before/after

before

It started as a simple attempt to beat the doldrums: let's have friends for dinner. It got us up, out of bed, cleaning the house, and cooking food that was interesting on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Perfect. We'd worried about having too little food for what grew to dinner for five, but it worked out pretty well - I, for one, am stuffed.

I didn't take pictures during because we had Cass' classmates over and they are unaware of my strange, blogging habits and I didn't want to weird them out (unlike my friends, who give me tomatoes with the agreement that I will photograph what I do with them and put them on the blog - love you guys!!).

Do you want to know what we had? We started with a bottle of Hitching Post Highliner, with bread and olive oil with salt and fresh tarragon, and a little bowl of those aforementioned tomatoes seasoned only with salt and pepper. We had salad: greens topped with roasted fennel, tomatoes and onions, with a garlic-balsamic vinagrette and kalamata olives. We had hanger steak in a shallot and red wine sauce with classic, twice-fried pommes frites and a sort of creamless creamed corn with tarragon. After the entree, we sipped cognac au chocolat (think I nailed it this time), then I made a pot of chai tea with World Spice's sweet chai spice blend and their northwest afternoon lapsang tea, and ate black-pepper-and-cinnamon biscotti I'd baked.

after

now it's nearly 9, we've only washed a few dishes (eh, we'll do the rest in a flash tomorrow am). It was dark by 8:15 (oh, how the seasons are changing) and just these two little candles are illuminating the front room. With the cool air filtering in from the many open windows (we heated up the place plenty with all that cooking), it feels like autumn, and I am dreaming of more downpours, more warm cozy evenings, more hearty meals shared.

thanks for coming, friends! You really made our weekend.