Same time, next year

Would you believe it's already been a year since I had my last dinner party? And for the same guest no less. My friend Vasco visits rarely since he lives in Uruguay, but he loves my cooking. My favorite quote about it was "you know I can be dominated by cooking." :)

Anyhow, slightly different cast of characters this time: in addition to the guest of honor Vasco, was Jeff, Debbie and Mike (all Mattel folks who've worked with him as well). The evening was very casual and lots of fun. I'll never look at a hotel remote control the same way ever again! :P

The menu:

American caviar on baby heirloom potatoes with creme fraiche
Warm kabocha salad with bacon (from Lucques)
Lamb chops with orange/olive/anchovy butter (Dean and DeLuca), grilled asparagus and roasted polenta
Cold poached pears with a warm pear turnover (no picture with the pastry, but I have the beautiful pear! And don't worry, that's Cool Whip you're seeing)

Everyone was stuffed to the brim and contented. With the exception of the few dairy items and the puff pastry in the turnover, everything was KF. Mission completed, The Food Allergy Queen rode off into the sunset.

Man, it's been a long time

Writing is something that I do for work, but I always seem to forget the pleasures of writing for fun, even if no one else is reading what you've done.

Although I have more time these days, since I'm lacking the daily structure of an office life I'm finding that I get less done...it's maddening. After teaching people about their celiacs disease/food allergies at Surfas, I'm now annoyed with myself for not putting more effort into writing my food allergy cookbook. So many people who love food really don't understand how to work around their restrictions and still eat well.
The trick is to eat well for you, not eat what everyone else has "except for"...

When I have dinner parties, see attached, they are lovely dinners that happen to be Kishari-friendly (or "KF" as my co-workers have dubbed it). No one, including myself, feels deprived.

Thank God I can still eat chocolate. :)