Monday, June 1, 2009

Saturday dinner on the porch

Featuring:
Peonies soft and sweet as whipped cream
Gorgeous *local* asparagus

Red, ripe strawberries
Full plates,

and hungry friends.
(Ignore the camera strap in that picture!)

The beautiful thing about having friends who blog over for dinner is, they completely understand when you drift away from the conversation to frown intently at your camera for a few minutes. Thanks, Kami and Colleen (and your husbands!) for the wonderful company and excuse to eat on the porch.

For food, I kept things low-key. I made a bastardized version of Heidi's Thousand Layer Lasagna. I made fabulously easy (and fabulously good) Sundried Tomato Pesto. The salad was (proudly) entirely from the garden, right down the chive blossoms and radish slices. I spent time puttering around with a Black Pepper Roasted Asparagus idea I've had, and for dessert, there was a stirring reprisal of my new favorite cobbler, this one. This time there was ice cream on top.
And after all the wine was drunk and the candles were blown out, there was the sweet satisfaction of Patrick and myself (tipsy) sitting on the empty porch in the quiet still dark. Satisfied hosts. Sweet.


13 comments:

Karen said...

i constantly dream of the days until i have such a porch ... but until then, i'll be content to cram my tiny apartment full of bodies. i love playing host, and feeding for everyone ... guess i'm a progressive housewife in training. fine. i love it! i want to do breakfast for friends, too ...

Amanda Nicole said...

Lovely! Lasagna is my go-to meal for dinner guests too. I love seeing plates scraped clean!

Huhnybee said...

This was such a wonderful evening, Kristina. You are such a gracious and loving hostess. Your attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed, trust me. We are so happy to have you and Pat a part of our lives.

Audrie said...

I love peonies... I'm waiting eagerly for mine to finally bloom!

Kristina Strain said...

Karen-- "Progressive housewife-in-training" sounds great to me! A worthy title.

Amanda-- Sometimes, nothing beats a good lasagna.

Mrs. Danby-- Why thanks. My only wonder is why we don't do it more often.

Bleu-- I love them, too. Their smell is so sweet and their season so fleeting... you have to get them while you can.

ChristyACB said...

You grew all the produce? Awesome! And how tasty. I sure don't enterain as much as I'd like, and your kind of entertaining sounds tops to me. :)

Zoe said...

Thats great! You are so lucky to have such a garden!

Kami said...

Thank you for a lovely evening! Did you notice that yummy little baby arm reaching across the table?? NOM NOM!
So glad you posted the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto...twas awesome! Even my picky husband loved it!!

Kristina Strain said...

Christy-- What I meant to say was, the salad was entirely from the garden. The asparagus and strawberries were from a farm stand.

Kami-- Yes I did notice that sweet little arm-- so glad she made it into the picture!

boatbaby said...

peonies like whipped cream... i love that! Beautifully written!

jen said...

one day I will have a porch (and house!) to entertain at ...or is it on?...
I love the pics and the comment about having blogging friends is so true. Don't you love the crazy looks non-blogging folks give when one is crouching in a flower bed for the perfect shot, or taking a plate of food outside because of the great lighting? Yeah. My dear apartment neighbors think I'm crazy.

Kristina Strain said...

Boatbaby-- Thanks for that comment, it made my day! :)

Jen-- Ah yes, the never-ending crazy looks. In order to be a blogger, it helps to be plucky. My husband is very indulgent of my need to photograph our dinners, often waiting while his dinner gets cold so I can take a pretty picture. Good times.

sarapirat said...

seems like an amazing saturday dinner... i must say, the older i get, the more i enjoy cooking and learn about food, the less i find reasons to go out for dinner. *however, i still enjoy it*
i became spoiled with such great homemade food, by friends, my boyfriend, myself,
very few restaurants can beat that!

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