A surefire way to warm the house on an icy winter’s night is with the hotness of ladies drawing night.
 
The clock strikes 6 (or at least that’s what the mobile phone reads, as far as I know clocks aren’t striking much anymore, in this digital age of ours). Soup cups are lined up on the table and a scrumptious carrot, cumin and red lentil soup is bubbling away on the stovetop.
 

 

 

 
Coloured pencils are waiting patiently under a branch of happy winter blooms and a spicy coriander chilli pesto also waits, to be the crowning glory of the soup cup, or at least to try compete with some roughly crushed toasted cashews.
 

 
Feta & spring onion bouikos (otherwise known as crumbly cheesy, buttery triangles) are pulled from the oven, their edges all golden and crispy.
 

 

 

 
One by one, the ladies themselves arrive, happily hopping in from the cold and leaving a long days work in the office behind. With soup going down, everyone catches up on what has been a very short week so far but a busy month since the last meeting.
 
Once hunger is gone it’s straight down to business with drawing pads out and creative ideas bouncing around.
 

 

 
And then the magic happens. A group of people who’ve come together to be creative, are! Everyone works busily on their own little project and the hum of productivity is totally infectious. Hours go by with a musical backdrop and at the end of the evening there are beautiful things emerging from a once blank page.
 

 

 

 

 
Talk of the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales prompts a 5 minute Frida sketch. I couldn’t resist sharing the monobrowed beauties here.
 

 
A fabulous night that always ends on a sweet note. This time it was oatmeal raisin cookies with choc chips and candied orange peel, a recipe I’ve been developing which will feature on the blog very soon.
 

 
If you would like to join our ladies drawing night please send me an email and I’ll add you to our group list: varina@blighstbistro.com
 
xxBlighStBistro