return to normalcy

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At last! A real dinner with wine, place mats, and my favorite dinner partner returned home from weeks of late night sound design rehearsals! Sharing meals with loved ones improves food satisfaction immensely. Further, the best meals are made by four hands or more; a belief I've held since my days at Slide Ranch, or as far back as the Macalester veggie coop.

Here's our Saturday night menu:

crusty brown bread with olive oil, fresh mozzarella, & heirloom tomatoes
whole wheat spaghetti with smoked prosciutto, fire-roasted red pepper, peas, & fresh basil
a glass or two of Chianti
chocolate macaroons

A trick we tried with the red-pepper: On a gas stove, turn over the iron burner so that it rests on top of the flame. Place half of a red pepper directly on the burner. Let it rest there until the ends have become burnt. When it looks pretty charred, remove from the burner and wrap in paper towel. After the pepper cools a bit, rub the paper towel against the pepper to remove the charred skin. What you are left with is the perfectly fire-roasted insides of a red pepper.

Now that our small home has returned to a more dependable routine, we are looking forward to successfully executing a weekly menu. This week? Stay posted.

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