I love my friends. They love a good party as much as I do, and frankly, they’re more creative about it than I am.

Last week I was invited to the home of a friend of a friend to a “spring roll and sangria” party. A group of women were gathering to learn to make spring rolls. Having made them before, I agreed, not sure what new there was to learn, but wanting to have sangria and be in the company of women and no children.

How wrong I was. Turns out, my attempts before were a sad, embarrassing excuse and really can’t even be called spring rolls, truth be told. I have seen the light, and I can now execute a restaurant-quality spring roll that would make your Asian grandma proud. Many thanks to all the lovelies who righted me on this track.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2011/jun/27/216298/

The secret to a good spring roll is all in the wrapper – or, more specifically, in the moisture involved with the wrapper. Keri, our hostess with the mostess, had a mantra: “Water is the enemy.” She was right; the trick is to moisten the wrapper and get it soft, but not too soft or it will fall apart. And if the wrapper is too wet when you begin to put in the fillings, it will either tear or be too slippery to pull tight.

To moisten a spring roll wrapper, fill a receptacle (at home I used a layer cake pan) with hot tap water, and drop in the wrapper. If you have a large receptacle like we did at Keri’s (she used aluminum roasting pans) you can do two at a time. But it’s important to not layer up the wrappers in the water or they’ll stick to each and be a big hot mess, much like teenagers. One at a time is best.

Your wrapper is ready when it feels softened all over but not mushy. If your water is nice and warm, this should only take a minute or two.

You want to have everything ready and waiting when you start moistening wrappers or you’re going to have trouble because, of course, while you don’t want your wrapper too wet, you also don’t want it too dry.

When the wrapper is softened, pull it out of the water and hold it over and give it a little shake to get extra drops of liquid off of it, and then put it on a very dry plate as smoothly as you can. If you have patience, step away from the wrapper for a minute or two and let it continue to dry a bit on the plate.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2011/jun/27/216300/

Then you can begin with the fillings. On the bottom third, you are going to make a fat cigar of sorts of fillings in a pile. Begin with rice noodles. To prepare rice noodles, just bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop the noodles in, and turn off the heat. Let the noodles steep until they’re nice and soft, and then drain the water off.

So a pile of rice noodles goes on the bottom third of the round wrapper, making sure to leave a couple of inches on each side so that the ends can be folded in later.

Atop the noodles, place whatever ingredients float your boat. We went fairly traditional, with shredded carrot, butterflied shrimp, cilantro, chopped peanuts, cucumber, and lettuce. For best results, lay the lettuce over everything like a blanket, so it can keep any pokey elements like carrots or cucumbers from busting your delicate wrapper.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2011/jun/27/216301/

Then fold the bottom portion of the wrapper up over the fillings, away from your body, and give everything a little tug back to make sure it’s tight and secure in there. Roll a bit more forward and then pull up each end, sort of like wrapping a burrito. The wrapper should be just moist enough to stick.

Once the ends are in, continue rolling away from your body until you have a neat little stick, a bit larger than a cigar.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2011/jun/27/216302/

Once you have made your first roll, set it aside and repeat. This activity, like most I can think of, is best done with more than one person. While one is rolling, the other can be prepping wrappers and refilling ingredients. If you are storing your finished rolls in tupperware or a clamshell and you want to layer them, dampen a paper towel to lay atop the finished rolls, Not only will this keep them hydrated and soft, but it will also keep the next layer from sticking to the first one.

The real fun of spring rolls, if you ask me, or even if you don’t ask me, is the sauce. Keri makes an awesome peanut sauce which we all got to take home a jar of.

Keri’s Peanut Sauce Recipe

5 T Hoisin Sauce
2 T. Creamy Peanut Butter
1-2 T Sriracha (adjust to taste)
1 -2 T Sugar (adjust to taste)
Warm water – thin to desired consistency
*optional – add yellow curry powder

I also like them with just a little Sriracha, or with some Dynamite Sauce.

We rolled, we dipped, we snacked. Oh, and we drank. But I’m not going to say how much, because it was a school night.

Here’s Amber’s Sangria, which may or may not have been consumed in fairly copious amounts.

1) Cut up a bunch-o-fruit: nectarines, peaches, apples, limes, lemons, oranges
2) Throw some sugar on top
3) Pour orange juice on top of that…stir
4) Pour a large jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria (the big jug is only like $12)
5) Add a medium bottle of apriocot brandy and some blackberry brandy
6) Done. Drink.

The trick to good sangria is that the booze should outweigh the fruit juice. That’s about it.

Just so you know, if you happen to throw a party like this, the good news is that after the sangria, you’re really looking forward to a fresh springroll in the morning for breakfast.