I'm still laughing! Well, the dinner party went just fine. Thanks to all of you, I was able to relax and enjoy it all. There was no talk about dieting or that he was on a diet. I couldn't wait to tell you about what happened with the food, though. You know what's coming, don't you? Of course you do. Before dinner, I really didn't pay attention to whether "Cuthbert" ate the blintzes or not or if he ate nuts (I decided against serving the salmon spread), and I did overhear him choosing vodka rocks (as lindac predicted). At dinner, I decided just to serve him the same peanut soup as everyone else. He ate it (admirably slowly), although I noticed when I cleared the bowls that he left the coconut/scallion garnish. He was seated at the other end of the table from me, so I don't know whether he took any vegetables. I put that chicken breast on the table near his end of the table, without any comment. Someone else asked about it, and I just said something like, "Oh, that's just if someone wants something plainer." I served that chicken/pastry/mushroom/artichoke/rice dish individually, and Cuthbert did take a piece. Not only did he eat every bite, he later asked if there was enough chicken left for him to have another helping. He finished that one, too. No dessert for him, not even the meringues. My only comment when I served dessert was in answer to "What are those?": "These are sugarless cinnamon meringues; they're an Atkins recipe." "Mrs. Cuthbert" ate those and no pie. She was seated right next to me, so I couldn't help but notice that, and also that she ate all the chicken dish EXCEPT the chicken. Maybe she has become a vegetarian? I did not ask or comment, of course. The dog and cat were delighted, though! So look at all I learned. I worried about entirely the wrong things. Mrs. C had said, "He finds the diet much easier if he just never deviates. But evidently, he was ready to take a night off. I only hope he didn't think *I* was trying to get him to stick to his diet or commenting on his weight! Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart. You were great. I really wasn't as spazzed out as I seemed -- but I still really, really appreciated your support, sympathy, and suggestions. Oh, and by the way, the youth group didn't end up congregating here anyway; their program was cancelled due to the weather, even though it wasn't bad enough to delay our guests. To thank you all, I want to share that peanut soup recipe with you. It is SO delicious, and really easy and fast -- and always gets "Wow, this is amazing!" from guests. I cut it out of the newspaper 2 years ago; it's by J.M. Hirsch, who writes a vegetarian cooking column. (He and his mom have a cookbook out; I've loved his recipes from the paper so much that I plan to buy it.) I hope you all enjoy it, too. I always double this recipe, which serves only about 4-5. Polynesian Peanut Soup 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut (I had shredded, so I used that) 1 T canola oil 1 c finely chopped onion 1/4 c finely chopped fresh ginger 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 14-oz. can light coconut milk 3/4 c vegetable stock 3/4 c smooth natural peanut butter 1/4 c mango chutney 1 T minced fresh jalapeno chili, or to taste salt to taste 1/4 c finely chopped green onions 2 T minced fresh cilantro [I omit this, as we are "tasters"] sesame oil, for garnish In a small dry skillet, toast the coconut over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes (took less for me). Transfer to a plate and cool. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.* Add the onion, ginger, and garlic . Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and ginger are very tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer the onion mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, peanut butter, chutney, and jalapeno [I chopped the jalapeno in there first and then added the rest]. Puree until smooth (anticipate a little leakage if you're doubling the recipe!). If the peanut butter is too thick, it might be necessary to add more stock (I like it thick, though). Transfer the soup to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until heated through. Season with salt to taste. Meanwhile, toss the coconut with the green onions and cilantro, if using. To serve, drizzle each bowl with some sesame oil and top with a mound of the coconut mixture. *I found that the onions stuck too much, even though I stirred almost constantly, so I ended up using another pot after pureeing. Next time, I will use a nonstick pan first to toast the coconut, then use the same one to cook the onions, ginger, and garlic, and not use the soup pot (Dutch oven) until after pureeing. Still a total of 2 pans to wash.

En route home from the library last night, car said, "Ice possible" and 1 degree Celsius (about 33.5 F.) - and it was snowing. Tomatoes were covered. Over half of them have been touched by frost ... or the teeth of some of the critters. Some have small holes that leads to a substantial cavity, and I've been wondering what is responsible. T'other day I saw one with a little hole in it ... with a small bit of some light coloured, rather flat thing, sticking out. Tried to give it a pull - it was resistant, so got a fingernail pushing against another finger to give a more hefty pull ... and out slid a snail! I've seen a few on or near some tomatoes. Picking some more green tomatoes later this aft. ol joyfuelled (with a bit o' help from a tomato or two - or half a dozen)

Well, I'm having to do a rethink because even though it is very 60s to serve both crab and ham in the same meal, and if I'm flaunting dietary laws why not really "go for it" (she says jokingly) I think it is a little rich and unnecessary. Oldsters don't eat that much . . . I love the idea of using the salmon mold at a party like that, gonna save that idea, but maybe not this one, kinda using this one as an excuse to clear out some stuff in the freezer . . . I cannot wait to throw more porch parties though . . . sigh. Hubs and I are right in the middle of a major backyard deck/porch landscape redo. Gonna take us most of the summer before totally done . . . sigh . . . Of course now I want to have grilled bacon, asparagus and cheese sandwiches . . . but will save that for the family, I kind of want this luncheon to be all prepared ahead . . . but I have asparagus in the fridge NOW so it may soon go on the rotation. If I didn't also have kale languishing it would be tonight . . . ! Hubs wants pizza tomorrow night, wondering how that would all fly as a pizza topping--bacon, asparagus and cheese pizza . . . I might throw some spinach into the mix. Hubs will hate it because it is not traditional. Thankfully my pizza recipe makes two crusts so I make one fun one for me and one with cheese and sausage for him . . . Meanwhile, I think I may still keep the marinated asparagus for the luncheon, or any other marinated vegetable that is in season, and ditch the crab. MTN is right, crab needs to be the star and I'm not quite into that for this particular meal. I'm thinking just marinated chopped salad featuring asparagus, maybe cherry toms, scallions, or radishes, something springy. Maybe toss in a few white beans, keeping it Frenchy. I pulled out a hunk o' ham from the freezer to experiment on, see how it fares plain in a sandwich or make a ham salad . . . but while I was in the freezer I noticed I had puff pastry cups in there. Never did use them . . . thinking I could make shrimp Orleans served in the pastry cups for the main dish and forgo the rich potato salad. I have an old recipe of my Mom's for that too, she put it in a community cookbook back in 1961, two years after she was married and I was born. I have no idea if she ever made the dish, I certainly didn't remember her making it when I was growing up but my uber picky Dad soon took all the joy out of my mother's cooking attempts so I'm not surprised. Her only consolation prize was that she and I shared a love of all the foods my picky Dad and brother turned their noses up at.

Thank you all! the dinner was wonderful fun, the conversation flowed wonderfully and everyone got a chance to have a real conversation with everyone else. DS2 served and the food was very well received, with Golf Buddy asking for seconds and after we had retired to the living room for after dinner drinks and more conversation he asked it he could have another tiny plate! He is a very trim indiviidual who apparently eats a lot of airline food in his work and actually raved about everything., which was unexpected and very nice! I have just a few pictures of the food, did not get one of a filled dinner plate as we were trying to get it out in as warm a state as possible. Here is the trifle: And the cheese tray Crackers were in a long basket made for that purpose.. I think i have a picture of the rolls on my ipad; sometimes with our slower wifi the pictures do not sync to other devices without a little time. After everyone left DS2 and Nephew hand washed everything and dried and I put away. the kitchen is spotless and the table empty of everything except Big Foo and flowers. They were so helpful and I was very appreciative. Nephew is moving to DC in a couple of weeks after a family beach trip so we won’t see him again until Thanksgiving. DS left early this morning and i cant wait to get the full account of his day playing a prisoner, which is filmed in an actual prison!