AFMFL Dinner Report - #1

A good first night indeed. I cannot thank everyone enough for making it such a great evening. X for helping me cook and keeping me from going somewhat insane. Davina for helping with assorted last minute tasks and always offering a cheerful smile. Craig for stepping in when necessary to shake a smoking pan. Joe for keeping his new best friend Dim Sum occupied and happy with lots of human love. X’s cousin Bird, for running to get more ice at 7-11. And even A, for coming all the way over to dinner even though he has been quite ill and wasn’t feeling so good the previous days. Thanks to all of you for making it a great first dinner in what will hopefully be many.

Originally it was only going to be for Craig and Davina. With X and Joe, that meant 5 altogether. Ended up at 9 when X’s cousin Bird stopped by with his wife and Joyce and A were able to make it last minute. As stated it went off a bit late, but mostly good. The main dish chicken spaghetti turned out pretty much well, a bit on the soupy side. Not that I had any. It had chicken, pork and beef in it, none of which I eat. But it looked pretty. Had to instill from the beginning a recurring theme of the project which puts my guests preferences and concerns first before my own. My grandmother Helen (also known as Yaya for those who know her) always prepared what you wanted and never had an opinion. Therefore making something everyone loved trumped me actually wanting to eat it. Always thought it was a noble way to approach feeding folks.

The chicken spaghetti took a real long time to prepare, but that’s no surprise. I remember it always taking my mom the greater part of a day. But that’s also because you have to prepare it almost like a lasagna and then it must sit for 4 hours minimum before baking.

The beans were a great hit, especially with A, who kept getting more and more. J I’m thinking it had something to do with the bit of salt pork fried up with the shallots.

The soup rocked indeed, and even though it was served in water glasses, it was slurped with abandon. Lots of folks seemed to enjoy dipping their hot bread in it. I guess since the soup was cold, the juxtaposition of hot and cold is always good.

The mushrooms, while simple were great. Let’s just try not to set off the fire alarm when preparing them next time kaa.

Moroccan salad was interesting. Never made anything like that before. Sort of a kitchen sink of sorts. It looked pretty.

The pie was nearly all devoured. Clearly a winner, and the butter instead of shortening in the pie crust resulted in more of a shortbread crust which was thicker and more substantial.