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We just moved last year and don't really have a lot of social contacts or dining companions as yet.

This is what stops me from doing a gourmet group in FL. While people love eating my food, I can't seem to find many others with a comparable passion for cooking.

I'll tell you what I did when I lived in NY and it might be something for you to consider.

To qualify: For me, a gourmet group is not a bunch of people hitting restaurants, it's about cooking the food.

The Players: Seven friends - some of them childhood friends - all with a passion for cooking.

The Rules: Each month, one person cooks a meal, soup to nuts, at their own expense. It doesn't have to be foie gras but whatever it is, it must be of great quality. To quote a member, "The way I look at it, I don't mind dropping a couple of hundred dollars on dinner...10x a year I eat on the house."

A member may have one other member assist in the cooking. The group was split about this - some took advantage of me for help and the other half of the group (according to my brother) "was too busy trying to impress" me. (Go figure...LOL.) One other member said, "Are you kidding? I call her for every little sh*t!" Definitely two camps :D.

This was a gathering of foodies. Not a party and not a gathering of foodies and spouses. The person cooking was permitted one guest. But this was not to be mistaken for a party. We did hold our share of parties but this monthly meeting of the foodies was purposeful - to share information and learn about cooking. To discuss techniques, foodie-finds, and talk about how cooking enriches our lives.

The only exceptions to the "non-party" rules were our Christmas Party and our Summer BBQ - everyone was permitted to invite guests. For those events, we generally "pot lucked" it and each member furnished a dish.

I was militant about choosing dates and sticking to them. Twice a year, we'd bring calendars to a dinner and choose a date for each of the six months hence. And barring absolute disaster, these dates were to be observed. The expense and labor involved in these dinners dictated that we take the scheduled dates seriously. One member lost his job directly before his scheduled dinner and called me in an absolute panic. I assured him, all would understand that he could not do the dinner as he planned and I suggested we ask the group if someone would swap dates with him. They all totally understood and another member (whose dinner was later in the year) gladly took that particular month.

We had a newsletter which I wrote and mailed each month. With only seven members, it wasn't that much of an expense and with most people e-mailing correspondence, it could easily be an e-newsletter.

Our dinners became more and more elaborate as we honed our culinary chops. They evolved from simple but elegant cornish game hens with tons of trimmings including squash soup served in the squashes - to a Hawaiian Suckling Pig luau, to modern German food (with slide show running on my brother's laptop). My dinner prep choices included full a formal Chinese Dinner including Peking duck and another time, all French. Also did a Spanish dinner with a huge paella. (Wow...did we drink a lot at that Spanish dinner! Had Tio Pepe, a homemade Sangria and a beautiful Rioja with our main course.)

We had great fun and learned so much. We didn't bore people who weren't interested in discussing food, cooking and sustenance. These were purposeful meetings of culinary explorers.

This arrangement lasted till I moved to Colorado. I proved to be the "glue" holding the group together and after only two subsequent dinners, they gave it up. They still talk about how much fun it was to get together and all the members look back fondly at the experience.

(And if any SE's haven't checked out Cooking Light lately, give it a look. This is not a diet magazine, just healthy and a very wide range of cuisines. Accessible ingredients, do-able, and not what you might expect...)

It sounds like fun frederika. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how you'd go about finding members if you don't already have a circle of foodie friends. Maybe if the two of you took a cooking class (the kind geared toward people who are already fairly skilled) you'd meet some fellow foodies? Or a wine tasting club? Do you live in a planned type of community? The kind with clubhouses for the residents? If so, you might be able to find some people that way. Wine bar/shops (or similar specialty businesses) always attract foodies and gourmets -- I wonder if the friendly owner of a small neighborhood shop wouldn't be willing to help you promote a club (e.g., putting an announcement on their email newsletter, posting a flyer in the shop, etc.)? It might be a way to test the water.

Good luck! Keep us posted if you decide to give it a try.

@ bisbee - If both spouses actually cook, by all means, they should both be members! (They each have built in assistants :D)

frederika said: I could have an embolism if someone else touched my knives, but at some point, you have to learn to play nicely with others.

If that freaks you out you could gently suggest that whoever you recruit to cook with you bring a favorite chef's and paring knife. To be honest, fellow foodies who touch my knives do not bother me but a well-meaning (non-cook) guest trying to be helpful wielding one of my knives can give me fits.

@jcriso - I'm in the Tampa area.