Half way through July and already we’ve had two amazing Summer Suppers. I laugh at the fact that I keep calling summer our slow month, yet I feel like I’ve never been busier. During high season, running Spud’s keeps me very occupied. While during summer, I am juggling THAT (to a lesser extent) plus my extra curricular activities. Supper Club, Cookbook Recipe Testing, writing blog posts, celebrating all the summer birthdays (I have 3 in my family alone), catching up with friends over coffee dates we have put off for months and finally going out to dinner with my other entrepreneur friends who have also been hiding out behind their businesses during high season. We all agree that summer gives us a chance to breathe enough to enjoy our lives a little bit, but even penciling that into the schedule makes it feel like you’re already running out of time. Guess that means no matter the season, you just have to strive for balance, stay present and stop over-booking.

Speaking about calendars… go ahead and add these dates to yours!

Wednesday July 22 | Art Club FTL - Cookie Cuties

Join of at Spud’s Coffee for a night of summer time whimsy with sugar cookie decorating. Tickets on sale here!

Friday July 31 - Saturday August 1 | Supper Club at Spud’s

Tickets will go on sale next week! Check back here on Tuesday!

Monday August 3 - Monday August 10 | Spud’s Coffee Summer Break

Spud’s will be closed for summer break. We will be back on Tuesday, August 11 at 9am.

Memories of Supper Club

The Recipe Cards that didn’t make the first cut

Ok, you asked nicely, and I promised to deliver. The recipes that weren’t included from the first and second summer suppers are below. Before we dive into the recipes reserved for paid subscribers, I wanted to leave you with one from my kitchen to yours. This recipe is a small taste of what you’ll find inside a subscription - seasonal, thoughtful, and designed to be made, shared and remembered. I never want someone’s first visit here to end at a paywall. So before you decide whether to subscribe, I want to share a recipe that feels like a proper welcome. It was the star of the show on Saturday night, and I hope you’ll love making it too.

Sticky Lemongrass Chicken

If you love that one, there are still an array of complimentary recipes in earlier posts as well. Below are some links to a few for you to explore.

Circling back to another one of the highlights from Saturday’s supper club - We were having a conversation about fitting “actually delicious” cooking into our busy lives and how approachable these recipes and my style of cooking are. Sometimes things appear simple, but the actual process is such a chore, and that’s not the kind of cooking I want to partake in when I get home from work. “Like here’s a recipe to make your pasta from scratch… that’s great and all but IT’S TUESDAY! I’m not doing all of that!”, perfectly put by someone at the table. So my approach is putting most of the work into my prep ahead of time like my marinades, sauces and dressings so that the final steps are a quick “cook to finish” for a few minutes, and I never skimp on flavor. If this sounds like your style of cooking, let’s talk about it! What are some of your tricks to meal prep? Or what are some of the struggles you’re trying to overcome?

Of course, we’ve got all the recipes below for our paid subscribers. We couldn’t do any of what we do without your butts in our seats and our messages in your inbox so thank you - truly - for coming, subscribing, sharing, and supporting Chef in the ways that you can. 🥰

Leave a comment

Recipe Cards:

Peach, Gruyere & Basil Flatbread
Poppy Seed Champagne Vinaigrette
Ginger Glazed Grouper
Creamed Corn Au Gratin
Coconut Panna Cotta

Read more

If you’re reading this, you probably missed the first round that happened at the end of June. But don’t feel left out!! We didn’t keep it a secret on purpose. The tickets went on sale through a link on Chef Megan’s instagram story, and (I kid you not!) it sold out in 3 days!! The plan was to do one night only (with a small group) and it sold out so fast, we opened a second seating that also sold out! It all happened so fast, but we are hosting more dinners this summer so everyone will have a chance to connect around the table.

This time around, ticket link will be included in this newsletter. So click the link below to save your seat as the space is limited.🖤🤍

Chef Megan Presents: Summer Supper Club at Spud’s Coffee 🍾

3 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Mocktail | 7:00pm – 9:00pm | $50 per person | BYOW

Ok we are back with another round of supper clubs for the summer! Chef Megan had taken a break from hosting supper club to focus on running her coffeeshop through South Florida’s high season. Now that summer is upon us and less people are traveling south, it’s safe to say we are now officially in slow season. The plus-side to that is she now has more time and energy to tap back into cookbook mode and recipe building.

With that said, the spotlight for supper club this time around is more recipe focused. Many of you asked for more recipes, more ways to recreate the amazing meal you just had and more time to connect with chef around the table. So we are delivering! June’s supper club was super cozy, casual and intimate. We shared wine and chatted across the table with new friends, swapped tips and tricks to cooking techniques and everyone went home with an arsenal of new recipes to make at home! It was a grand time, and the next one is this Saturday, July 11, so make sure you save your seat.

Menu & Reservations 🥂

Let’s run it back a bit and reflect on June’s supper club.

Guests came for the food, but they stayed for the convos.

As usual, doors opened at 7pm and everyone picked up their welcome mocktail at the bar. This time we had a play on a virgin Aperol spritz made with a homemade orange syrup base with aromatic, grapefruit and spiced bitters topped with soda water. It was vibrant and refreshing and the best mocktail to combat the heat of Florida’s summer. The evenings started with mingling amongst neighbors and mutual friends, everyone telling their own version of how they found out about Spud’s or supper club or both. Bottles of wine were opened and spread around the dining room while everyone found their seats before the feasting begun.

The soft homemade brioche dinner rolls with caper spread was the opener for the night. We all agreed that spread could double as a dip for your favorite chips (definitely salt and vinegar kettle cooked potato chips for me). Then it was followed by Megan’s twist on grouper ceviche with tostones, that was inspired by the ceviche special she had at Sunny’s Steakhouse a couple weeks before. She shared the recipe for the sauce with everyone and added her own favorite garnishes to complement the fresh grouper - fresh diced mango and basil oil to help balance the spiciness of the orange chilis. Cue the crisp, glass of Pinot Grigio and Chef pulling up a chair to the table to gush about her love for mangos and how grateful she was that it’s mango season!

First course ended, and the main course shocked many. The grouper was glazed with a sweet ginger beer reduction and roasted to perfection. The artichokes were buttery and herby with a slight acidity from their marinate on top of a bed of crisp, garlic-y kale. Of all the recipe cards given out that night, this one was the only course not included. However, since so highly requested, I will include the recipes for the glazed grouper and brown butter artichokes in the next post.

Ending the night with chatter and slices of blackberry coffeecake was the best way to send everyone off. Phone numbers (& instagram handles) were exchanged with new friends. Summer travel plans were shared as everyone helped clear the table. And just like that, the third year of Summer Supper Clubs has commenced.

Of course, we’ve got all the recipes from June below for our paid subscribers. We couldn’t do any of what we do without your butts in our seats and our messages in your inbox so thank you - truly - for coming, subscribing, sharing, and supporting Chef in the ways that you can. 🥰

Leave a comment

Recipe Cards:

Lemon Caper Dip
Orange Chili Vinaigrette
Summer Blackberry Coffee Cake

Read more

As busy season is upon us, we’ve got some updates for our Supper Club plus a few dates for other January events and happenings at Spud’s. We’ve also started the countdown for your final days to enjoy our homemade holiday syrup flavors. And we’re still looking to add some new members to the Spud’s team - help us find your new favorite friendly face :)

This Month at Spud’s:

Supper Club: On Hiatus

I know, I know - it pains us to admit it!! While we love our monthly festivities, we’re putting them on pause until further notice. We’re taking some time to lock in on our other roles & responsibilities and find some recharge before our next dinner.

Wednesday 1/7 | Last Day for Holiday Flavors

If you haven’t tasted them yet and need to try or if you’ve fallen in love and need a final fix, stop by in the next few days for our gingerbread and white peppermint mocha.

Sunday 1/18 | Closing Early at 12pm

We’ll be closing early for a private event in the afternoon. If you’re interested in hosting your event at Spud’s, let’s talk!

Saturday 1/31 | Baked By Brooke Pop Up | 9am - sold out

Our talented friend Brooke is coming back for another round of sourdough sales in the lounge! She completely sold out the last time she joined us so come early and stay for breakfast, too 🍳

Spud’s is hiring!

We need your help, friendly readers! Megan is looking to add some new talent to the team as the season ramps up. Please share this with anyone who may be interested.

Positions Available:

• Line & Prep Cook (restaurant kitchen experience required on either line or prep)

• Servers (experience preferred but not required)

• Baristas (experience preferred but not required)

Please send over an inquiry email to info@spudscoffee.com. We hope to hear from your best people real soon!

We’re looking forward to another year with you! See you soon at Spud’s 🤎☕

Leave a comment

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes, have enjoyed our events, or we’re your favorite coffee in town, we want your feedback 🤎

We had an absolute blast with this month’s theme, Black Tie + Bow Ties, alongside our pals Janib in the kitchen, Jess with wine & flowers, and Mia with extra hands for such a large service. We quite literally rolled out the red carpet for guests before inviting them in for a ginger spritz mocktail to sip aside the coupe tower while mingling with other guests and friends before dinner while Christmassy jazz and candles filled the room with the cutest holiday vibes.

The magic was buzzin’ throughout the room from start to finish. And when I say we went out with a bang, I mean it! A few of our festive balloons made an early exit…what’s the opposite of an Irish goodbye? They surely made their departure known but luckily for us none of it happened while we were carrying bowls of hot soup in our black tie attire.

Aside from the treats and the laughs, guests also took home little personalized stockings with the event’s custom matchbooks, a recipe for the citrus & fennel salad, & a little other holiday cheer.

When’s the next Supper Club weekend?

That’s a great question…

We’ve got Saturday & Sunday, January 10th & 11th marked in our cals as the save-the-dates, buuuuuuut, we’re not listing tickets quite yet. With the madness that is owning a small business around the holidays (especially the business that keeps you cooking & creating not just for your own celebrations but for the orders for everyone else’s, too) we’re not quite thinking about what’s next until we finish what’s now.

That being said, stay tuned for out next newsletter just after New Year’s for all the events & pop ups we’ve got coming your way in January!

Plus, if you think you or someone you know is a good fit for a weekend pop-up in our lounge during open hours, get in touch! Or if you’d like to discuss renting the space outside of open hours for your own vision, we’d love to hear from you, too. Send us an email at info@spudscoffee.com or send us a message here.

Spud’s is hiring!

We need your help, friendly readers! Megan is looking to add some new talent to the team as the season ramps up. Please share this with anyone who may be interested.

Positions Available:

• Line & Prep Cook (restaurant kitchen experience required on either line or prep)

• Servers (experience preferred but not required)

• Baristas (experience preferred but not required)

Please send over an inquiry email to info@spudscoffee.com. We hope to hear from your best people real soon!

Holiday Hours Reminder:

Christmas Eve, 12/24: 7am - 2pm

Christmas Day, 12/25: Closed

New Year’s Eve, 12/31: 7am - 2pm

New Year’s Day, 1/1: Closed

As always - and especially as we reflect on what a year it’s been - thank you all for your support in all you ways you’ve given it this year. Every subscribe, share, cappuccino, benedict, merch order, tip, or something as simple as saying “no rush” while the team is swamped with a long line of espresso to pull has been so special to us and we appreciate you more than words can truly say. 🤎

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes, have enjoyed our events, or we’re your favorite coffee in town, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

We’ve got some cute and delicious things coming your way this month - check it out!

December Community Events at Spud’s

Wednesday 12/10, 7pm | Meze Mischief: A Chef Kaya Ziskay & Chef Colin Olenick Collaboration

Spud’s is opening the doors to two talented chefs as they host a Mediterranean-inspired farm-to-table feast. Tickets are available with or without wine pairing.

Menu & Reservations

Saturday 12/13, 9am - 2pm | Spud’s Seasonal Shopping & Live Art

Spud’s is popping up… at Spud’s? That’s right - we’re putting a spotlight on all of Chef Megan’s goodies for the holidays! Swing by for your morning latte, pick up some tasty compound butters, & stay for a little live art by the Christmas tree.

Sunday 12/14, 7pm | Black Tie & Bow Ties: A Supper Club — SOLD OUT

Another month, another sold out event?! We’re excited to get a little cuter than usual and end this year of Supper Clubs with the best one yet!

Saturday 12/20, 2:30pm-4:30pm | Art Club FTL: Cookie Cuties & Cherry Waves Vintage Thrift Pop Up

Megan is bakin’ & we’re decoratin’! Reserve your spot to join us for a cookie filled crafternoon. Plus, our friend Lina of Cherry Waves Vintage is curating the cutest vintage thrift boutique in the lounge for a little shop alongside our coffee & cookies.

Tickets: Cookie Cuties

Sunday 12/21, 6-8pm | Cookie Swap + Game Night

This time, you bake! Each ticket holder will bring a dozen cookies and go home with a dozen of mix & match goodness, including some delights from our co-host, Creations by Gini. Megan is setting up a DIY hot chocolate bar and Julia will have some holiday crafts if games aren’t quite your style.

Tickets: Cookie Swap + Game Night

Winter Drink Specials | All Month Long

Three new flavors just dropped! Gingerbread, White Peppermint Mocha, & Spiced Lemon Maple. That last one is basically our French toast in drinkable form. It may be 80 degrees outside but there’s something so cozy about a hot gingerbread latte next to the tree in our lounge. If iced is more your style, try our new signature drink: the Scarlet Christmas. It’s a spiced ginger hibiscus espresso tonic & so tasty!

Holiday Hours:

Christmas Eve, 12/24: 7am - 2pm

Christmas Day, 12/25: Closed

New Year’s Eve, 12/31: 7am - 2pm

New Year’s Day, 1/1: Closed

Pastries, Pies, & Merch

Leave the gifting to us! Preorders for holiday boxes with your favorite Spud’s sweets are open! Additionally, we’ve got t-shirts and totes in stock featuring some of Julia’s artwork for this season, too.

Want to get involved with your own pop up one of these weekends? We want to hear from you! Leave us a comment, send us a message, or slide into our DMs.

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes, have enjoyed our events, or we’re your favorite coffee in town, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

That’s right - it’s nearly time for our last-Supper-Club-of-the-year-one-night-only-holiday-extravaganza! 🖤🤍

Spud’s Coffee Presents: Black Tie & Bow Ties 🍾

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Mocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person | BYOW

She’s heeeeeeere! We’re getting even cuter than usual for the holiday season with our black + white soiree with the scents, sounds, & flavors you love. Chef Megan is tapping into seasonal ingredients like pomegranates, citrus (yes - a winter fruit!), cranberries, fennel, brussels, & cauliflower to pair alongside some holiday and December favorites: beef, fish, and of course - chocolate!

And while we’re playing into the literal black bow tie part of the theme, no need to go out and rent a tux for dinner (but we’ve got extra points and the biggest slice of beef if you DO show up dressed to the nines!) Come in whatever comfy, cute cocktail-esque attire that fits your vibe as much as it does ours (and our vibe is mostly just happy you’re there!).

You should know - we’re already about halfway sold out! Since it’s literally my job to brag about my friends, let me say this: November was so good that one of our regulars reserved 12 seats for December before the first course even hit the table (we love you, Norby!). Come see for yourself as we go out with a bang!

Menu & Reservations 🥂

Weren’t there to experience the November magic firsthand? We’ve got you covered!

Island Holiday: A Celebration of Caribbean Chefs & Cuisine

The flavors! The florals!! The friendship!!! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this may have been the best one yet?!

Guests walked in to our family style table adorned in locally sourced tropical flowers (and by that I mean Megan, Jess, and Julia all went out for walks around their neighborhood with garden shears in addition to a few extra purchases for what we couldn’t borrow from nature 🫣) and the sounds of Freddy McGregor & Beres Hammond wafted through the air as they sipped housemade ginger-sorrel mocktails.

They ate and laughed through four courses reminiscent of the holiday season in both Jamaica and Trinidad, where our chefs are from. Of course, the night doesn’t end when the doors close: guests took home Megan’s recipe for Jamaican Pumpkin Soup (our most requested recipe from October’s menu!) as well as a garlic & herb compound butter (but the lemon zest is really what sets it apart!).

Of course, we’ve got the recipe below for our paid subscribers. We couldn’t do any of what we do without your butts in our seats and our messages in your inbox so thank you - truly - for coming, subscribing, sharing, and supporting us in the ways that you can. 🥰

PS - don’t miss our upcoming events this month! Check out our last newsletter for the dates & details:

Leave a comment

Recipe Card: Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

‘Tis the season for soup!

Read more

You know by now (whether through direct experience of Megan’s magic or viscerally through what we capture in storytelling on Substack) that Spud’s is more than just a coffeeshop or a restaurant: it’s a community. People are pulled back time and time again because they’ve connected with other patrons, met friends, even started relationships all budding from a first date or meet cute here at Spud’s. We’re tapping into that magic with even more intention this holiday season (& beyond!) with as many weekend events as we can fit in one calendar.

Additionally, we’ve got some important dates about your favorite seasonal items to make sure you soak up all the pumpkin spice you can before chef ushers in your December faves (hellooooooo white peppermint mocha!!).

And while we’re on the topic of community, it’s important that we highlight Megan’s efforts towards hurricane relief for her home: Jamaica. While donation collections began over the course of last week, Spud’s is still accepting physical donations throughout the month. Here’s some of the items we’re looking for to send back to friends, family, & others in need. Any cash donations will also be used to purchase items on this list, as well.

November Community Events at Spud’s

Here’s what we’ve got planned for the next few weeks to cozily, deliciously welcome the season:

Sunday, November 16th | Spud’s 4th Birthday

Traditionally, the gift for a fourth anniversary is fruit & flowers so what excuse do you have to not come on down and get yourself a lavender latte and a blueberry crumb cake to celebrate four years of Spud’s?!

Saturday, November 22nd | Baked By Brooke, Art Club FTL, + Holiday Market

Pop by for a pop-up! Brooke will be hanging out all day with her homemade sourdough treats for sale & preorder while Megan will also be offering some holiday goodies to pair with the bread - jams, jellies, honey, granola, & compound butters (a taste of which our Supper Club guests went home with this weekend!). Plus, Art Club will be gathering in the afternoon to make potpourri blends for seasonal simmer pots for the total sensory experience. Art Club ticket includes a drink from the Spud’s event menu, too! 😋

Art Club Tickets

Sunday, November 23rd | Florals with Friends: Flower Arranging Workshop

If you didn’t get enough of the crafty season, come join us the following day for a flower arranging workshop with Janib! She’s been in the kitchen lately both perfecting your faves from the brunch menu and helping with Supper Club but is spending the afternoon out on the other side to lead her first Spud’s event. Tickets will include all the materials to build and take home your own bouquet just in time for Thanksgiving, plus some charcuterie snacks and a mocktail. Stay tuned on socials for tickets!

Thursday, November 27th | Closed for Thanksgiving Day

Come get your fix before the team takes a well deserved day to celebrate with family & friends… but we’ll be back at it again on Friday!

Sunday, November 30th | Last Day for Pumpkin Spice

Don’t be too upset about it… just look at what’s coming next! 👀

Tuesday, December 2nd | First Day for Gingerbread & White Peppermint Mocha

That’s right - we’re shifting into winter flavors! And while you might not get a snowy holiday down here, the iced peppermint mocha definitely pairs well with a December beach day 😎

What else is happening?

We’ve got two more mentions for you about how Spud’s is continuing to support its community.

All Holiday Season | Merch & Pie/Pastry Preorders

Leave the gifting to us! Preorders for holiday boxes with your favorite Spud’s sweets are open! Additionally, we’ve got t-shirt and tote preorders featuring some of Julia’s artwork for this season, too.

Friday, November 14th | Chef Residency Dinners

You’ll soon start noticing a little more activity on Friday nights at Spud’s as Megan opens the space to another chef duo as they begin their own supper club residency. While their first dinner will be reserved for friends and family as they kick off, we’ll keep you updated with their events as they’re open to the public. They’re working in collaboration with some local South Florida farms to provide quality ingredients handcrafted and shared over good conversation and good company - Spud’s was the perfect place!

Saturday, November 15th | Happie Clothing Swap

Our pal Esmeralda is hosting a clothing swap at La Mexicana Taco Bar and will be raffling off some Spud’s gift cards for you to win! Not only that, but she’s got plenty of other local businesses with goodies up for grabs! Plus, entry allows anything from the racks at the swap, not just a one-for-one. Sustainability, community, & gifts? Say less!

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes, have enjoyed our events, or we’re your favorite coffee in town, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

Now picture this: cobwebs strewn from lamp to lamp, petrified roses lining the table, wax patterns forming as candles melt, & skeletons waving you in to take a closer look.

A closer look at what, exactly? A spookified Spud’s! Last weekend’s Salt & Smoke Supper Club was the perfect time to unveil the season’s decor. The lights were low, the candles were flickering, Jess was slinging smokin’ cocktails while Megan was laboring with love in the kitchen and Julia was charming the crowd. We had Alex with us on Saturday in the kitchen and introduced Janib - a guest at September’s dinner - to her first time in the kitchen on Sunday.

It’s funny how simple it all felt after our September seating for 40 (says the woman who doesn’t handle the cooking part). With 16 guests on Saturday and 18 on Sunday, we brought back some of that intimate feeling to the club with one long table for our guests and just enough chatter and giggle to still let Stevie Nicks’s ethereal autumn-esque hymns fill the in-between.

And then there was the menu… 🤤

If you’ve been to a dinner before, you know you get to take home one of Chef Megan’s recipes & even some goodies for your own kitchen. At this one, guests took home a recipe for spiced nuts (which diners took home in little baggies from our September dinner) and some rosemary finishing salt that they also got a little sample of on the truffle risotto. And yes - we’ll include the recipe at the end of this post for our paid subscribers!

Next Up: Island Holiday 🇯🇲🇹🇹

The moment you’ve been waiting for! Mark the cal for Saturday, November 8th & Sunday, November 9th from 7:00pm to 9:30pm for our next dinner!

Now that Janib has joined our team, it’s officially time to channel the Caribbean for Supper Club! She and Chef Megan are fusing their respective Trinidadian & Jamaican roots for an Island Holiday right here in your favorite local coffeeshop. And if you already think the food is incredible, just imagine how much better it gets when you add the depth that comes from growing up with these foods at the center of the celebrations, traditions, and experiences that inspired a career in cooking for not just one of our chefs, but both.

Reserve A Seat

Recipe Card: Spiced Nuts 🌰

And last but not least, another one of Megan’s recipes for your box. While our Supper Club guests get the exclusive first look, we’re updating our subscribers with digital access here, too.

Read more

August Recap:

The summer season kicked off with lots of sun, fun, and milestones that easily provided some creative cooking and crafting inspo to our Supper Club dream team and content queens over here. While we enjoyed all the celebrations, travels, and eats, we were just as quickly drained by all the commotion. Between the oppressive South Florida summer heat & humidity, Megan’s packed schedule of restaurant ownership, team management, coffee roasting, keeping up sales and morale during slow season, plus Julia’s rough summer of autoimmune flares and long lasting symptoms, we put a hard stop on this side of the hustle.

Though the way our Augusts played out looked pretty different from one another (Megan busy working around the clock and resting in the few moments she had for herself and Julia self-shunned deep into her medical self care protocol to address some health issues), we’re glad we paused what we could to take care of what needed the most attention. And while yes it meant that our weekly recipes & cookbook content captures were on hiatus, we’ve still got updates for you about some of those other things that had our attention…

Sold out September!

If you’ve been reading along with us since the beginning, you know that in addition to recipe development and content capture for the cookbook, Megan and I also work together to host two recurring events at Spud’s - Supper Club & Art Club. Maybe it was something about the hiatus that recharged some magnetic September energy or maybe it was Megan’s ability to alchemize flavors and ingredients into a party on your tongue and a warmth in your heart and Julia’s inability to stop introducing herself to every person that walks in the door and bragging about her talented friends or maybe it was sheer luck but we sold out BOTH events this month!

Our ‘Almost Autumn’ Supper Club was perfect down to every detail - and each of our 40 guests so supportively agreed! The vibe was fall flavors with summer ingredients since here in South Florida it very much feels like summer though it’s starting to taste a little more like fall. Guests enjoyed a four course meal complete with welcome cocktails and a little goodie baggie with some extra sweets to take home (Megan’s spiced candied hazelnuts & pecans - YUM). Julia scaped the tables with butcher paper to create a canvas for handwritten names at each seat and individually placed every detail down to the rose-shaped napkin folds. Our friend MaPi had an early morning Saturday visit to the wholesale florist after an evening scavenge for some wild plants the night before - even braving the spontaneous rain for us! Our other friend Jess built two beautiful arrangements with the goods and provided impeccable service throughout the night alongside our other friend Bianca who’s usually your server or barista by day but jumped in to help out with our biggest group yet.

Just a week later, Julia charged back into Spud’s for a Saturday afternoon Art Club. The event was capped at 20 guests and sold out a whole 12 days beforehand - we even had people joining the waitlist on the very same day! The vibe was very much 2000s romcom meets elementary art class and felt as if Lizzie McGuire herself could walk in at any moment. With all but one guest having been new to Spud’s, it was a great way to introduce our guests to what I can only imagine will become their new favorite coffeeshop. Everyone received a drink from the espresso bar with their ticket along with a print by Julia made specifically for the event and showcasing Megan’s latest fall syrup creation: orange cardamom cookie. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds! We then sat to create teeny tiny polymer clay magnets. What a talented, creative group we had!

What’s new for October?

First things first - Supper Club tickets for October are already on sale and selling fast! But don’t worry - we opened up another night to make sure we can seat you all! Mark your calendars for Saturday & Sunday October 18th & 19th. Our theme for October is Salt & Smoke. It’s a little sexy, a little spooky, and overall incredibly delicious and beautiful (with vegan modifications available for the whole menu!). While you’ll have to attend to get all the details, we’ll leave you with the mood board as a little amuse-bouche. 👀🐈‍⬛🔮

Menu & Reservations 🍷

The very next weekend on Saturday, October 25th we’re back to another edition os Saturday afternoon Art Club FTL! While Julia is still finalizing the details, we’re up to something spooky for our crafts as well. Stay tuned on Instagram for the tickets as well as an Art Club mailing list.

Follow @ArtClubFTL 🎨

Wait… what about the MERCH?!

You heard us, people!! Preorders now available for Spud’s shirts! Julia couldn’t help but constantly be inspired by the space that Megan so intentionally designed that of course the shop itself has become the muse. We’ve got five different colors of 100% soft cotton t-shirts with custom artwork made by Julia printed across the back. Honestly, what a dream come true to be a local artist collaborating with a local coffeeshop owner to create some wearable love - buy one shirt, support two friends. 🥰

Preorder merch 👕

Happy Sunday! That’s right - we’re sliding into your inbox this weekend as opposed to our typical Thursday delivery. If you read through last week’s post, you know Megan and Spud’s took a week hiatus for some summer vacation while Julia was out of town for a long, leisurely road trip. At some point between the vacation luxury of forgetting what day it even is and the harsh slap of reality as you return to work and routine, we were both too out of whack to reach you earlier. But since we’ve been making up our own rules the whole time, we decided to see how our deliveries perform on Sunday.

Unfortunately, neither of our summer vacations included a beach along the Costa Brava this year, which is why we planned to bring Spain close to home at our July supper club. When we were toying with the menu, Julia obviously barked out “BRAVAS” as the fanatic she is. Megan, however, had never tried them. After all the planning and menu consideration, they didn’t end up making the cut for the dinner, but we knew we’d have to include them at some point anyway. Megan decided to whip them up on our content day right after supper club as a side to her take on mojo pork.

Patatas bravas are an interesting dish. You’ll find them all around Spain, plus interpretations on other international menus and yet no two dishes are exactly alike. Some are more tomato-y, some have multiple sauces while others just have one, some are spicy, and so on.

As the garlic and tomato queen she is, Megan opted for two sauces atop crispy potatoes. They were taaaaasty, though we’d support adding your own flair - maybe some more heat to the tomato sauce. Calabrian chilis, anyone? 🌶️

Patatas Bravas

A tasty snack on their own, a nice side to pork or beef, or a good way to recreate leftover potatoes in a new dish (and maybe even with what you’ve already got in the fridge!).

Ingredients:

For the potatoes:

• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp paprika

• 2 quarts of vegetable or avocado oil (for frying)

For the tomato sauce:

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/4 yellow onion, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic confit, mashed

• ¼ cup canned tomatoes

• ¼ tsp herky jerk spice, or chili powder

• ¼ tsp sugar

For the garlic aioli:

• ¼ cup mayonnaise

• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced

• 3 cloves garlic confit, mashed

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• parsley, chopped for garnish

Recipe:

For the potatoes:

Place diced potatoes in a pot and fill until they are covered by an inch of water. Stir in baking soda and bring to a boil. Once boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes. After the 5 minute boil, drain the water and return potatoes to pot. With a spoon, add in the salt and mix your potatoes until they look tacky and fluffy. Allow the potatoes to cool on a baking sheet, refrigerating if possible. Why? The best crispy potatoes come from frying when they’re cold.

Once they’re cold, heat your frying oil to 350°F in a deep pot (or a deep fryer is great!). Once your oil is hot enough, fry your potatoes in small batches until golden and crispy. Remove from oil and let cool onto paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Season with a sprinkle of paprika. Serve right away for optimal crispiness.

For the brava sauces:

In a skillet, combine olive oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes and spices. Sauté for 5 to 10 minutes until onions are soft and tomatoes and mushy and tacky. Add in the sugar and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove tomatoes from the heat and let cool a bit. Using a blender, puree your tomato mixture and set aside.

For your aioli, combine mayo, garlics and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well.

Drizzle each of the brava sauces atop the crispy potatoes and garnish with parsley.

Our next Supper Club is in two weeks!

Our next Supper Club is coming up quickly! Join us on Saturday, August 23rd for our New England Summer feast! Click below to reserve your seat. 🦞🌽🦪🦐

Buy A Ticket

3 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

We bring you this recipe from off campus while Spud’s is closed for summer vacation! Megan and Julia both happen to be out adventuring around New York… and if we’re lucky, we’ll meet for coffee somewhere this weekend for a little crossover event!!

What are we doing up here you ask? Megan is out of office celebrating her wedding anniversary with her very first visit to the Big Apple! (Should today have been an apple crisp recipe instead?) Meanwhile, Julia is in her hometown for a few days visiting friends and family and eating peaches from her brother’s peach tree (okay so we were able to rope peaches back into this). With our little summer adventures underway, today’s recipe comes from a dessert we made a few weeks back when we were inundated with peaches (but who’s complaining?).

The beauty of a peach crisp (especially on a day that we were juggling four recipes) is that it’s all the warm, cozy, fruity flavors of a peach pie without all the work. Essentially all you’re doing is mixing up a bowl of peaches, a bowl of crisp, dumping, and baking. Honestly, you could even quarter the recipe and make a single serve in the toaster oven. It’s an easy way to enjoy a little something homemade and to stop that one peach on the counter that’s been giving you the side eye every time you reach for a cookie from the pantry rather than some fresh fruit for a nighttime sweet treat.

And yes, of course you can make that at home… but if you’d rather Megan make it for you, August 23rd is your opportunity! It’ll be the dessert for our next Supper Club… details below!

Peach Crisp 🍑

Don’t make the rookie mistake that we did: forgetting the vanilla ice cream. We say that now before the recipe even begins because you should probably add it to your shopping list first and foremost.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 3 peaches, sliced

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

For the crumble:

• 1 cup flour

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for your filling and mix well. Let it sit while you combine the crumble ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour the filling ingredients into a pie dish and flatten before adding the crumble topping. Bake until the crumble topping is golden and crispy. For peaches with a little bite to them, I recommend about 45 minutes. If you want them softer, cover the crisp with foil after 45 minutes and bake for another 30 minutes. Best accompanied with a scoop of vanilla bean!

August 23rd: Megan will make it for you!

Our next Supper Club is coming up quickly! Join us on Saturday, August 23rd for our New England Summer feast! Reservations are officially open.

Buy A Ticket

3 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

A few weeks ago as we found ourselves off on some tangent miles from the original plot of our conversation. Do we remember how it started? No. But where it ended? Julia found out that Megan had never tried halloumi cheese.

Now listen, as the wordsmith of the duo, I don’t know how culinary school works but I officially propose that there be a cheese class where students literally have to try all of the world’s cheese? How dare they release a whole cohort of chefs into the world without knowing the full spectrum of cheese possibility??

So we opened yet another tab in our mutual brain and thought about not just trying the cheese, but adding it to a recipe to share. Megan also had a surprising amount of peaches all ripening at exactly the same time. It only made sense that we planned an entire recipe day around peaches - three recipes, nine hours, and at least a dozen peaches. Also, Julia requested a salad within the peach day since it’s too hot in Florida to eat anything other than hydrating greens and cold fish. And there we found the perfect place to try halloumi.

Halloumi is sort of if mozzarella and feta had a salty, tangy, squeaky little baby that looks real good with a tan. We just picked up the one version they sell at Trader Joe’s that already had a little mint in it, but the mint wasn’t super noticeable when we snacked on the cheese by itself after frying. The squeak also cooks off a little as it crisps on the outside and stays rich and creamy on the inside. Yes, we diced it into a salad, but slicing the cheese into sticks and dipping into some sort of tomato sauce is also highly advised (but incredibly dangerous because it’s so good and so easy and you’ll never want to stop).

Summer Halloumi Salad

Since halloumi is stored in brine, she’s a little salty. Depending on what you’re making, the salt is a nice addition to the dish as a whole, but if you’re worried it might be overpowering, you can give the cheese a quick rinse before frying or grilling. If you do decide to rinse off the brine, pat it dry before cooking so it doesn’t steam.

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

• ¼ cup olive oil

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• 1 tsp salt

• ¼ tsp black pepper

For the salad:

• 3 cups arugula

• ½ English cucumber, diced

• 2 peaches, diced

• ¼ red onion, diced

• 1 cup halloumi, diced and seared until crispy

• ¼ cup pistachios, chopped

• 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

• 1 heirloom tomato, diced

• 4 basil leaves, chopped

• 12 mint leaves, chopped

Recipe:

Heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Chop and sear your halloumi pieces for a few minutes on each side until golden and crispy. You can also slice into longer strips and chop up into the salad after if you prefer, or leave the pieces large for a bigger bite. While the cheese cools, mix together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Then, compile all the salad ingredients together and toss with the dressing. Serve immediately. Since the peaches are so juicy, this salad doesn’t keep very well as leftovers. If you do have leftover ingredients, store separately and assemble just before eating.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 23rd!

Our next Supper Club will be Saturday, August 23rd! Reservations will open soon so stay tuned for details, straight here to your inbox or via Instagram. Any guesses (or hopes) about what the next theme will be? 👀

3 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

Before we get into it, we should probably announce our disclaimer: this mojo has been prepared by a Jamaican-born, French-trained, South Florida residing chef for a Spanish-inspired dinner… there are some creative liberties!!

For this past weekend’s dinner, Megan fed us her take on Spanish cuisine. Please note: we both loudly exclaim the emphasis on her take. Supper Club has become a creative and culinary challenge - a way for Megan to play with dishes she’s never made, ideas she’s come up with in a dream, or favorites for her friends and family that she wants to prepare. It’s not quite an exact replication of someone else’s food or the dishes either of us have already had before. So yes, this menu was designed with Spain in mind, but Spain is filled with various regions that each have their own flavors and traditions. We perused the offerings, swapped stories of our travels or restaurant visits, and hypothesized about the tastiest combinations, and came up with a four course menu that we were excited to serve.

For our leftovers preparation, we took some of the mojo inspiration from the blistered shishitos and applied that to the remaining pork loin. She also prepared some crispy patatas bravas - a classic Spanish tapas dish. But more on that one in a few weeks. 🤓

Also, it’s worth mentioning that the solomillo sauce was a STAR! Megan opted out of raisins for it (she has a personal vendetta) and leaned into dates to mimic the sweetness while avoiding her mortal dried fruit enemy. Since she’s our sauce queen, there’s a good chance we get to that in a few weeks too… but first, mojo!

Roast Mojo Pork Loin

Ingredients:

1 lb pork tenderloin

6 cloves garlic

2 tsp salt

6 tbsp olive oil

¼ cup cilantro

½ jalapeño, diced

1 tsp champagne vinegar

Recipe:

Grab your mortar & pestle for this one! If you don’t have one, you can chop the ingredients for the marinade real small or use a food processor.

To make the mojo marinade, crush the garlic with the salt until your mixture has smoothed. Then, add olive oil and continue to mix. Add in cilantro and jalapeño and combine again until smooth. Lastly, stir in the vinegar.

In your marinade container of choice (gallon bag, baking tin, mixing bowl, etc.), coat your pork loin with most of the mojo mixture (saving a little bit for later) and let it marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. After the hour, wipe off the marinade. Add a little more salt to the pork before allowing to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. While the pork is resting, heat a cast iron pan over medium high heat and preheat your oven to 450°F. Add some olive oil to the pan to sear all sides of the pork tenderloin before then transfer to a baking sheet. Brush the pork with the remaining marinade and bake for 10 minutes or until it reaches and internal temperature of 155°F. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 more minutes before slicing and serving.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 23rd!

Our next Supper Club will be Saturday, August 23rd! Reservations will open in the next week so stay tuned for details, straight here to your inbox or via Instagram. Any guesses (or hopes) about what the next theme will be? 👀

3 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

It’s funny writing a recipe blog as a duo. There are things we so easily and obviously agree on and don’t even question when writing it all up (i.e. you can never have too much garlic, how dare grocery stores in Florida charge money for mangoes, and there’s always room for dessert).

But there are also some things that we think about differently based on our backgrounds and experiences… as is human nature. A lot of that thinking is also centered around our readers. Who’s here? Who’s finding this recipe? Is it friends and family of ours that are just reading along because they love us and want to support us? Is is patrons of Spud’s Coffee who are looking out for menu items they can make at home or announcements of upcoming local events? Is it Substack strangers who found us in their morning scroll while they’re thinking about what to make for dinner tonight? And then - how curious about cooking are these readers?

While Megan has never been one to call herself chef, she sure is one. Professional culinary training, an internship abroad in France, and industry experience in busy Miami kitchens from breakfast to dinner all before opening her own restaurant. Julia, on the other hand, is a home cook who loves food, but prepares meals with the primary goal of naturally balancing hormones and managing autoimmune disease symptoms the best she can. One of us has a professional, stocked restaurant kitchen and will attempt something she’s never done before with a table of 22 diners waiting to taste it… the other of us has been using the same measuring cup since 1997 and will choke down a thick, seedy green smoothie just for the nutritional benefits.

So when it comes time to develop recipes and write them down, we have a dual perspective. If you think crudo is a fancy dish that you’d only ever eat out at a nice, expensive restaurant because you don’t know how to handle raw fish or don’t have a bottle of truffle oil just sitting idly in the pantry - think again!! No matter where you fall on the spectrum of culinary curiosity, we’re both totally confident in your ability to make that at home.

White Fish Crudo with Lemon & Truffle Oil

Are you already panicking about what white fish we’re talking about? No need - it’s general because you can truly pick whichever you like best or whatever is readily available to you. In fact, the best way to decide is to head to your local fish market and ask what’s fresh. If you tell whoever is behind the counter that you’re serving the dish raw (literally what crudo means), they should be able to point you in the right direction and de-bone for you, too! No access to a fishmonger or market? Try some high quality, sushi grade frozen fish. They even have good options to order online these days! We used bronzino as our white fish of the day, but also are big fans of red snapper (yes, ironically a white fish), yellowtail (AKA hamachi), fluke/flounder, or even scallops. They’re all fairly mild in flavor and texture and will absorb the dressing well.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp white truffle oil

• 3 tbsp lemon juice (or yuzu if you have it!)

• 1 tsp salt

• 1-2 fillets white fish of choice

• Couple drops of chili oil or slices or chili peppers, optional

• Seasonal fruit thinly sliced, optional

• Leafy herb to garnish (scallion, parsley, basil, mint - truly any!), optional

Recipe:

Before beginning, chill your plate or serving dish in a refrigerator or freezer.

If skinning the fish yourself:

Place your fish fillet skin side down on a cutting board. Starting from the tail end, cut a small piece of the tail without cutting through the skin to create something to hold on to. Then, with the tail piece in your non-dominant hand and a knife in your dominant hand with the blade pointed away, begin pulling on the tail piece while simultaneously pushing the knife away. You should use the knife to press down on the skin of the fish until you have peeled it all off. Discard skin and pat your fish dry with a paper towel

One the fish has been skinned:

Slice the fillet as thinly as possible and lay flat on the pre-chilled plate or platter. Return the plate to the fridge while you make the dressing. Combine all your ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly until the salt is fully dissolved. Set aside while you slice your garnishes of choice:

• Herbs. Basil and parsley are classics in an Italian dish, cilantro pairs well with citrus and spice, mint keeps things bright and fresh, and you can never go wrong with chives or scallions. We went with a scallion oil on today’s dish.

• Fruit. Think seasonal! This dish can change with the seasons and since we’ve got too many peaches for our own good, we sliced some up really thin to garnish atop. Some of my other favorite versions have used plums, blood oranges, cherries, or mangoes.

• Spice. Choose your own adventure for spice level, but even a little kick helps balance the dish. Opt for a drizzle of chili oil, a few slices of pickled fresnos, or just a few flakes of crushed red pepper.

• Citrus. Yes, the recipe calls for lemon juice, but limes are good too - even a mix if that’s what you like!

Once you’ve gathered and sliced your garnishes, remove your plated fish from the fridge to dress. Coat each piece of fish completely with the dressing, top with your garnishes, and serve immediately. If not immediately serving, return to the fridge to stay cold.

Last call for Saturday’s dinner with us!

Reservations for Supper Club this Saturday, July 12th are still open for another 24 hours! Megan is preparing a delicious four course Spanish-inspired menu while Julia takes care of the cute details outside the kitchen. Grab your seats soon before it’s too late! 🍷🐙🥘🦐🍦

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

To celebrate the occasion, we’re taking the day off and hopping on a boat for a leisurely six-hour private cruise around Miami. But of course, before the leisure came a looooong day of recipe development and filming so that we could get ahead of schedule before the festivities. Plus, it’ll help us get even further ahead for a little vacation week later this summer… but more on that later.

In brainstorming a recipe and a plan for the birthday week, Megan tried to think of some things that reminded her of birthdays she’s had in the past. Even though she’s a fan of dessert first, breakfast came to mind…

Now, this isn’t just any breakfast. It’s not one you can order off the menu at Spud’s. Honestly, it’s likely not one you can order off the menu anywhere else you’re heading for breakfast in Fort Lauderdale unless you walk into a Jamaican restaurant long before 10am.

No no, this is a breakfast that Megan ate growing up: Jamaican style dumplings with salted codfish (or bacalao, as some of you may know it). Despite how reminiscent of growing up in Jamaica as it is, she would usually already be off to school by the time her parents would eat it. But how beautiful is the memory of coming home from the school day and having a dumpling safely tucked away in a napkin by the housekeeper who knew they were her favorite?? Love you, Aunty Joy! 🥰

Jamaican-Style Dumplings with Salted Codfish 🇯🇲

Dumplings seem to be a staple of so many cuisines, and Jamaican-style are a salty, buttery, fried doughy deliciousness. It looks almost like a little dinner roll, but rather than baked, is fried to a beautifully golden brown. While the fish is tasty, flour-fiend Megan would’ve been okay to just eat a half dozen of those fresh out of the oil and skip the rest all together. But trust us, the whole of it is worth the patience.

Ingredients:

For the dumplings:

• 3 cups flour

• 3 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 tbsp butter, cold & cut into cubes

• 1/2 cup water

For the saltfish:

• 1 fillet of salted cod (AKA: saltfish, codfish, & bacalao)

• 1 half onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 stalk scallion, sliced

• 1/2 sweet pepper, diced

• 1 scotch bonnet pepper (can sub habanero)

• 1 tomato, diced

• 1 sprig thyme

• 1/2 tsp allspice

• 1/2 tsp ginger powder

• 2 tbsp garlic-infused oil or coconut oil

Recipe:

For the dumplings:

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut your cold butter into small cubes and toss in the flour mixture so it’s well coated. Then, press each cold butter cubes into the mixture and repeat until throughly incorporated. It should be light and fluffy one all the butter is incorporated. Add half your water and mix with your fingers gently to combine. Slowly add the rest of the water, mixing as you add until the dough is slightly sticky (you may not need all of the remaining water). Knead the dough mixture with your hands until smooth, about five minutes. This recipe yields nine dumplings, so allocate your dough accordingly. Begin shaping your dumplings by flattening the dough between your fingers to form a circle then fold the outer edge of the circle into the center to create a smoother edge around the dumping. Roll the dumpling tightly in between the palms of your hands to keep smoothing out the surface. To finish, flatten the dough to about half an inch. All the smooth edges and flat surfaces allow for more even frying; the dumplings will puff as they fry. Heat frying oil (I use canola) to 350ºF and fry dumplings for 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess frying oil.

For the saltfish:

Fill a large pot with cold water and add your salted cod. Bring the water and fish to a boil and let cook for 15 minutes. Drain the water then fill with cold water again and repeat the process, covering the pot and letting boil for an additional 15 minutes. When that’s finished, remove the fish from the water and allow it to cool before breaking it into large chunks. Set aside. In a shallow pan, add garlic oil (or coconut oil), onions, peppers, garlic, scallions, thyme, allspice, and ginger powder. Sauté your mixture on medium heat for five minutes. Add in your tomatoes and hot pepper, then sauté another five minutes. Lower the heat and begin folding your fish chunks into the mixture. Simmer all together for five minutes then remove from heat and serve with the warm dumplings. This recipe yields about 6 portions.

Celebrate Megan’s culinary creativity with us!

Our next Supper Club is Saturday, July 12th and Megan is preparing a delicious four course Spanish-inspired menu while Julia takes care of the cute details outside the kitchen. Grab your seats soon before Una Nocha En España sells out! 🍷🐙🥘🦐🍦

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

Another orange recipe?? You know you’re reading from a Florida based recipe maker, right? We used it in fancy toast, we used it in salad, and now we’re using it in dessert (or an appetizer, if you also subscribe to the notion of ‘dessert first’ as Megan firmly believes in).

Megan’s birthday is next week… and it’s a big one, too. Our recipe-writing, restaurant-owning, coffee-roasting, dog-parenting, yoga-practicing, hoop-wearing, community-supporting baby is turning 30!! And even with the pending celebrations, we’ve repeatedly talked about our mutual dislike of a true birthday classic: cake.

Having talked with some other friends throughout the birthday season (Julia turned 31 last week, and Megan’s mom - one of our top readers - also celebrated another year around the sun the following day), we’ve come to a sort of consensus that when it comes to cake, there’s nothing worse than a dry bite. But today’s cake isn’t just any old cake. It’s olive oil cake. And when you drizzle olive oil over cake after baking (in addition to before baking…), of course it’s not dry. And though I understand the risks of describing it this way, I have to say it: it’s so moist.

I’m sorry!!!! It’s true!!! Just make it yourself and I promise even the haters will make a small exception for using that word.

Orange Olive Oil Loaf Cake

It’s worth noting that you can easily swap the orange ingredients for lemon if you prefer. Or better yet, make both versions and tell us which you prefer! Extra points for someone who’s feeling a little freaky and makes a grapefruit or lime version (we haven’t tried those…).

Pro-tips from Megan:

• Cara cara oranges are the sweetest, but navel are good too.

• If there’s a time to use the good olive oil, it’s here. It won’t make it or break it, but it’s worth spoiling yourself. Megan’s favorite is Brightland.

• We added a homemade orange simple syrup atop the one we made on content day just for the sake of the photoshoot and since we poured it while the loaf was still warm, it crystallized and gave a fun, bright, sweet texture to the top without an overpowering sweetness. (Let us know if you want the syrup recipe!)

• Don’t be afraid of more zest, just make sure to use more oranges, rather than dig into the white fruit membrane - that can make things a little bitter.

We want to feed your stomach & your soul!

Our next Supper Club is Saturday, July 12th and Megan is preparing a delicious four course Spanish-inspired menu while Julia takes care of the cute details outside the kitchen. Grab your seats soon before Una Nocha En España sells out! 🍷🐙🥘🦐🍦

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

Even though Supper Club menus are changing from dinner to dinner, fennel remains a solid staple in some way or another. And though some have claimed they “don’t usually like it,” we can confirm that plates were cleaaaared!

At last weekend’s dinner, it made an appearance atop the lamb ragu dish and in the goodie bags given to each guest who dined with us. Not literally a head of fennel, but the recipe card (also available at the end of today’s post!). We did include some actual edible goodies in the baggies, but you’ll have to dine with us to find out those details on your own. 😉

This dinner was the best and biggest we’ve hosted so far - and we’re incredibly grateful. It’s crazy to think that we’re basically just a bunch of friends doing their hobbies together and that somehow turns into a beautiful, cozy, giggle-filled night of good conversation, good food, and good company. We love doing what we do and we love doing it with each other. I mean, our group text is literally called the “Dream Team.” Inviting others to bask in the joy we have creating with one another and having them show up is surreal. If you’ve dined with us: thank you. We’re so glad to have you.

If you haven’t dined with us yet, you better run to the reservations since we had some diners on Saturday already ready for the next one!

Orange & Fennel Salad

As has become custom, we spent our post-Supper-Club-content-day doing more catch-up than content. That’s another perk of working with your friends: recapping the night and planning for the next while we eat delicious leftovers is an entirely productive work day AND cute friend date.

As mentioned, this salad might revolutionize fennel for you. The real trick is to season it well with salt & pepper and toss generously in a good olive oil. It can be served immediately upon preparing, but if it marinates in itself a little while it gets extra tasty (we found that out when we finally sat down for some of the dishes after cleanup).

Next Supper Club is Saturday, July 12th!

We’re carrying on the themed nights to guide our menu & our fun with: Una Nocha En España. 🍷🐙🥘🦐🍦 Mood board loading but peruse our menu while we curate a vibe!

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

Welcome back pals! This week, we’re taking our name quite literally and teaching you how to take one of the most popular Spud’s Coffee menu items and make it at home.

Before we dive into toast, we’ve got to tell you all about the mango festival last weekend!

Mango tonic, mango tart, mango chia pudding, and mango coffee crumb cake prep continued well after sundown on Friday (closer to sun-up for Megan 🥲) and yet we still showed up for 7:30am yoga on Saturday for Jess’s first time teaching in a studio since her certification! Despite the zombie-like way we kicked off the day and the subsequent figurative fires Megan put out before we made it to the festival, it was a beautiful day!

Thanks to Island Space’s Vice Present & MC of the day, David Muir, the mango cake SOLD OUT before we were even halfway through! Luckily for you, it’ll be available at Spud’s for a limited time while our mango plug keeps pulling up every weekend with a batch straight from the tree.

It was also such a pleasure to meet Chef Thia and hear her kind words and support from one Caribbean chef to another. Maybe one day it’ll be our sweet baby Megan giving the cooking demonstration and signing & selling cookbooks at the festival. Chef has given us some inspo, big time. 🥰

Burrata Toast with Orange Marmalade 🍊

Anywayyyyy, back to our regularly scheduled programming and the recipe of the week! At Spud’s, the toast is the perfect light breakfast, afternoon snack, or app for the table. You can also play around with seasonal fruit or different types of oranges to change it up or make it your own. Obviously, we added some mango the last time we made it.

There’s no *actual* cooking involved in this one - just print and add straight to your recipe box! However, a few notes from chef:

• Megan prefers cara cara or navel oranges since they’re the sweetest, but you can play around with whatever you like

• For the marmalade, Megan likes BONO Organic Sicilian Orange Marmalade (or The Fresh Market brand, her local grocer)

• For cheese, fresh local burrata is always best, but Belgioso is a good alternative found in most grocery stores

• Mint is optional! Megan highly recommends it but also supports your preferences

Last call for this weekend’s dinner: Italian Summer Sunset!

Reservation for Saturday’s Supper Club close today! Join Megan, Julia, & friends for our first themed evening: Italian Summer Sunset. 🫒🍝🍊🦪🍷 If you’ve secured your spot, here’s the perfect playlist to bump while you get ready:

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

If you haven’t yet picked up on the enthusiasm, let me be clear: we’re big mango fans around here! So much so, that we’ve decided to bring that energy as vendors at this weekend’s Island SPACE Mango Festival in Lauderdale Lakes!

One of our lovely community pals, Hannah, who works with the team over at Mane Coffee as well as the Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, reached out to Julia when she saw a little behind-the-scenes moment of the mango tart on Instagram. Julia excitedly took the idea to Caribbean-born-and-raised Megan with the suggestion of inviting some more friends along for a fruity, caffeinated collab. After all, Spuds’s Coffee isn’t just a place for the community to come grab a cup of coffee, but also a place that builds community well beyond its four walls.

What’s on the menu?

For the eats, Megan is preparing some mini mango tarts, mango coffee cake with a zesty drizzle, and mango chia pudding parfaits. As for sips, her fellow Caribbean-born-and-raised friend, Chef Jordy of El Monito Cafe is joining us to offer espresso based drinks featuring El Mango beans from our friend Claudio at Goldenbush Coffee, where Megan helps roast.

As for the star of the show - and of the summer - Megan will also be offering the Mangocello: an espresso tonic that is all things bright, summery, fresh & bubbly (while yet somehow also perfectly soft & creamy). Since it would truly be a shame for our far away friends to have to go a whole mango season without this, we’re sharing the recipe with you to take to your own kitchen! Your friends will be delighted and impressed when you invite them all over for a summer Saturday morning coffee date and serve these babies.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz sparkling water

• 2 oz espresso (standard double shot of mango co-fermented coffee)

• 1.5oz lemoncello syrup (recipe card below!)

• Lemon peel and nutmeg for garnish

Fill a 16oz glass to the top with ice and pour sparkling water over ice. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, espresso and lemoncello syrup. Cover and shake vigorously for a few seconds to combine. (If you’re not a cocktail shaker person, mix well with a frother or spoon.) Strain into your glass to the top. Express lemon peel over the rim of your glass and top with a sprinkle of nutmeg. Then find some sunshine, sip, and enjoy! 😎🍋

Speaking of lemoncello… let us take you to Italy at home with Supper Club on June 14th!

Seats are going quickly as we approach! Join Megan, Julia, & friends for our first themed evening: Italian Summer Sunset. 🫒🍝🍊🦪🍷 Only at Spud’s Coffee in Fort Lauderdale, of course! Here’s some inspo to guide your attire & vibe:

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment

No matter your indicator for the start of summer - first fresh mango of the season, first sunset after 8pm, or first firefly spotting - we’ve passed Memorial Day Weekend, which means the season is officially upon us! (Don’t tell the solstice we started early.)

We kicked it off by cancelling our Monday shoot day and celebrated Memorial Day the way it’s meant to be celebrated: by eating food outside with friends & family. I (Julia) honestly wish we didn’t take totally off from shooting since Megan’s outdoor kitchen & buffet preparedness was WILD and I really should’ve captured the extent to which she cheffed and hosted us for you to truly understand. I mean, the woman brought a portable hand wash station!!

What was on the menu?

The better question is “what wasn’t on the menu??”

Straight off the Grill:

• Burgers will all the fixings: cheese, the “good” lettuce (as her family so admirably calls butter lettuce), sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, pickles, relish, herky jerk bacon, three types of mustard, mayo, ketchup

• Brats & hot dogs

• Stuffed whole snappers

• Corn on the cob

• Chicken wings: herky jerk dry rubbed, lemon pepper, & garlic parmesan

Sides & Sauces:

• Crudité platter with ranch

• Fresh seasonal fruit plate

• Potato salad with fire roasted corn

• Salsa verde

• Herb butter for the corn

• & of course, the Cucumber Apple Salad which we’re sharing with you today 🤗

Cucumber Apple Salad 🥒🍎

This salad was a fave at the last Supper Club, a repeat dish for one of our shoot day lunches, and a hit at Monday’s cookout so it basically begged to be shared. There’s a crisp little crunch in every bite with just a drizzle of olive oil & lemon juice to keep it light and fresh.

Ingredients:

• ½ English cucumber, sliced

• 1 honeycrisp apple, cut in half & sliced thin

• ½ fennel bulb, sliced thin

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp Maldon sea salt

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 8 mint leaves, chiffonade (which is a fancy French term to describe cutting into long, thin strips)

• 1 sprig of dill, chopped

• 4 cups arugula

• 1 tbsp roasted pistachios, chopped

In a large bowl, massage fennel with salt, pepper, and olive oil to lightly marinate. Add apple, cucumber and lemon juice then toss together. Add mint, dill, and arugula and gently mix to distribute and coat all ingredients. Top with pistachios & serve!

Next Supper Club is Saturday June 14th!

That’s right, our next date is already live! Join Megan, Julia, & friends for our first themed evening: Italian Summer Sunset. 🫒🍝🍊🦪🍷 Only at Spud’s Coffee in Fort Lauderdale, of course! Here’s some inspo to guide your attire & vibe:

4 Course Prix-Fixe Menu + Welcome Cocktail | 7:00pm – 9:30pm | $80 per person

Buy A Ticket

In Case You Missed It:

Thanks for stopping by! We hope to feed & host you soon. If you’ve made any of our recipes or have enjoyed our dinners, we want your feedback 🤎

Leave a comment