May's Theme - Cultural Highlights

At one time museums and galleries were only accessible to the wealthy and privileged. Now they are available to all, with the majority offering free entrance.

This month I would like The Intellectual Dinner Club to take advantage of the wide variety of culture on offer and visit a museum/gallery/exhibition. You don’t have to go far; we have some fantastic places right on our doorstep.

Whatever you gain from your visit, bring it with you to the next meeting in whatever from you choose e.g.:-

• Write a review of an exhibition
• Give a critique on a particular artefact or work of art
• Give a historical presentation about the building you visited
• Take photos of something that really stands out for you
• Feel inspired to create something yourself

I really don’t mind what you do. Our cultural heritage is out there – enjoy it.

April's Dinner - Italy

We're taking the slow train to Leeds today...it's Sunday lunchtime and the four of us are trying hard not to stare at George Michael who has just boarded the train. It's scary...with blonde highlights, aviator sunglasses and a suntan the resemblance is uncanny and suddenly prompts Phoebe to break out into a rendition of 'Faith.'  Then sadly George disappears from view, shrouded by a sea of bald, beer bellied men in tight T-shirts who have just joined our train at Dewsbury. Our destination today is Italy (if only) as we continue our culinary world tour of West Yorkshire.

We decided that we'd go a little further afield and travel over to Leeds to visit Jamie Oliver's Italian. Danielle meets us there and we excitedly settle into our table and order our drinks: Prosecco's, Bellini's, Caprinha's and delicious Ginger Mojito's. We're experiencing it all lately...work stresses, breakdown, Cancer and divorce are all unfortunately on our agendas but at this moment in time, as we settle into our table, all of that disappears. We're in Italy now and perusing a very sumptuous sounding menu...nothing else matters.

Jamie's Italian is converted from an old bank...the building still retains some original features and combines these with modern fittings and fixtures. The kitchen is visible and forms the central feature of the restaurant, sending the heavenly smell of authentic Italian cooking into the air and giving a friendly feel to the establishment...this place has nothing to hide! 

Jamie's presence is very much everywhere from his personal recommendations on the menus to the rows of his cookbooks across the walls. Everyone who knows me will know how much I love this man...mainly because he taught my husband to cook, meaning that I've never really had to cook again. I was very excited to be sat here, sipping on my mojito and trying to decide what I wanted to eat. Obviously I took Jamie's word for it and ordered what the menu said was his favourite 'Turkey Milanese', stuffed with prosciutto and fontina and served with a fried free range egg and truffles.'Posh' chips on the side drizzled with truffle oil and parmesan were the perfect accompaniment. Dani and Caroline ordered Jamie's Italian burger with funky chips, Phoebe opted for the special of Lamb Ravioli and funky chips and Amanda ordered the Wild Rabbit Tagliolini with Posh chips...which looked and smelled amazing! As our food arrived and we tucked in our table descended into a hushed silence...Danielle with a mouthful of burger was the quietest I have ever known her. Caroline very stylishly managed to pour nearly the entire contents of the ketchup bottle over her food. It was delicious. Every dish was lovingly prepared, combining fantastic ingredients in generous portion sizes. I think I've fallen in love with Jamie just a little bit more.

Delicious Lamb Ravioli

Last month I was surviving on a diet of cup-a-soup and crackers. My appetite had disappeared but staring at the dessert menu I found it had very much returned...there was no doubt in my mind: I needed to have the chocolate brownie with amaretto, raspberries and vanilla ice-cream. Phoebe ordered the same , whilst Caroline had the Tiramisu. Danielle was tempted by the Almond tart but sadly Jamie let her down with the lack of custard (she's a Yorkshire lass after all). Amanda opted for a Latte, of course. As we cleared the last of the food and I tried my hardest to maintain some form of elegance and not lick the plate clean we sat in a hazy glow of satisfaction...the food had been fantastic. I could have gone for another round. It was time to bin the cup-a-soup because my appetite was definitely well and truly cured.

Wooops!

After the generously portioned meal, we were ready for a nap by the time we moved onto our themes. I had chosen the theme 'Travel back in time', which was more like a school project than a theme but I had really enjoyed it and felt like I had truly learnt something. I left it to the last minute as usual but I still managed to get a lot out of it and I hoped that the girls had too...keep reading below for our themes.

A Little History Lesson...our themes for April

Catherine's Theme: 

                            
For my theme I decided to write a travel article and visited Elly Beinhorn, a pioneer of air travel back in 1932. I travelled to Berlin, which was an interesting yet scary place to visit during a time of economic and political instability...already Hitler's army was gathering momentum.

















Caroline's Theme

Caroline wrote an essay called 'The Lady on the Bus.' She discussed the racial segregation that affected African Americans, travelling to 1955 Montgomery, Alabama where a lady called Rosa Parkes stood up for her rights and her race and eventually managed to lift the segregation on public buses. She brought it back to the present day and ended her essay with a powerful conclusion.

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Amanda's Theme                          

Amanda travelled back to the Victorian period, looking at what life was like compared to now. As she researched she found that women were very much secondary to men. Men were the head of the household and the moral leaders of their families. The woman's role was very much to love, honour and obey her husband. Seen as she hates men at the moment, Amanda decided that it seemed fitting to research into the role of the Victorian woman. As she researched further she found that women had no rights whatsoever...the man took full control over any income earned by his wife. Women were not even allowed to open their own bank accounts. This meant it was impossible for a woman to leave a failed marriage. However, Amanda found that during these times children's illustration was an acceptable pastime for women. This linked in with her currently reading the biography of Beatrix Potter, a Victorian woman who was affected by the lack of education for girls during this era. Although she came from a wealthy family, Beatrix didn't conform to the role of the Victorian woman in society, publishing her illustrations and stories and using her earnings to purchase property and land in the Lake District, eventually marrying against her parent's wishes, becoming a woman farmer and living equal to her husband. She became a passionate conservationist and upon her death left acres of land and 14 properties to the National Trust, meaning much of the land in The Lake District is preserved to this date thanks to Beatrix Potter. This woman has touched all of our lives. We've all grown up with her stories and illustrations as children but she was also a woman of courage, strength and power and somebody that we as women can and should take great inspiration from.

Danielle's Theme

Danielle visited Ancient Greece...starting by making a point that it's the perfect place for her to be as it's passionate, sordid and full of sex basically. She discussed her fascination with Greek Mythology and how much she loves the stories of how the world came about, preferring the fantasy of the myths to the actual reality. On Danielle's travels she found that she would want to bring back the humour and light-heartedness of the stories, bringing back these beliefs to take the place of the organised and often political religions that we have now. Danielle discussed how religion today is very much used as an excuse to tell people how they should behave or as a motive to get people to do things they might otherwise avoid. She believes that this makes up most of the problems in the world today. She is happier relating to the stories of the Greek Gods and Goddesses and believes that Greek mythology is a more humorous and light-hearted way to look at religion.


Phoebe's Theme
 

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Finally, Phoebe travelled to the middle ages and visited Isabella of France between 1292 and 1358. Isabella married King Edward the Second when she was just 12 years old. However, the King was involved with Piers Gaviston, his male lover who he lavished wealth and favour on. Isabella was used by the King and at aged 16 she fell pregnant. When Gaviston was killed Isabella became more powerful with her rival gone and after giving birth to a son she gained power and became a major player in court politics. Isabella was treated poorly, particularly when the King found a new favourite Hugh Le Despenser. The King got rid of all of her servants and courtiers and separated her from her children. Isabella left England for France.

 After falling in love with Englishman Roger Mortimer she raised an army and the pair returned to England to dispose of the King and put her son on the throne...as he was too young it meant she would rule as regent. She and Mortimer ruled for 3 years after apparently murdering the King and Le Despenser in a very nasty way...think hot pokers and bottoms! Her son Edward eventually took over the throne, hanging Mortimer for murder of his Father and then banishing his Mother to retirement in luxury.  Phoebe found that Isabella was the first woman in history to use power to dispose of an anointed King. She took action against him in an era when as a woman she appeared to be powerless. She was described as a she-wolf, yet she was in fact a peace-keeper, having stopped a war with France. Though she was violent she acted no worse than the men around her. Girl power!  

Time to go home

                         

How funny that most of us had chosen to visit women on our travels and that we found the women we visited incredibly inspirational, brave and strong. It had been a fantastic, inspirational dinner and Jamie's Italian had been the perfect setting. I really felt like I had learnt something and felt so much stronger for having heard about such amazing people. It made me feel that I can get through the problems I am facing at the moment...I can stand up to the people who have hurt me...I can be Isabella of France and fight for the life that I think I deserve...now where's my red hot poker? Just kidding! With protruding bellies (apart from Amanda; I don't think she's ever had a protruding belly in her life!) we made our way back to the train and giddily travelled down the tracks to home.  

Catherine xx

Last minute panic!

The plan this month was to make sure that I started my theme straight away. I had it all worked out, I was going to treat it like a school project...do my research early and plan out how I was going to present the information then I was going to sit down and start writing, maybe do a bit each day. This did not happen. Those of you that follow the blog know that I've been having a hard time lately...the past three months have dealt some pretty horrible blows but there's no way I'm using those as my excuse to have not done my theme as planned...the truth is I was lazy. Instead of using my free time to get stuck into my theme I was sneakily watching absolute rubbish on the television, Cupcake Wars, Bridezillas and my favourite The Real Housewives of New York City. These programmes were more appealing than sitting down and doing history research...I'm so ashamed. This after all was my theme, I chose it and I really wanted to do it. But here I am limping to the finish line with my theme only just completed and perhaps looking not quite as good as I had hoped. It's done, i've just printed it off and after a pretty rubbish week it really helped me to take my mind off things, I've actually learnt something and I'm thinking if only I could have done something like this at school I would have found History far more interesting. Tomorrow is our next dinner...we're off on our culinary travels again this time for Sunday lunch and I can't wait to escape reality (and the television) for a bit and be with my four fantastic friends.

Catherine xx

We're having a spring clean!

We thought our blog was looking a bit dark and wintry so we've decided to have a spring clean and spruce it up a bit. You may see a few changes as we mess about with our posts but please give us your feedback and leave some comments to let us know what you think...be honest...we won't be offended.

The Theme for April

Travel Back In Time

I have been caught up in all of the historical events taking place...the anniversary of the Titanic, the findings of a well preserved Woolly Mammoth - history fascinates me.

This month we are going to do a bit of travelling - time travelling. I want you to discover our past. Travel back to a period that fascinates you and discover more about that time.

Whilst on your travels I want you to look up somebody from that period and find out more about them:

Who are they? What did they do? What impact did they have on society, their country or even the world?

Bring your findings back to the present day and present them in any way that you choose - pictures, drawings, writing an article perhaps.

Then look at the following:

How do you think you would have lived during this time?
Is there anybody today who is similar to the person that you met in the past?
What lessons can we learn from the person that you met?

Finally...

What would you bring back today from the past? Maybe this will spark some debate and discussion at our next meal.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

March 's Dinner... in April

Yes so with all the goings on in our lives, both personal and work related, we couldn't really get it together and set a date for our Intellectual Dinner in March. This I have to say didn't really bother me, "more time to do my theme"  I said to myself. so I kicked back and forgot about doing any work on it until the deadline was suddenly upon me and I had done zilch, nothing, nada. In this situation I resort to serious procrastination, like cleaning the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush and some bleach or deciding it's really time to rearrange items in my fridge. So I was pleased when I got a call from Caroline that very afternoon, letting me know that she was up to similar distractions before completing her theme. Although Caroline had managed to do a full workout that morning, which put my careful tile cleaning into perspective. If you're going to procrastinate, then at least do something worthwhile!

We had a reservation at an Argentine restaurant called Argento Steakhouse situated in Huddersfield town centre. I had high hopes for this evening as the restaurant had been recommended to me by several friends. Also for the first time since October we were five again. Dannie was joining us! We arrived a bit early, so decided to sit by the bar for a drink until Amanda arrived. We ordered four lime and sodas and were surprised when they arrived and were glasses of soda water with a wedge of lime, this was quite refreshing though so we didn't mind.

Argento's is a traditional Argentinian restaurant serving all the cuts of beef you could want, cooked to your preference or served up on a volcanically hot stone so you can cook it yourself. There is also a choice of chicken and seafood for the non red meat eaters. The atmosphere was warm and inviting and the decor matched my idea of what a steakhouse should look like, complete with an impressive cowhide on the wall. The waiting staff were friendly and attentive and it was no problem for our waiter to stop and explain the different cuts of meat for us when we were choosing our order. Amanda, Caroline and myself went for an 8oz rump steak served with chips and a very tasty garlic and herb steak sauce. Catherine had the chicken with a mustard sauce which Dannie began happily pouring onto her steak before Catherine quietly commented, "ahem, that's mine Dannie." Apparently it goes well with steak too. My steak was tasty and cooked to medium rare perfection and the chips and onion rings went down well too. This was followed by a caramel flan dessert that came with a really embarrassing firework and a round of  Happy Birthday to dimmed lighting and my very red face...thanks ladies! But the flan was delicious and so were Dannie's caramel pancakes.


This month's theme was a tricky one, to first write a letter to your sixteen year old self and then to write a letter to your eighty year old self. It was interesting that the letter to our future selves proved the more difficult of the two to write. These are our letters. Some good advice here...

After reading our letters we all sat and pondered life, where we were now and where we wanted to be. Amanda had found the theme difficult to attempt and instead discussed how she was feeling...the month had been a hard one to get through and she felt that writing to her sixteen year old self would have been a bit of a depressing experience. We all agreed that it had been a difficult task, particularly writing to our eighty year old selves...it was hard to imagine ourselves at that age and what we wanted to say and then Danielle proudly reminded us that when she turned eighty Amanda would be a hundred. We thought that maybe Amanda would still be with us at a hundred...frowning at her telegram from the Queen (with pursed lips of course) because the Queen will still be here too...going on and on and keeping an ancient Charles away from the throne!


It was time to go home but not until I had unwrapped all of my birthday presents from the girls! We shouted for our bill and then gasped in amazement at the £1.50 charge for each of our soda waters...we could have bought an entire bottle of fizzy water and a whole lime for less. It had been an eventful month and for some of us it had been a particularly hard month...it was amazing that we had all managed to be here together, but we were and that's partly what The Intellectual Dinner Club is for, if somebody falls we will pick them up.


We dashed out into the freezing cold night and laughed at all of the girls spilling out of the taxis in nothing but tiny mini skirts and vest tops. Oh the memories! I was happy to be heading home with a stomach full of food to a nice glass of red wine and my blanket in front of the television!


I wonder where we will be heading to next?


Phoebe xx