My grandmother, Ruth Elder, was in many ways the inspiration for this blog. She has always been my ideal of the perfect hostess. Her home was beautiful. She was an interior decorator and was still working into her 70's. Her style was probably best described as Classic. Each room was filled with antiques but never looked cluttered or dark. She loved large windows, long drapes, and soft colors. My grandparent's house was always immaculately clean and anyone who entered was offered a cold drink and something to eat as soon as they arrived. Someday, I'd like my house to be the type of place where people feel comfortable as soon as they enter. I don't want to worry that they see a spider web in the corner of the ceiling or that there are unwashed dishes in the sink. I want to remember to offer everyone a drink and have something in the pantry for them if they are hungry.
I'm not there yet. I have dishes in my sink right now. I'm sure there is a visible spiderweb somewhere and just the other day, I found a dead roach on the living room floor. But I'm trying. I invited a group of friends over for dinner tonight and the house looked pretty good and the food was yummy. Everyone had fun and that's really what it's all about. My goal is to do this more and when I do it, to stop stressing so much about it.
Tonight I made 4 recipes but I am going to write about 6 here. I made two recipes last night and forgot to take pictures so I'll include those recipes at the end here. Two families, the Connors and Taylors, joined us for dinner and we had Ribs with Chipotle-Cherry Barbecue Sauce. The recipe in the magazine was actually called "Dinosaur Bones" but I didn't have time to special order extra-large beef ribs. The ribs were tender as cooked and the sauce was a good mix of spice and sweet. Joel and Rebecca Taylor had actually joined us earlier in the summer for the Pincho Ribs with Sherry Glaze and these ribs were not as lip-tingling spicy. The kids even tried them although all our kids are under 5 and ribs are just not a popular choice for that age.
Rebecca is a vegetarian so I wanted a creative pasta option for her. The Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Olivada had no meat in it and a good mix of salty cheese, meaty olives, and fresh tomatoes and even the non-vegs of the group like it. Sherrana and Phil Connor's daughter, Lily, loves olives and she ate the olivada alone. The Root Beer Baked Beans needed a short cook time so they were a good choice for a busy night. The root beer was noticeable but not too sweet. Unfortunately, the flavor was not as rich as slow roasted baked beans. (As a side note: Richard took the beans to work the next day and both he and I felt the beans were better after a day.) I had most of the previous night's Malted Milk Cookie Tart but at the last minute, I decided to make the Mixed Berry Shortcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream. I was glad I did. The Malted Milk Cookie Tart became rock hard after sitting in the fridge for a day. The tart was good but incredibly rich. If someone is a die-hard chocolate fan, this was a winner but I found it overwhelmingly sweet. The Mixed Berry Shortcakes were pretty traditional biscuits with berries and cream but this dessert carries the taste of summer. Kids and adults loved this dessert and it didn't need any fancy extras.
As I mentioned, last night I made a quick Rosemary-Lemon Grilled Turkey Cutlets and Red-Skinned Potato Wedges. This super easy weeknight meal was good but nothing to rave about. A simple dressing with garlic and rosemary over the grilled potatoes was a creative simple way to dress up the meat and potatoes staple.
Dinosaur Bones with Chipotle-Cherry Barbecue Sauce-A
Pasta Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Green Olivada-B+
Root Beer Baked Beans-B
Mixed Berry Shortcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream-B
Malted Milk Cookie Tart-B
Rosemary-Lemon Grilled Turkey Cutlets and Red-Skinned Potato Wedges-C+
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