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The Dining Divas

By Lisa Kampeter

We were lucky. It was one of those mild summer nights we’d had this season. Cool enough to hang outside, warm enough to go for a dip. And with the Arch of Cabo San Lucas as our backdrop and music making us feel like dancing queens, this was the perfect setting for a different kind of Dining Divas. Instead of going to a restaurant, we brought the restaurants to us. It was a Dining Divas Taste of Florissant (or close).

All the Divas were encouraged to bring one of their favorite dishes from a Florissant dining establishments. A couple decided to go a different route and bring something they’d never had before.

The Retired Diva so graciously offered her house for our meeting place. How great of a place it was with its fabulous backyard and pool! She’s lucky many of us Divas didn’t know about this pool earlier in the summer as she may have found some unexpected knocks on the doors by some “visitors”. Just off the patio to the pool, as a retirement gift, a friend of hers had painted a Cabo mural on the wall. Had we heard some Sammy Hagar tunes, the Red Rocker Diva could have closed her eyes and returned to a couple crazy Cabo vacations a few years back.

With cocktails in coconut glasses, the only thing missing was the sand. It was an enjoyable evening catching up with everyone’s summer. Grandma Diva beamed as she showed us proud pictures of her new grandbaby. Grandma should be proud but not just of the little baby. She was rocking a bikini poolside better than most twentysomethings!

The Colorful Diva, who reminded us that she’s been blonde for several years now, tried to convince a few of us that she really wasn’t that drunk at the Girls’ Weekend at the Lake. She spilled coffee on her pants, set off the smoke alarm in the kitchen, jumped into the Lake with her prescription sunglasses on…and saved them…only to lose them later, threw her hat into the boat engine (well, that’s what we told her anyway), and many more things we can’t remember. Nope. She was definitely sober.

The Superwoman Diva had us laughing as she shared with us how working at home translates into “she doesn’t work” according to some members of her family. Seems she gets the call to take care of family business when there are several other family members available. But because she works at home, people think she has more time. Truth is that she has superpowers and can fly; therefore, she can get things done faster and has more time to take care of family business.

The New Mother-In-Law Diva hosted a lovely wedding in her backyard. No surprise to the rest of the Divas that she could pull something like that off, even during the hottest day of the summer.

We brought the Spinach Artichoke Dip from Gettemeier’s outside and enjoyed it as an appetizer before we all went inside to help ourselves to everything else. What a surprise this dip was! Most times spinach artichoke dip is average, but this one was great. It was made with jalapenos, and that kick was a welcome surprise to many of us. Even the Cautious Diva loved it.

After a couple of us took a dip in the pool, and we all had fresh drinks, we decided to dig in as it was tough to keep the food warm. We all helped ourselves. The Health Conscious Divas decided to bring a couple salads. What they didn’t think about was that the salads were not main dishes. They should have thought of them as side salads. Instead they both ordered too much salad, and there were whole salads leftover.

But everyone loved the salads. At the request of the Cautious Diva, one of the salads was Rizzo’s Salad. A Florissant favorite for years, the Divas devoured it. But they were also eager to try out something new from Deleo’s Café and Deli. The BLT Chopped Salad with Romaine, bacon, blue cheese, tomatoes, and croutons topped with sweet bacon vinaigrette was a hit. We also tried a different kind of salad called the Sweet Temptation Salad. It had Romaine with blue cheese, candied pecans, and craisins, and then it was topped with sweet potato chips and served with honey mustard dressing.

We enjoyed the Chile Con Queso from Pueblo Nuevo. We only wish they’d given us more chips. And the Jalapenos filled with cheese even pleasantly surprised the Cautious Diva. Everyone agreed that “square pizza” from Pirrone’s is excellent. It brings several of us back to our high school days. It was great then, and it’s great now.

We’re lucky in Florissant as there are so many great locally owned restaurants.   Another place to try is the Pearl Café. Many Divas enjoyed the Red Curry Chicken. The Non-Seafood Loving Divas were surprised that it had a fishy taste.   I guess many Thai dishes include fish oil.

Another favorite of the night were chicken wings from the Locker Room.   Seems like everyone there has had their wings and were glad they were a part of the night’s menu.

The biggest hits of the night were the desserts. We had a cookie tray from Helfer’s. We seriously couldn’t just have a cookie or two. They were so good, especially the gooey butter cookies. And according to the St. Charles Resident Diva, the donuts we had were delicious because they were from Old Town Donuts and that “just makes them taste good automatically.” A few of us started out “sharing” a donut, but then we just dove in. It’s not like you get donuts everyday…especially Old Town Donuts.   They’re seriously a favorite of several of the Divas. The Illinois Diva drives in to get the special Black Forest donuts for her husband.

As we sat outside enjoying our drinks and the many tastes of Florissant, the Meteorologist-Wanna-Be Diva looked up to the impending dark clouds and declared that the rain would miss us. Dave Murray would not be impressed with her prediction. The non-believers took precautions and quickly brought everything in the house…just in time.

So our night at Cabo ended quickly, but the festivities continued on. For the Picky Diva, it was a tough dining night. Having everyone else decide what your options are when your list of options isn’t long is tough.   But like the rest of us, she loved the Taste of Florissant at one of the Florissant Divas. We all had fun. And like other restaurants we’ve been to before that we’ve enjoyed, we’ll be back. Invited or not.

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