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Dollhouse & Dinner Party
Mar. 8th, 2009 06:07 pm
( Dollhouse Ep 4, 'Gray Hour' )
Well, the dinner party went well. It started snowing midday yesterday, so I was even more ambivalent about going. I forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and stop being such a hermit, so I went anyway. The roads were icy and slick, but not terribly so, although there was a stretch of the 405 that was totally backed up due to some asswipe stopped in the middle of a lane. It always amazes me when I go to one of these things -- "This is what adults do," I think. Have dinner parties with nice food and intellectual discussion. But in a good way, not in a stuffy way. Other than C. and her husband I didn't really know anyone, but there were only 7 people total so I didn't get that claustrophobic, "OMG room full of strangers" feeling.
Since it was cold and had just snowed, it wasn't really a barbecue. They did cook the lamb roast in the barbecue, but it was more of a thing where everyone stayed inside and occasionally C.'s husband would go out and check on it thing. I even got to try something new -- a special Italian pasta that's extra long and colored with SQUID INK. It tasted like regular pasta (disappointingly -- I kind of wanted to be able to taste the ink, especially after reading Garlic and Sapphires, because Ruth Reichl mentions it during one of the dinners she has), but the black noodles with the red tomatoes, green scallions, and cream-colored pine nuts made for great visual appeal. The pumpkin pound cake was OK. I think the adaptation was very good; it was just that the base recipe wasn't all that. Pictures and more commentary about the food here.
Right now I'm trying something simple and new. I've got a bunch of seared, country-style pork ribs in the slow cooker, along with a bottle of BBQ sauce. I can't remember where I got the idea from; some community or food blog I was perusing. It smells just totally awesome -- we'll see how it tastes in an hour or two!
Well, the dinner party went well. It started snowing midday yesterday, so I was even more ambivalent about going. I forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and stop being such a hermit, so I went anyway. The roads were icy and slick, but not terribly so, although there was a stretch of the 405 that was totally backed up due to some asswipe stopped in the middle of a lane. It always amazes me when I go to one of these things -- "This is what adults do," I think. Have dinner parties with nice food and intellectual discussion. But in a good way, not in a stuffy way. Other than C. and her husband I didn't really know anyone, but there were only 7 people total so I didn't get that claustrophobic, "OMG room full of strangers" feeling.
Since it was cold and had just snowed, it wasn't really a barbecue. They did cook the lamb roast in the barbecue, but it was more of a thing where everyone stayed inside and occasionally C.'s husband would go out and check on it thing. I even got to try something new -- a special Italian pasta that's extra long and colored with SQUID INK. It tasted like regular pasta (disappointingly -- I kind of wanted to be able to taste the ink, especially after reading Garlic and Sapphires, because Ruth Reichl mentions it during one of the dinners she has), but the black noodles with the red tomatoes, green scallions, and cream-colored pine nuts made for great visual appeal. The pumpkin pound cake was OK. I think the adaptation was very good; it was just that the base recipe wasn't all that. Pictures and more commentary about the food here.
Right now I'm trying something simple and new. I've got a bunch of seared, country-style pork ribs in the slow cooker, along with a bottle of BBQ sauce. I can't remember where I got the idea from; some community or food blog I was perusing. It smells just totally awesome -- we'll see how it tastes in an hour or two!
