If you are a reader - and you must be if you enjoy reading blogs, you can meet local people in other countries by going to a book group. In Singapore I went to book groups attached to the American club and a South African book group.
Some of the book groups met in a club house, such as the American Club in Singapore. You could join the American Woman's Association which cost less than the club membership and it was easier to join if you were not American.
Most of the meetings were in the club but some were in people's homes. In order to encourage people to volunteer houses, many meetings were either just coffee and biscuits, or end of year meetings were often pot luck, with many people bringing home make cakes. The British tended to make one big cake. The Americans were fond of making muffins. In England we used to make smaller fairy cakes for children's parties.
What can you serve? In England at a book group we like to serve bridge rolls. Toppings can be cream cheese, chopped egg, smoked salmon, tuna, tuna and sweetcorn, and other fish such as herring. For a special occasion such as a party you would slice something circular for a decoration in the middle, slices of tomato, olives, cucumber, a contrasting colour.
If you can't get bridge rolls, a very good substitute is marks and spencer rolls. They come in white or brown.
Favourite cakes are lemon drizzle cake, with or without icing, chocolate cake, cakes with nuts.
Of course, if you were reading Marcel Proust's A La Recherché Du Temps Perdu you would serve madeleines, oval shape cakes, which you can buy in large supermarkets in the UK.
Angela Lansbury, author.
Some of the book groups met in a club house, such as the American Club in Singapore. You could join the American Woman's Association which cost less than the club membership and it was easier to join if you were not American.
Most of the meetings were in the club but some were in people's homes. In order to encourage people to volunteer houses, many meetings were either just coffee and biscuits, or end of year meetings were often pot luck, with many people bringing home make cakes. The British tended to make one big cake. The Americans were fond of making muffins. In England we used to make smaller fairy cakes for children's parties.
What can you serve? In England at a book group we like to serve bridge rolls. Toppings can be cream cheese, chopped egg, smoked salmon, tuna, tuna and sweetcorn, and other fish such as herring. For a special occasion such as a party you would slice something circular for a decoration in the middle, slices of tomato, olives, cucumber, a contrasting colour.
If you can't get bridge rolls, a very good substitute is marks and spencer rolls. They come in white or brown.
Favourite cakes are lemon drizzle cake, with or without icing, chocolate cake, cakes with nuts.
Of course, if you were reading Marcel Proust's A La Recherché Du Temps Perdu you would serve madeleines, oval shape cakes, which you can buy in large supermarkets in the UK.
Angela Lansbury, author.
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