AND NOW?

Wow this is the 3rd event i have been a part of at the (LHD) and i have enjoyed myself and the other wimmin. I will however be more inclined toward having more wimmin over next time the mixture of wimmin from before was really great,so, i will as each of the 12 wimmin who were here last time to invite 1 other womon and see what happens. I know that i will have mangos, basmati rice,green beans with hijiki and grilled tofu. There are other things i must learn before the event, one, a different napkin fold, find a different womon artist on CD., i also want to learn more about edible flowers, cuz i wanna began to serve them as well as more raw foods. For now that's good.

THE EVENT

Well Friday has passed and we had a great time at the (LESBIAN HOME DINING) event. We were a total of 13 wimmin for food 11 of us had been together before 2 of the wimmin were there for the first time. I made seitan also known as wheat meat, one of the wimmin had a wheat allergy so she did not eat the seitan, however she loved the kale, parsnips and brown rice. None of the wimmin had ever tasted seitan, and 4 of them had never tasted kale nor parsnips, so that was a great experience watching them eat something they had never eaten and all of it was plant based. The banana fruit cream was a great surprise to everyone, no one had ever tasted frozen fruit pushed through a champion juicer before and thought it was ice cream, they were very surprised when i told them it was simply fruit, no sugar no nada just frozen fruit. They were very impressed by the folded napkins and wanted to know how did i learn to fold them, i told them i went to a restaurant that i knew folded napkins and told the womon there that i wanted to look at the folded napkin on the table because i wanted to see if i could learn to fold a napkin and she showed me how. We stayed together for 5 hours talking, laughing, eating and just being wimmin together. I asked if they wanted to continue to come to my apartment for the next 3 Fridays or if they wanted to to move the (LHD) to another place they all agreed they would like to stay here for at least the next 3 Fridays. One womon wanted to know if the food next time would be all plant based, i told her that all the food at my apartment for the (LHD) would be plant based and asked if that was OK with them, they all said yes. One womon said it was fine with her but was it possible to have some sea food at one of the events i answered yes,little did she know that the sea food would also be plant based. I asked them if they liked the music i was playing 5 of them said yes the others just nodded their heads, i think i could have picked something a little quieter. Everyone left smiling and happy and so was i,they had left as donations the following, 8 organically grown mangoes, 1/2 bushel of green beans, 5lbs of organically grown basmati rice and $70 dollars, i thank them and already knew what was going to be on the next menu, we kissed each other good night and that was that for now. I know i do like this and i think they do also.

FRIDAY THE EVENT

Well i have the table set looks very good,my girlfriends mom gave me some lovely soup bowls and saucers for the (LHD) space, she said we could have them to use whenever where ever,so i have the table set with tablecloth,plates, flatware soup bowls, and folded cloth napkins,the centerpiece is a bowl flowers i found in the apartment court yard.The FOOD,Mongolian style seitan,brown rice, sauteed parsnips and steamed kale, with dessert being banana fruit cream. I have Jamie Anderson on for starting music,lighting is good not to hi nor low.Now i wait for the wimmin to come. The soup miso strawmushroom .

PRE-EVENT

Well i have all the food for the (LHD) event on Friday.I called all the wimmin last night they all said they would be here tomorrow night which is friday at 7:00pm., I will start to prepare food tomorrow around 6 o'clock I am very excited and the wimmin sounded excited also,i will find out tomorrow night if they want to continue here at my apartment for the next four Fridays, or if some other womon would like to have a (LHD) at her place, i hope they want to stay here i do enjoy doing this, however i realize that changes are possible. I told them what i would be fixing for food they all seemed pleased. And now to wait for Friday.

MY NEW EVENT

Today i called all the wimmin i want at the (LHD),event on Friday;first i have decided what i will have for food;it will be, Seitan stake with mashed organic white and sweet potatoes,organic steamed kale, and parsnips.Dessert will be banana fruit cream,drink water. I plan to invite 11 other wimmin so with myself the total will be 12. I found some simple and beauti-filled table cloths at the thrift store that i have washed and i will use them Friday night,my table decor will come from out of the apt.,building yard of wild flowers,i have 12 napkins (cloth) that i also got from the thrift store, i will wash them and then try my hand at napkin folding so that i can fold them for Friday's dinner.The music for the evening will be a combo of barbara ester and rosanna, i borrowed a fan from one of my friends so that it will be cooler for the night. So now i began my calls to let the wimmin i have invited know what the meal will be about, only one of them other than myself is vegetarian, so this should be quite a experience for us all. From the donations left for the (LHD) last event, i used some of it for the napkins and tablecloths,the wimmin left 10 dollars, each and one of them left 5lbs of organic sweet potatoes,which i will use for Friday's dinner. So here is to good company, good conversation and good food.

REFLECTING

Well today i choose to reflect on my (LESBIAN HOME DINING) experience.Things i would do again have another (LHD) event, invite more wimmin next time,ask wimmin to bring their own favorite beverages, prepare the food before the wimmin arrive,buy or borrow a fan,lower the lighting in the room,make an attempt to get all organically grown food,keep it vegetarian. My next day Friday and i will call the womyn tomorrow to remind them.I would select music that reflected my interest in wimmin,more lezzie stuff,i would remind the wimmin to bring another womyn when they come.This next time we get together i will serve a full course meal vegetarian of course. For now i will add 3 more wimmin to my call list bringing the total to ll, including me. I will decide what to serve at a later time. Things i would not do next time angst,angst, and angst some more. What a wonder-filled experience.

WHAT TO SERVE?

O.k. i have established the LESBIAN HOME DINING space in this case its in my small apartment in an old part of town,that has a reputation of a " not so good area".However, my friends do come to see me and we do dine together.My first offering for dining with my friends is relatively simple,i have made a pasta salad of pasta, raw carrots thinly sliced,cumber slices,green bell peppers,mayo, salt and pepper,and i shall serve it on a bed of organic lettuce and tomatoes. I also made key lime limeade and dessert is sliced cold mango.I have invited 5 friends and i have put a small bowl out for them to leave me donations of their choosing. Of the 5 wimmin i invited i asked two of them if they were willing to tell two of their friends,and if their friends were willing ask them to also come. I decided the time for 7 pm on Friday for the next 4 Friday's, i have promised to call the five wimmin on Wednesday of each week to remind them and to let them know what i will be serving.I have decided to use fabric napkins and tablecloths, and i intend to learn how to fold napkins, for i have also decided that i want to offer the very best i can in food and in service,i know i must find an inexpensive way to access food and goods. I am now waiting for my friends to arrive and i am very excited.

ESTABLISH THE PLACE

So you have established the place for now that is your home and where you will have LESBIAN HOME DINING, you've had your first invite with other lesbians,you served very simply and both you and the others enjoyed.Now what are some of the things you noticed that pleased you and others?what would you change? would you invite the same womyn? the same amount?how would the food b different?would there be more,less the same food?did you decide on what kind of food you would serve and what kind of food would you insist on being served,or would you insist on anything and if you would not, why?what was the mood of the other wimmin?your mood?how was the food received?what did all of you talk about?do you really remember?would you continue to participate in a LESBIAN HOME DINING scene? I do thing its important to address oneself to all of these questions,because it is important to develop intent so that one can at the same time develop focus

ESTABLISHING THE PLACE

So how do we start?where do we start?who do we start with?Lets start with where will the place be located?It seems as though the place really never is a problem,since the place can be located in any home or homes where we live,so if the place is an apartment,room huge house small house,it does not matter as long as it is called home by a lesbian or some lesbian,.One womon said she has a friend who has chosen to be homeless,where would she create such a place? one womon responded where-ever she called home,and i thought to myself wow how clever it would be to have a (LESBIAN HOME DINING SPACE) under the expressway and invite all my lesbian friends, would they come? of course they would we are lesbians and love the adventure of it all.So now once the location is established,now whatta we do?Our first suggestions is to invite a few lesbians over to view your place,see what they have to say about the place it is your home and you can chose to change something or not and say so,however it does not harm to listen you may learn something or find out something that you had never thought of before,remember this is a home dining space so u want to prepare your place in a manner that is not only comfortable to/for you, and to/ for other lesbians.SERVE SOMETHING SIMPLE FOR THE FIRST INVITE;This is sort of a trial run for you so serve something easy and simple for you to prepare,and ask for honest feed back and receive it honestly.You do this anyway when you invite others over,however now you have given this a name,some structure so to speak.

HOW TO ESTABLISH

Lesbianhomedining is certainly not a new concept;homedinning is not a new concept;What appears to be new on the scene is the insisting of the patriarchy to create the idea that food is to be eaten quickly,hurriedly ,and sans womon's touch,to wit the attempt to make everyone believe (FAST FOOD) is good and nutritious,when in reality we all know better,that they the providers of this kind of food have your health in mind,(we all know that ,the health of their pockets is their concerns.) so u wanna have a lesbianhomedining experience, well as lesbians we do, each time we gather together in one of our homes and participate in the preparation of food and the eating of that food with other lesbians we are practicing,the principles of Lesbianhomedining.Matters not if we planned it or not,as long as we participate and in preparation and eating, sometimes we will also participate in the acquiring of it but this is not always a necessity.What foods would be served in a Lesbianhomedining?Well,this is where we all have to make some serious decisions on food and the meaning food, and see if we can come to some sort of agreements of its use.