An Evening at Home

There is something almost sacred about sharing a homemade meal with friends. Cooking up a warm meal, greeting everyone as they arrive, setting brought courses down on the kitchen table, conversing about our day, pouring a little wine into everyone's glass, and letting go of everything else to enjoy a few hours in the pleasureful bubble of friendly banter, storytelling, and after-dinner board games is truly one of the sublime pleasures in my life.

Last night we welcomed Katy, the daughter of our friend CJ, to town with a potluck. We had a variety of wines: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and pino grigio. Melinda made whole wheat spaghetti with organic tomato sauce, fresh mushrooms & zucchini, and a couple packets of soy beef crumbles.

I scored a fresh-from-the-oven loaf of French bread and turned it into buttery garlic goodness. Lindsay and Angela brought a fresh cucumber salad with homemade dressing, and Mark made some spicy queso. We sat talking about ice cream after our meal and as if by magic, Emily made a late, but nevertheless fantastic, entry with a gallon of (you guessed it) ice cream. I must say getting what you want at the moment you most want it is quite thrilling, if not downright rare. You can bet I enjoyed the hell outta that ice cream!

The night unfortunately had to end, as all things do. Melinda, Mark and I cleaned up the kitchen and took out the trash; we locked the doors and turned out the lights. I think everyone went to bed happy and sated.