simple dinner party fare

Steven and Jenny came over last night - we hadn't seen them in quite some time since our last trip to Vancouver coincided with their summer vacation to Florida. We were glad to have the place tidied some and some proper deck furniture for them to sit on, and all in all, is was a good dinner with them.

We were pretty pressed for time yesterday, what with visiting Dad and some other errands. I felt a little harried through dinner, and so I decided not to subject them to photographs of their food. After they left, I replated some things and snapped away. Marie was home late, and she needed dinner, so the replated food served as her meal.

We snacked on some simple things out on the balcony: caribou pate, fig cake, fig and olive toasts, and a Fraser Valley ash chevrotina we picked up at les amis du FROMAGE; olives, and some nuts I toasted and tossed with some seasonings. Conrad and I shared with them the Hula O Maui sparkling wine we bought a few weeks back, hearkening back to when we went to Steven and Jenny's for dinner and they shared a bottle of Volcano White from the Big Island. You know, it was pineapple wine, but it was light and crisp.

Dinner is slightly misrepresented here. The side greens (arugula with tomatoes, red onion, and pomegranate seeds) are not dressed with the simple vinaigrette I made, nor are there any pieces of the corn on the cob I quickly cooked. The true star - pale as it may be against that bright green arugula - is the meat pie. It's a take-off on an old restaurant stand by, a Cajun meat pie. I winged it some, and it could have been prettier, but the pork filling was very nicely seasoned even if it wasn't all that spicy in the end.

For dessert, I have to thank my old friend/former colleague Gail. She got me the recipe for the Black Magic chocolate cake we used to make at the restaurant, and I knew Conrad would thrill to this dessert. It's one of the best chocolate cake recipes I've ever known. Though I was scrambling to frost it up until the minute the guests walked in the door, I was pleased with the result, and I hope the pieces I sent home with Steven and Jenny will make their kids happy.

And then I went to bed. Feeling very tired, very fat, very heavy. Well fed and exhausted. I was up a little later than usual this morning, and I've not yet bothered with either coffee or breakfast. We definitely will go have a swim today!