It all started out when Tanya said I have brie and I need to use it so can I bring it in for lunch and we all share it. We said sure and lets all bring something to share.

French day - Brie, grapes, veggies, and cookie

The next week I saw a groupon for an Italian restaurant in the downtown where we work so I said I'd get it and called to see if they could deliver to our building. Yes on the delivery but no on using the groupon for a take out. So we decided to all make something Italian.

Italian day -lasagna, cannoli, mozzerella caprese

We decided to do a Mexican day the next week.

Mexican day - green tomatoes filled with stuff, salad with corn and black beans, enchiladas

We knew we would miss two weeks so the next time was easy since it was the week of cinco di mayo.

Uno di Mayo day - Munster cheese dip, guacamole, and salsa

Next, we decided to do a tapas day......oh we were all excited for this one!

Tapas day -  feta and tom. filled cucumber, meat and cheese on crustini, bread with ricotta, honey, almonds, bread with avocado, goat cheese, tomatoes, basil

I watched Top Chef and was inspired by it so asked if we could name two foods and then each of us would create a dish with those two ingredients. We asked two people to name a food. And they came up with apples and chicken.

Apples and chicken day - chicken salad, chicken salad sandwiches on croissant, chicken soft tacos with lime honey sauce 

That worked out so well that we decided to do it again. We asked two other people and they said strawberries and celery.

Strawberries and celery day - spinach salad with strawberries and celery, strawberry salad puree fluff,  double dark chocolate brownies with diced celery in a pie crust and topped with strawberry puree

At this point the show that I am consumed with is Top Chef. I love the show and it makes me really try and change the food items into something different and not just use them. We asked two other people for the next week and we got peanuts and pasta. 

Peanuts and pasta day - Quinoa pasta with tomatoes and a pesto sauce on top made with peanuts, Pad Thai, veggie stir fry over pasta with a hot peanut sauce.

Now were are really getting into this fun! We are so excited for each special lunch day once a week and have multiple conversations throughout the week about it. We never reveal what we are making until the moment we sit down to eat. 

 Lettuce and lemons day - lettuce wraps with seaweed, pine nuts, tomatoes, lemon cashew garlic sauce,  A smoothy with lemon, kale, bananas, apples, avocado, and a sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and a lemon honey rosemary goat cheese spread

Our last fun lunch for the season was determined to be bananas and cinnamon. I decided I would not make a dessert. As soon as those were the two items mentioned I thought dessert. So I worked harder than ever to come up with a main course for these items. 

Bananas and cinnamon day - banana boat with marshmallows, chocolate, and cinnamon inside warmed to gooey, banana soup with cinnamon croutons, and Cincinnati chili with extra cinnamon with a basil corn meal banana and cheese fritter  

We have now taken a break for the summer but have great plans of continuing this fun lunch with friends.