Live from Minneapolis... on a Wednesday night!

Tina Fey utilized comedy from a very young age to build a brand, a career, and a lifestyle. She started out in Chicago and quickly made her way to New York. She cemented her place in the world of comedy when she succeeded on Saturday Night Live, as a writer and actor.

Her book was interesting, but felt more like a bucket list tick for her than a true in-depth look into her pysche and her life. Notice that her fellow comedienne, Amy Poehler also wrote a book around the same time. A little healthy competition never hurts!

Anyway, I talk about this because I want to show that there was a method to the madness of choosing The Melting Pot for our gathering. Live from New York .... the Melting Pot of the world ... to our small gathering of 10 right here in Minneapolis!

The Melting Pot is located downtown and it was surprisingly easy to find and to park! I was so happy about that. I thought the restaurant was very well-run. They greeted me promptly and had planned ahead to have all of our group first meet up in the "lounge" (bar area) until everyone showed up, and then to be seated together. After about a 20 minute wait (or 3/4 of a glass of wine, if anyone is counting...) we were seated around a long table in a private room with 3 fondue pots awaiting our special orders.

What an experience! I had never been to The Melting Pot before, but I had heard from my daughter Jessica that it was amazing. She gave me some great advice, which I passed along to the others - one tidbit was that you don't have to go hog wild and order the whole 4-course meal for each person. It's fine to order ala carte and to share plates between 2 people. This brought the costs down for many of us, I think. (I hope!)

The menu was just a little bit complicated, but after some explaining from our server, we were all anxious to get going with those pots!

First course was a cheese fondue. You could choose from several different kinds of cheese, along with different herbs and seasonings. The fresh ingredients are added to your pot, and soon the hot pot is melting that cheese to a very nice consistency for dipping interesting things.

There were apple slices and bread, along with a few different vegies like carrots, mushrooms, and broccoli.

Very tasty! And fun.

Next up was a salad, for those who chose to have that course.

Then, the fun stuff! A vegetarian plate was available as well, but most of us wanted to try the meats and fish.

Rachel and I ordered a platter of salmon, ahi tuna and shrimp. OMG - yum! These little bites cooked in the flavored broth in just minutes.

Afterward, those pots were whisked away and a real treat for the night was brought in - the chocolate course! Delicious.

We did get back to talking about the book. Many people mentioned how impressed they were with Tina Fey's feminism. She really got offended by the whole men in charge thing at the comedy clubs. She wanted everyone to see that women could be just as funny, just as in charge, and just as relevant as any man. She sure set a great example just by being herself. She only let us in a little bit into her personal life, talking a bit about her husband and her daughter. I can only imagine what it must be like to have Tina Fey for your mother. Lucky little girl!

I passed around a couple of books that sounded like interesting reads - and we decided to read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion next. This book is about a man with mild Asperger Syndrome, which makes it hard to fit in socially, who wants to find himself a wife. He designs a questionnaire that women can fill out, which he feels will eliminate those unsuitable for him and quickly get him what he wants. However, the best laid plans are often folly for humorous books and that is what happens in this one.

I hope everyone enjoys the book as much as I did. It was a gift from my daughter, so she'll be pleased that it ended up a Book Club pick.

We will meet again in late September and compare notes. I'm not sure who will host, so if anyone wants to step up ... let us all know.

Happy Reading!
Katie