Dinner with Lisa, Janine, Gus, Kathy and Kathleen

Last night Dale and I had over our friends Lisa and Janine and their son Gus. Also joining us were our friends Kathy and Kathleen. Dale made baked rigatoni and green beans amandine. Lisa and Janine brought over a salad and Kathy and Kathleen brought dessert. I served as drink mixmaster. We pulled out the leaf on the table for the first time since probably last December. Dale pointed out this morning that the table looks very inviting. I agree.

Our Steamer

Dale's mom and dad, Brenda and Irv, got us this steamer for Christmas in 1993. That's goin' on 18 years ago! My conservative estimate is that we use it 4-5 times per week. We love our steamed veggies!

Chili

Tonight we had chili. We've been making this recipe of Dale's for years. Here's the recipe we use:

1 lb. ground turkey

2 15 oz. cans beans

2 15 oz. cans stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

beer

Fry off the turkey and mix it into a dutch oven with the other ingredients listed above. Add the beer to taste. Red wine works well as an alternative to beer. Dish it up and add sour cream and grated cheese to your liking. Sometimes we chop up other toppings like onion and green pepper.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2011

Dale slaved away over a hot crock pot today and made a wonderful beef stroganoff. He also made some very delicious brussels sprouts. For dessert we had burnt butterscotch ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery.

Pizza!

Dale and I made pizza tonight. It was delicious.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Dale and I made pizzas for dinner last night. We stopped by Pumphouse Creamery earlier in the day to pick up some pumpkin ice cream and had it for dessert last night along with some Pepperidge Farms sugar cookies. It was divine. Simply divine. The seasonings were subtle and it had just the right amount of sweetness.

Crab Dip

Dinner at Warren and Gary's last night. He asked if I could bring over an appetizer and I decided on a recipe I haven't done in a long, long time. I have a crab dip recipe that is from the Paul Newman cookbook that came out in about 1986. Warren made Mexican food and it was delicious. His chicken enchiladas were quite tasty and he made a Mexican style soup that I believe was his own recipe. For dessert we had burnt butterscotch ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery.

An Actual Dinner on Sunday

Today Dale and I went to brunch at the house of some friends from church. Fran and Charlie hosted us along with Arthur, Zara, Cindy, Maggie along with Rev. Michelle, a priest that used to work at our church. Zara has been living away for awhile and is back in town so it waas especially nice to reconnect with her. The chance to eat and relax with some very wonderful people was very much appreciated today. The previous week was long and this morning on the way to church I was actually feeling some anxiety about returning to work tomorrow. The company and the food was all so wonderful that it really put me in a relaxed state and caused me to remember that I really don't have any pressing business that I need to take care of the rest of the day. It reinforced for me that sharing a meal with others really is one of the most wonderful things in life.