Confession: I am the world’s worst book club member.  It’s not an aversion to reading, so much as a time management issue.  I repeatedly presume that my speed-reading skills from law school will translate to the ability to read a 400-page book on the bus the morning before our club meets.  Somehow I always manage to contribute commentary (thank you, Wikipedia and New York Times book reviews!), but often admit by the end of the evening, with a cheeky grin, that I haven’t even purchased the book…

Weary of always being the disappointing book clubber, I was thrilled to learn that one of my friends devised a way to capture the intimacy of a good book club meeting without the reading requirement!  This genius of a woman planned a “Wine Club” at her home, where the only required reading was the wine label of whatever bottle we brought to share.

As I’ve admitted in previous posts, my favorite part of book club is cooking for my friends.  The Wine Club hostess wasn’t planning to serve dinner, but to accommodate my desire to contribute something edible, she suggested that I make an appetizer.

I don’t typically make appetizers because my dinner parties are six-courses, which leaves little time (or stomach-space) for starters.  But my absolute favorite appetizer to order for take-out is crab rangoons.  The outrageously unhealthy cream cheese filled deep-fried wontons are sinfully delicious.  Serving such a dish to twelve women would be a waste (everyone would salivate over the rangoons, but few would actually indulge in something that would require more time on the elliptical the next day).   

Instead, I opted to concoct a healthier version that maintained the flavor and texture of the traditional rangoons.  The obvious calorie-culprit is the deep-fried component.  Research led to the discovery that rangoons can easily be baked instead of fried.  I was skeptical, but opted to give the alternate method a try.  To ensure that the flavor packed a punch, I included several spices in the filling mixture – and then hoped for the best…

The resulting rangoons were TO DIE FOR.  Even more scrumptious than my favorite crab rangoons from my go-to Chinese delivery spot, Wok Shop.  The healthy(ish) appetizers were a hit at Wine Club!  And if I’m allowed to return to book club after this post, I plan to bring these as a peace offering.  xx tt

FINISHING TOUCHES…

t+tSTYLE: Channel your inner nautical with this crab-print sweater.  Not to worry, it will be our little secret that it’s from Forever 21 (shhh…)!