Here's my theory, Bridge Clubs served as the social networking hubs before Facebook, Twitter and Pintrest. It’s where the ladies got together to spread cultural memes (jello-molds, anyone) child rearing trends and fashionable ideas.  I love to picture the bridge club ladies in my mind, wearing sweater sets or stylish seperates from the JC Penney catalog. Putting out finger food and the coffee carafe. Arriving in their late model sea-foam green station wagons or equally long American made sedans. I also like to imagine the strength of their friendships and the regularity and determined camaraderie that they had. Supporting one another as they got down to the business of living their lives as young wives and mothers.

I have a line on a bridge club that has been playing and sharing together twice a month since 1959. These are real women, truly lifelong friends and it is a privilege for me to have this little window into their world. Some of the recipes are classics like you'd find in any family cookbook and some of them are recent, but tried in the test kitchens of the women in Grandma Shirley's Bridge Club. As a lover of tradition, I will give them to you as they are and occasionally add in a suggestion or two of my own. I’ve been able to get them share recipes, which I’ll post here for you once or twice a month.  I think there is a lot more than recipes to be found in this culinary exploration. Shall I deal you in?

The Curry that Cures Everything from Nancy

“The basic curry recipe I got from Dr. Oz on his show extolling its help in removing toxins from the brain, I have changed a bit, with a little more of this and that.  Curry is used much in India, and, consequently, he says, they have less Altzheimer's disease. (Maybe I should move to India!)   He says to throw out the salt & pepper, and I have found if I use it on my fried egg instead of salt and pepper it is delicious!”

Grind these seeds well in a small coffee grinder:

6 tsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. fenugreek seeds (good for digestion)

3/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dark mustard seeds (black or brown, not yellow)

1 bay leaf, or 2-3 small

1 1/2 -2  inch cinnamon stick

6 whole cloves

After grinding, put in bowl and add 2 tsp. tumeric powder; Mix well.

Nancy recommends keeping it in a handy shaker so you can sprinkle it as needed. Or I’d simply use it spice up a simple chicken and rice family dinner. Add a little into some panko crumbs, dredge chicken pieces through milk and then the spiced panko crumbs and bake in the oven until your chicken has reached the safe temperature of 160 degrees. Enjoy!

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