Dear Book Club members:
Here’s a password that will get you into the hottest under-ground supper club:
Use it and you’ll find a whole packet of ideas, recipes and a free copy of the just published THE GIRLS’
GUIDE TO LOVE AND SUPPER CLUBS by Dana Bate. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review while
Kirkus Reviews wrote “Journalist and debut novelist Bate deftly conjures up a witty, resilient heroine,
surrounds her with delightful friends and frenemies, and sends them all on a rollicking quest for love and
delicious food.” And your club can be a part of the conversation that has sprung out in the bloggershere
on this debut novelist and her heroine, a one-time DC wonk-factory careerist Hannah Sugarman who finally
breaks free by creating an underground supper club that has all of younger DC talking—and eating.
Dana Bate has come up with two special menus for your night, including original recipes as well as links to
terrific ones online that you can use for your very own supper club gathering. We’ve also got questions to
help the conversation along, a parlor game (figure out your own supper club name), and an offer to have
Dana join your group by phone.
If your club decides to take on the book, just let us know and we’ll send the hostess her own copy of the
book and the password to unlock the digital kit!
Meanwhile, for your consideration, here’s a briefing on the book—because what would a DC-set book be
without an official report to set the mood!
Background:
THE GIRLS’ GUIDE TO LOVE AND SUPPER CLUBS (Hyperion/February 5, 2013/
$14.99 paperback original) chronicles irrepressible Hannah Sugarman’s rebellion from her academic
parents and wonky career path in the nation’s capital and her determined, albeit often calamitous, foray
into the trendy underground supper-club business.
Smart, but not able to stay within the well-drawn political lines her boyfriend and his tightly stitched-up
power-broker family deem appropriate, Hannah finds herself suddenly dumped. One minute she was
offering her highly prized carrot cake to her boyfriend’s disapproving mother, Mrs. Prescott, and the next
she is looking at the end of a relationship with a boyfriend who was a dream only on paper. The boyfriend is
gone and so is the lovely apartment they shared. Hannah finds herself able to afford only a small basement
apartment hardly large enough to turn around in.
Hannah may hate her present job—a mind-numbing position at a think tank that her parents see as the
perfect career starter—but her dream of a culinary career seems far-fetched even to her now. Enter Rachel,
her best friend and a woman undeterred by obstacles of any kind. She convinces Hannah to try her hand at
being a chef in her own right and transform her one-room apartment into the hot new supper club in D.C.
With a steady dash of sharp humor, Bate keeps the pace of this debut novel swift and the tone pitchperfect. Disasters and political careers collide while friendships and love affairs thrive in the most unlikely
of tests. This first-time novelist captures life in Washington, D.C., for those we don’t often read about—the
up-and-comers who converge at the heart of influence to try their hands at policy, power, and a real life.
About the author: Dana Bate is a writer and an award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in
numerous outlets, including McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Culinate, and Smithsonian.com. Prior to her
writing career, Dana spent five years working as a field producer and an on-air reporter for PBS’s Nightly
Business Report, where she won the Gerald Loeb Award for a series she produced on the Indian economy.
Bate lives outside Philadelphia.
Possible Impact: Bate’s depiction of Hannah’s life may well engender similar acts of rebellion from those
who read her story. Local officials should be on the look out for the rise of underground supper clubs in
their municipalities. We suggest preemptive actions to prevent household damage from these amateur
chefs and the creation of new laws that protect local food establishments from the erosion of their
businesses from the unfair competition these new illegally situated dining experiments might create.
GUIDE TO DANA BATE’S THE
GIRLS’ GUIDE TO LOVE AND
SUPPER CLUBS
You’ve made it: the decision to tackle Dana Bate’s new novel THE GIRLS’ GUIDE TO LOVE AN D SUPPER
CLUBS!
Here’s what we can do to help you host your own evening!
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Two special menus (with links and original recipes) created by author Dana Bate
Hostess Gift—we’ll provide the first book to get you all started!
Questions—we’ve done the first step in getting the conversation started once you’ve finished
laying out the table with your feast
A dial-in number should you decide to invite Dana to join in!
What’s a supper club without a name? Take our quiz and find yours!
And what do we want from you?
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Join us on Dana Bate’s Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/authordanabate?fref=ts
Send us photos of your gathering and let us post them as part of a gallery of our reader
underground! Photos of you, of the food, of the festivities!
Tell us what you ended up calling your club for the night!
SUPPER CLUB NAME GENERATOR:
Hannah’s Supper Club takes its inspiration from DC’s famous street, a neighborhood she loves
(especially the farmer’s market!). For your’s , let’s start as she did:
Take the first letter of your reading group’s host/ess last name and find the D.C. moniker to match
it up to!
A: Alexandria (Old Town)
B: Botanic Gardens
C: Church Street (in honor of the townhouse Hannah starts her new life)
D: Dupont (of course we had to)
E: Embassy (Row)
F: Flag (in honor of the most prevalent piece of lapel wear in the capitol)
G: Georgetown
H: Haupt Garden (tucked away behind the Castle on the National Mall)
I: Eye Street—how those in DC refer to it (leave off the Street in your name)
J: John Jay (since there were rumours over the years (untrue) that there is no J Street in DC as a
deliberate snub to John Jay, let’s give him a supper club at least OR Jefferson
K: Lobbyist (K Street is where they can all be found!)
L: Lincoln Memorial
M: Mount Vernon
N: You can give yourself an official sounding set of initials: NPS, or NMAH, or even NASM
(translation: National Park Service, National Museum of American History and National Air and
Space Museum)
O: Octagon House (where President and Dolly Madison lived after the White House burned)
P: Pentagon
Q: Cue Street
R: Reflecting Pool
S: Smithsonian OR Spy (you might want to make sure your group keeps its secrets)
T: Think Tank
U: You Street (you can leave off the Street part)
V: Veterans
W: White House
X: Since there is no X, Y, or Z Street in DC, let’s use the last three for Congress
Y: Senate
Z: Judiciary
Pick your favorite place to shop for food and put In just its first name:
Now add a shape to the name: Square, Circle, Rectangle, Triangle, Quad!
QUESTIONS TO GET YOUR DISCUSSION STARTED
1. What are Hannah’s various problems and challenges as the novel begins?
2. Early in the novel Hannah tells Adam’s parents they’re living together and is accidentally overheard
insulting Millie’s cooking at Millie’s party (11, 39). Adam later chides her that she’s “physically incapable of
keeping [her] mouth shut” (46). Hannah’s mother, the professor, later tells her, “You are a strong
woman . . . Some man isn’t going to muzzle you” (62). Is Hannah a “strong woman”? Or is she a strong
personality? How do you feel about these various instances of Hannah “speaking her mind”?
3. What are the various effects—positive or not—of the different hierarchical systems at work in the novel:
Adam’s family’s social class, Hannah’s parents’ academic standing, Washington DC’s political environment,
to name a few?
4. In what ways does the food and restaurant industry create similar hierarchical or exclusionary systems?
How does Hannah deal with this hierarchy differently than the others?
5. One issue throughout the novel is the tension between the kitchen as a confining or even oppressive
place for women and one that allows for creativity, freedom, and even power. Which seems more the case
for each of the characters—Hannah, her mother, Rachel, or Sandy Prescott? Why?
6. Thinking about Hannah bringing a carrot cake to the Prescotts, drowning her sorrows in ice cream, or
starting a supper club, what are some of the different uses of or intentions for food throughout the novel?
7. In what ways is preparing and eating food an emotional experience?
8. At the second meal of the Dupont Circle Supper Club, “everyone at the table is talking about the foods
they grew up with as kids and crave whenever they visit home” (145). What role does memory or nostalgia
play in our enjoyment of food? What are some of your own personal comfort foods?
9. Of all the dishes Hannah prepares, which would you most like to try? What’s the best food you’ve ever
actually eaten, and who prepared it?
10. What motivates Hannah to deceive her landlord? Greed? Excitement? Desperation? Fear? Or something
else?
11. What might be valuable about a supper club experience that restaurant dining doesn’t provide?
12. Should supper clubs be illegal? Regulated? Why or why not?
13. When finally confronting her parents about her unhappiness, Hannah’s father asks her, “Well, if you
were so miserable and felt passionate about pursuing another career, why didn’t you just do it?” (352). Her
answer is that she didn’t want to disappoint them. To what extent should this be a concern of Hannah’s?
14. About her strong abilities concerning her job, Hannah says, “Competence doesn’t necessarily equate
with happiness” (348). What are your thoughts on this statement?
MENUS FOR YOUR SUPPER CLUB CREATED BY DANA BATE
Cocktails & Hors d’Oeuvres
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Sangria
Martinis
Devils on Horseback
Deviled Eggs – curried, or your own favorite recipe
Smoked Gouda Grilled Cheese Squares
Kettle Corn (homemade or store-bought), or Truffled Popcorn
(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/truffled-popcorn-recipe/index.html)
Tomato pie (store-bought or make your own! Try this recipe:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/homemade-philadelphia-tomato-pie-style-pizzarecipe.html)
Crudites and Dip
Nuts
Cheeses – try a variety, such as a fresh goat, a triple-cream, a sharp cheddar, and a Manchego or
Pecorino
Drinks & Dessert
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Champagne or Prosecco
Carrot Cake Cupcakes (use this recipe for the Commissary Carrot Cake, and follow Steve’s
instructions in the comments for cupcakes:
http://athomebysteveposes.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/commissary-carrot-cake-recipe/)
Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Jewish Apple Cake
Buckeyes
Saltine (or Matzo) Candy
White Chocolate Bark (I always like this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/inagarten/white-chocolate-bark-recipe2/index.html)
Christina Tosi’s Cinnamon Bun Pie (recipe here:
http://www.dailycandy.com/everywhere/article/90114/Cinnamon-Bun-Recipe-Breakfast-Pastries)
RECIPES BY DANA BATE
Sangria
750 mL wine (pinot noir, another red, rose – your choice)
1 ½ cups orange juice
¾ cup lemon-lime soda
3 ounces Triple Sec
3 ounces dark rum
3 tablespoons sugar (superfine, if possible)
Cut up fruit (pluots, oranges, apples, melon, grapes, etc)
Cinnamon stick (optional)
Pour all of the liquid ingredients into a tall glass pitcher and stir to combine. Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
Add the chopped up fruit and cinnamon stick and serve.
Devils on Horseback (or, Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Honey-Laced Mascarpone)
Makes 12 stuffed dates
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
¾ teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
12 Medjool dates
6 slices applewood smoked bacon
Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, mix together the mascarpone, honey and lemon juice. Using a small
knife, cut a slit down one side of each date to remove the pit. Stuff each date with ½ teaspoon of the
mascarpone mixture, filling the cavity. Close up the date.
Cut each bacon slice in half, so that you end up with 12 slices about 4-5 inches long. If the bacon is very,
very fatty, trim away some of the excess fat. Wrap each date with a slice of bacon, securing the bacon in
place with a toothpick. Place dates on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dates over
and continue baking for another 5 to 6 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels and let cool
for about 5 minutes. Serve. (You can also make these in advance and reheat them once you arrive at your
book club.)
Curried Deviled Eggs
Makes 12 deviled eggs
Feel free to add as much curry to these eggs as you like, depending how strong you want the flavor to be –
anywhere from ½ teaspoon to 1 ½ teaspoons or more. For the best flavor, make sure your curry powder is
fresh. You can easily double, or even triple, this recipe.
6 large eggs
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon curry powder, or more to taste
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon minced chives, plus more for garnish
Pinch cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Paprika for garnish
Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water, making sure the eggs are covered by at least
an inch. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, remove the pan
from the heat, cover, and let sit for exactly 14 minutes.
After 14 minutes, drain the eggs and place them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. Let the eggs sit in
the ice bath for about 10 minutes, then peel the eggs and discard the shells. Cut each egg in half from end
to end. Scoop out the yolks and place them in a medium bowl and lay the whites cut-side-up on a platter.
Mash the yolks with the back of a fork, or, for a finer texture, press through a fine sieve. Add mayonnaise,
mustard, curry powder, lemon juice, chives, and cayenne and stir until smooth and well combined. Season
with salt and pepper to taste (you will need at least 1/8 teaspoon of salt).
Scoop filling into a Ziploc bag or disposable pastry bag and snip off a corner of the bag with scissors. Pipe
the filling into the egg whites. Garnish each egg with a sprinkling of paprika and more chives. Serve right
away or chill and serve cold.
Smoked Gouda Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Asian Pears
This recipe makes enough for one grilled cheese sandwich or 4 grilled cheese “squares,” but depending on
how many people are in your book club, you can scale the recipe up to make as many as you’d like. If you
quadruple the recipe, you’ll have 16 grilled cheese squares. These would also be tasty on honey-wheat
bread.
Caramelized pears:
Four ¼-inch slices Asian pear
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Assembly:
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 slices brioche or challah, each ½-inch thick
½ tablespoon sharp honey mustard, such as Honeycup
½ cup grated smoked Gouda cheese
Make the pears: Melt the butter in a small frying pan. When the bubbling subsides, sprinkle over the sugar
and stir. Add the pears and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until lightly golden but not mushy. Remove the
pears from the pan and set aside.
Assemble the sandwich: If you want to be fancy, trim the crusts off the bread. Spread butter on one side of
both pieces of bread, making sure you spread all the way to the edges of the bread. Spread the other side
with a thin layer of honey mustard. Don’t use too much mustard – that stuff is powerful! With the mustard
side facing up, spread half the grated cheese on top of one slice of bread. Layer the caramelized pears on
top, then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese. Put the other piece on top, with the buttered side facing up.
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, place the sandwich in the pan and cook for
about 1 minute on each side, until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted. Serve whole or
cut into 4 squares for hors d’oeuvres.
Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 24-30 cupcakes
An alternative – or addition – to the carrot cake cupcakes.
2 ½ cups flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 ¼ cups mashed bananas (about 4 – the blacker the better)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese
1 lb. confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°F. Center a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two
standard muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter with the sugar and medium-high speed
until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the buttermilk and
mashed banana at low speed.
Add the dry ingredients at low speed, mixing just until the dry ingredients have been completely absorbed
by the batter – do not overmix! Divide the batter among the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes,
until the top springs back and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove
cupcakes to a wire rack and cool completely.
For the frosting, cream the butter well. Add the cream cheese and beat until blended. Sift in the sugar and
add the vanilla. Beat until smooth. If too soft, chill a bit before using.
Once the cakes are completely cool, frost with the cream cheese frosting.
Jewish Apple Cake
Serves 14-16
Hannah makes a fancy version in the book, but this standard version is still a winner.
6-7 apples (such as Granny Smith or Golden Delicious)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
¼ orange juice
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch bundt or tube pan and set aside.
Mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Peel and core the apples and then cut them into ¾” chunks. Sprinkle
the apples with the cinnamon sugar mixture and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, combine the oil,
vanilla, eggs and orange juice. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat until smooth
(you can use an electric mixer for this).
Pour half the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle half of the apples over the batter. Cover with the
remaining batter and top with the remaining apples. Bake for about 1 ½ hours, until the cake is golden
brown and a tester comes out clean (start checking around 1 hour 10 minutes). Let cake cool in the pan for
10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Buckeyes
Makes ~30 buckeyes
“Buckeyes” are chocolate-covered peanut butter confections that resemble the nut from the buckeye tree,
which is native to Ohio. Hannah doesn’t have a direct connection to Ohio, but buckeyes are the kind of food
one of her supper club guests from Ohio might be nostalgic for!
¾ cup creamy peanut butter (not the “natural” kind)
3 cups confectioners sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Using an electric mixer, blend together the peanut butter, sugar, butter, and vanilla. The dough will look a
little crumbly. Roll the peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax or
parchment paper. Stick a toothpick into the top of each ball, and then put the whole tray in the freezer to
chill for an hour.
When you’re ready to dip the candies, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, checking every
30 seconds. Holding them by the toothpick, dip the frozen peanut butter balls into the chocolate, leaving a
small portion of peanut butter showing at the top, so that the candies look like buckeyes. Put the coated
balls back on the lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for two hours, or until ready to serve.
Saltine (or Matzo) Candy
Serves 6-8
Being Jewish, Hannah would make this with matzo during Passover, when she can’t eat anything made with
flour. But I’ve had it made with plain old saltines, and it’s just as delicious, if not more so.
40 saltine crackers, or 4-6 matzos
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted nuts, such as chopped walnuts or slivered almonds (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil. If using saltines, lay the saltines in the pan in a
single layer, making 5 rows of 8 saltines. If using matzos, arrange in a single layer as evenly as possible (you
may need to break the squares into pieces).
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, stirring often. Bring to a full rolling boil
for 3 minutes. Pour the hot brown sugar mixture over the saltines and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then
smear the top with a long metal spatula to spread the chocolate across the toffee. Sprinkle the nuts evenly
over the top, if using.
Refrigerate for two hours, then break up into pieces and serve, or store for several days in an airtight tin.