Cooking Up a Storm

Had some people over for curry dinner tonight. In order of appearance ... BFF, Minnie, EO, EON, Wonder Woman, Drummer Boy, Hellamormon, BBK, DW, FGITW, Precious and Superman. I love having people over for curry! There's just something magical about the conversation that occurs when people are seated and eating together ... school. injuries, recent travels to Italy, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, therapuetic interventions, the internet, this blog, Johnny 99 and the battle of the bands, unions, global and personal economics, weddings, dating (of course!), etc, etc. We finished the night with plates and plates of fruit ... among them the Kyoho grapes that I remember eating as a child in Japan (the trick is to sqeeze and suck the insides out and avoid the bitter skin).

There are only a few things that I feel really confident about cooking. Curry is my favorite for having friends over. It's so easy, and most of it can be done early so that I'm not feeling sapped by the time company comes. Besides, while it's simmering, I can spend time arranging the table, which I think I might like better than cooking (and, how I do miss Precious' table!). Other things I like to cook ... chicken with shallots and garlic, pork cutlets with pear slices, a variety of soups, Japanese style spinach, burnt butter cupcakes and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. And, I love to experiment with making different sauces! Generally, whenever Wonder Woman cooks something spectacular, I ask her about it. She'll generally start out by saying, "It's really easy. All you do is a, b, c ... x, y, z, alpha, beta, gamma, etc." The ones that are *truly* easy are the ones I get recipes for and try out on my family. They love me and are generally going to love anything I cook. Someday I'll con WW into teaching my how to make her excellent butterscotch and chocolate puddings.

FGITW stayed around to help do dishes and chat about (our favorite topic) guys we are (and were interested in) dating. Sometimes it's so good to vent. The only thing funnier than venting about guys with one's girlfriends, is venting about guys with one's gay guyfriends. Anyway, the time went quickly by, and soon we were done with all the dishes! A thousand blessing on FGITW's head!

Next week is the Safehouse dinner, another sit-eat-and-converse activity which I love. Another thousand blessings on Ballerina and Kerri for starting them!