots are my essentials. The Burmese and Thai ways of eating prominently feature a caddy of condiments at the table for you to round out each dish and season it to your personal balance of salty-sweet-sou ..read more

Proud to share that after starting off on this blog, Tapestry Suppers now has its own home on the Internet. Head over to TapestrySuppers.org to read about our Hosts’ stories, try their Recipes and, of course, save the dates for upcoming events. I’ll see you there ..read more

And there’s another event on the books. This past Sunday over 30 of us gathered in Palo Alto for a homecooked Italian meal whipped up by our three talented Italian hosts! There were olives and cheese, salami, bruschetta, amaretti and a big pot of Pasta e Fagioli that offered multiple helpings and then some. Along with a silent auction of some beautiful Italian platters and ceramics, we raised about $800 for Mercy Corps! Thank you to all those who came and we hope to see you next month in Oakland, for our Indian dinner with Nik Sharma of A Brown Table benefiting Immigration Equality. Join ou ..read more

Our Italian hosts, from left: Valentina Cogoni (Sardinia), Enza Sebastiani (Rome) and Rita Corona (Naples). Our next event is a collaboration among three women from different parts of Italy whose life paths brought them to the Bay Area. Their stories speak of grit and determination in building a life for themselves in a new country and culture, even when things don’t turn out as planned. This lunch takes place in Palo Alto, on Sunday, June 25 with proceeds benefiting Mercy Corps. Join us by purchasing a ticket on Eventbrite. Where did you grow up? Please describe what your hometown was like ..read more

Tapestry Suppers had our third event in as many months last weekend, this time featuring a spread of veritable Persian delights for almost 40 guests. We raised over $1,000 for the selected charity Moms Against Poverty (MAP), and everyone went home with full bellies and full hearts. Can’t wait to do this again for our next event, an Italian lunch benefiting Mercy Corps on Sunday June 25. Tickets go on sale June 12 and if you’re on our mailing list you’ll be the first to get access. In the meantime, enjoy the photos from Saturday ..read more

For our next Tapestry Suppers event I’m really excited to share the words and culinary talent of my friend and yoga teacher, Mojdeh Z. Coming from a family where the cooking and sharing of food was part of the fabric of daily life, she understands, intuitively, the power of the meal in forging connections with others, as you will see in her story below. A few years ago she invited a small group of us for a simple Persian lunch. We were greeted with a spread enough to feed 10 or more hungry souls. There was rice prepared two ways, an assortment of salads, a range of stews, dips, herbs, bread ..read more

And just like that,  Tapestry Suppers held its second, sold-out event yesterday, in as many months as we’ve been around. Over 30 guests gamely played along with our randomized ‘seating lottery’ system, sparking new connections and conversations over a spread of Burmese hors d’oeuvres, curries and tea leaf salad. As a lovely bonus, one of our guests contributed an entire dessert table of homemade desserts – from a gorgeous tarte tatin to an almond tart and tasty palmiers. It’s safe to say that no one left hungry! And we raised $750 for the Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne-South Bend – double th ..read more

After last month’s  Vietnamese lunch for The IRC, we head West across the Chinese subcontinent to Burma/Myanmar, also known as The Golden Land for the sheer numbers of golden pagodas around the country. I met April Chou, our next host, two years ago through our common interest in Ashtanga Yoga. A side effect of knowing April is discovering the world of Burmese cuisine. Coming from another Southeast Asian country, I found the salty, sour, bitter and spicy notes comfortingly familiar, even if they were presented differently. My favorite aspect of the Burmese way of eating is how each person is e ..read more

We held Tapestry Suppers‘ inaugural event in Palo Alto yesterday and if empty plates and happy faces are any indication, I suppose you could say that this gathering was a success. AND we raised $350 for the International Rescue Committee (IRC)! I owe a major debt of thanks to the friends and family who showed up early to help, ran errands, kept our glasses full and cleared the dishes after. Most of all, a huge thank you to Thoa for opening your home and sharing your incredibly moving story with us. We’ve started to plan for our next event which will be a Burmese luncheon in Sunnyvale on Sunday ..read more

Regardless of your politics, I’m sure we can all agree that the past two months in America have been rather chaotic, as if we’re all actors in a show where the Director changes the storyline every other day. It is hard to keep up with the multitude of narratives and voices, and it can be overwhelming. As an immigrant – this November marks 10 years of our lives here – nothing unnerves me more than watching the rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiment in this country play out in actions and words. The travel ban in January 2017 was deeply unsettling. For the first time in ten years, I saw how my ..read more