Take Back Your Kitchen
Spring/Summer 2008 Girlfriend Getaways> Subscribe Now
Two hours before
Jannis and Susan, engrossed in a much-too-serious work conversation, are corralled into oyster duty. It's an easy job: Position the shells upright, with the hinge against the grill. Within a minute, the oysters will open up, making shucking them a snap. "Just hanging around the barbecue with Suzanne is a learning experience," says Jannis. "But the best thing is having access to her recipes!"
Margo, a bartender, lets Nancy try her hand at mixology. They make two martini drinks, combining vodka with pomegranate juice and with grapefruit juice. "Oysters are nice with a straight martini, but for pizzazz, add fruit that's not too sweet," says Margo. "The trick to a really good martini is to shake it until you won't have to go to the gym the next day."
One hour before
Suzanne babies the roast, poking and prodding it so the meat doesn't overcook. Sometimes she can tell if the roast is done by the smell of the aromatics alone. "OK," says Bonnie, "but how do we figure it out?" Those of us who don't cook meat for a living can use a thermometer, inserting it into the side of the prime rib until the gauge reaches the center. If you like your meat medium rare, remove the roast from the oven when it's 120 degrees. By the time the meat has rested, it'll get up to 125. "Should something go wrong, you can fix it," insists Suzanne. "If you leave the roast in too long, slice it thin and make sandwiches. Just remember to continually taste everything."
Thirty minutes before
"Growing up, Suzanne and I always had food adventures," says Nancy, who's slicing avocados for the Oroblanco salad. "We'd plan what we would eat during a hike and then pilfer the ingredients from her kitchen, making a huge mess for her mom to clean up." Just like in the old days, Suzanne sidles up to Nancy and shows her how to segment the grapefruit. With a paring knife, she removes the pith before cutting between the membranes to pop the slices out. The grapefruit can be prepared at any time, but you'll want to peel the avocados no more than 20 minutes before dinner so they don't turn brown.
Fifteen minutes before
While Suzanne takes the roast out of the oven—the meat needs to sit for about 15 minutes—Susan is back at the barbecue. She's supposed to be grilling the lobsters in their shells for 10 minutes and then turning them over to melt butter onto the exposed meat. But she's distracted by a game of 20 questions about Hollywood men. Suzanne takes the tongs away from Susan, who is shouting possible answers to Jannis's clues: movie star, first name starts with J, making a comeback, has a beautiful actress wife. On her third try, Susan yells the answer, "Josh Brolin!"
Dinnertime!
The women sit down in the backyard, landscaped with banana trees, jasmine, and rosemary. Suzanne has the honor of carving the meat. She prefers thin pieces, especially if the meat is rare. "Food tastes better when you eat with your hands," says Bonnie, grabbing a piece of lobster with her fingers.
Over lemon tart, the conversation turns back to men. This time, the topic is relationships—specifically, the secret to a good one. No one has the answer, but there are a few tipsy shout-outs to Italian men. And Margo has this sage advice: "I don't sleep with anyone my friends have slept with." Jannis suggests that they attend a seminar by a relationship expert and then go out for pizza. "Or we can just get pizza," says Suzanne. Not all meals with the girls have to be made from scratch.
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