I confess I felt suspicious when my neighbor, a native Texan and gourmet chef, asked to borrow two nine-by-thirteen inch baking pans. What was D’Arcy cooking up this time? She wouldn’t explain, though I knew that Sunday she would host one of our regular dinner and movie parties. Each month, we move to a different house where one member fixes food to accompany a film. The longtime gatherings, which we’ve moved to porches and backyards since March 2020, have become a kind of lifeline during the pandemic.
Our group, once small, has gradually grown over the years. Almost every month since February 2016, we have shared experiences and memories prompted by our meals and movies. The regulars are women with family ties worldwide who randomly met in suburban Houston. D’Arcy and two others are native Texans; one is a New Englander who married a Texan. Another grew up in the Philippines, one has a brother in Poland and a husband from Bangladesh, and another is originally from Mexico. Foreign films are often favored. We’ve dined on homemade chicken tikka masala to accompany The Hundred-Foot Journey, gorged on paella with Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, and consumed various Italian, French, Polish, and Chinese feasts. In 2020 and 2021, many meals have been simpler and our gatherings have been masked, sometimes huddled around backyard campfires.
When I arrived at D’Arcy’s house in late November, I was dismayed to hear her announce a midwestern theme. On the menu: casseroles and a salad of iceberg lettuce.
