have more dinner parties

add one more photo, because I love this one!

the Easter bread wreaths, nicely photographed by my talented husband.

I have a bread cookbook from back in the 1970s, & nearly every year since it was given to me, I have baked two wreaths of Easter bread on the Saturday of Holy Week. The recipe incorporates colored eggs within the ropes of dough & little candy sprinkles on top, with beaten egg brushed over it all for shine, so the bread is quite beautiful. I have just searched for images online, & though I found several, none of them looks quite as pretty as this bread. (Maybe we’ll remember to take a photo tomorrow & then I’ll post it.) It is of Greek provenance—a white bread that includes grated lemon peel in the dough. It has to rise three times before being put in the oven to bake!

When my children lived at home, we always had this as part of a special Easter breakfast. Now that they’re on their own, they’ll be here for afternoon dinner tomorrow, so I’ll save it for that time. We’ll also have grilled chicken (I’m searching for a marinade recipe now) & kusherie (Egyptian lentils & rice, as the vegetarian entree).

Since the bread recipe produces TWO wreaths, I always give away one of them to a neighbor or relative. I think the neighbors I had in mind are away for Easter, so now I have to think who should be the blessed recipient instead—hmmmm . . .

have been doing it, & will continue. Last night our guest was a professor friend with whom we’re hatching some Colombia-advocacy plans. The food & wine were yummy, & we couldn’t stop talking—I think she finally left around 1 a.m. (this is her spring break).

We have a dinner scheduled with other friends on Saturday-a couple with a little boy-& others coming up. The dining room is my favorite space in this house!

Tonight we had what is for me the quintessential dinner party, with a Valentine’s Day theme. Three of the women from my monthly creative group were able to come with their husbands; one couple also brought their three kids. So we had 11 people! The kids sat at the card table, next to the dining table where the rest of us were. Candles were lit around the room.

I had spent several hours today hanging art on the walls of several rooms (yea! that’s making inroads on my home-organizing goal), & the dining room is looking simply spectacular. The lower third of the walls is painted a red about halfway between brick & salmon; the upper two-thirds is a light orange (called Papaya). The folk art on the walls isn’t easy to describe, so I’ll just say that it is super colorful & plays a lot with reds, golds & oranges. There is a beautiful stained-glass window, original to this 1915 building, high on the east wall.

And then there was the food. I made a pot of beef burgundy (except you can’t really find burgundy in the wine sections anymore—maybe I could have if I had gone to a big liquor store; I used inexpensive shiraz). One person coming is very hypoglycemic, so I made a kind of swiss steak in a separate pan, omitting the wine & adding tomatoes & green pepper to the onions & mushrooms. Then of course there was a big pot of rice, & I served rolls. One guest brought several bottles of wine; another brought a lovely tossed salad; the mom brought desserts. It was all scrumptious.

The kids seemed to actually like the food; they’re very nice kids (ages 6, 9 & 11 I think) & behaved beautifully. After eating, they used my computer to watch a favorite DVD they had brought.

Meanwhile, we adults ate our desserts with more leisure & some of us sipped tawny port, followed by coffee or herbal tea. Our salon commenced with a CD of music by an elderly African American woman from New Orleans-rootsy & powerful. I read a few of my poems. My creative-group friends have been rooting for my “Adriana’s Angels” picture book, so I brought out the pad & showed everyone the two images I’ve made so far. My first time to show them to anyone-& my friends, who include a gifted visual artist, think they are beautiful! I am super encouraged.

We have an anthology of 20th-century Latin American poems in Spanish with English translations, so my husband read a couple of originals & I read the translations. One was a Pablo Neruda—de rigueur for an evening celebrating romance. Another guest read a really whimsical, amusing love poem by W. H. Auden.

The family with kids had to leave then; the others tarried a bit but also had to hit the road because they have an hour’s drive home. I’m glad it’s not super late—we can finish cleaning up so as not to wake up tomorrow to messy party residue.

I am blissed out. Sigh . . .

is coming up! My “creative group” of women friends decided to make our monthly meeting a coed one in February, & we will host so they can see our still-newish home. I’m going to make beef burgundy over rice—something I make for special occasions only about once every five years! Others will bring the salad, veggie or fruit, wine, dessert.

We’re going to have a salon evening, with people contributing readings (their own writing or others’) on themes of romantic love. Maybe some music will be shared-& I’ve encouraged my friends to bring things to smell or touch too. Why should we always privilege hearing & seeing over other senses? :)

This was another family dinner party—for my purposes that counts. Claire drove up this afternoon to get help with the FAFSA (financial aid form) because she has decided to enroll in a local college’s teacher certification program. We got it done without any real stress, which was amazing. (Working through any kind of application form with her used to be highly conflictual.)

I had already soaked & cooked a pound of black beans. Now I added canned kidney beans, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, sautéed onion & green pepper, garlic, chili powder, salt & pepper, basil, oregano, & bay leaves. The smells that started wafting through the house were so comforting on a cold, damp January day!

Graham, Kate & Em arrived around 7:00. Besides the chili, I served rice, baby carrots, saltines, cheddar & swiss cheese. For dessert I sliced mangos, since several of us are trying to lose weight. My favorite fruit! Scrumptious-& provides the added benefit of leaving a few little bits stuck in my teeth, reminding me to floss, another of my 43 things. :)

Kate had intended to bring Imaginiff, a game I had given them for Christmas-it is quite fun-but she forgot. So we ended up playing 20 Questions, which requires no equipment or game board.

By the way, the reason my husband is not mentioned in this account is that he is currently visiting his homeland.

In both menu & persons in attendance, this dinner was very reminiscent of dinners my kids & I would share when they were young & living at home. I guess it was not surprising, then, that before departing they pulled out an old photo album & waxed nostalgic. It was good for Kate & Em to see those images of our past too. My, how we’ve all grown.

This one was with one of my sisters & her husband, who hadn’t yet visited our new home. After showing them around today, I cooked rice & made stir-fry-thin strips of beef & piles of veggies, with a bit of Trader Joe’s Black Bean Ginger sauce. Put soy sauce on the table for people to add to taste. One of my dietary rules is “Something raw at every meal,” & instead of an elegant salad this time I decided to just put a clementine tangerine by every plate-simple, bright, delicious. My brother-in-law, who is a great cook, complimented the food & made me feel good. :-)

For dessert, my husband brought out a peach-mango tofu custard he had picked out at Trader Joe’s. Very mild & nice. The women had herb tea & the men had coffee (why do so few men in our culture drink tea??). Then we ended up drinking small glasses of tawny port, followed by some really great aged rum we had brought from Puerto Rico. Lively conversation flowed all the way through.

Ahh—so satisfying . . .

Our big tamales & arroz con pollo Labor Day housewarming was delightful-but being introverts, we agreed afterward that once a year is plenty often for a big party like that (nearly 40 people). What I have a yen for is a small party, with everyone fitting around the same table & thus being part of the same conversation. Candles, wine, a bit of music at the beginning & end, interesting yummy food, & maybe martinis as well as a yummy dessert to end with . . . so very civilized & delicious. :)

This may not happen until after the conference that we’re planning for late October. But after that I would love to get into a monthly rhythm.