Harvest dinner

The tomatoes are starting to ripen, so tonight's dinner focus was on tomatoes, all shapes, sizes and colors. My Dad and Nancy contributed a hand full of beautiful tomatoes from their garden. They also supplied carrots, basil, parsley, gooseberries, and peppers, most of which went into the pasta sauce.


The menu:
- Rainbow garden tomato bruchetta
- Homemade pasta
- Garden veggie pasta sauce
- Brownies with ice cream and gooseberries



The guests: Britta, Matt, Oliver, Dad, Nancy



Lou couldn't handle the excitement of food + 1.5 year old kid, so he got to be on his leash for half of the night. I'll have to remember this trick for future nights...

Is there anything that can't be grilled?

The answer is probably no. Is there anything that shouldn't be grilled? Yes. PB&J sandwiches is not one of them. Tonight's main feature: grilled PB&J. It's not bad, actually.


The menu:
- grilled PB&J
- chips and salsa
- celery, carrots, green pepper, cherries


The guests: Adam, Andy, Braun, Chris

Earlier in the week, I thought tonight would be the night to end the streak of dinner guests. At the start of the month, I had predicted that there would be at least one night this month when I would be the only "guest" at dinner. My prediction is looking less and less likely to come true. That's a good thing.

Heartbroken

So, the Saints lost and broke my heart a little. It was a fun time though. Good weather, good company. I forgive them.


The menu:
- grilled personal pizza
-choice of toppings: green peppers, mushrooms, caramelized onions, pepperoni, canadian bacon, sausage, pineapple


The guests: Andy, Dad, Henry, Jen, Josh, Justin, Kyle, Laura

Tempeh ruebens

My sister, Emily, and I were really into making (and eating) tempeh ruebens this spring. We got into a vicious/delicious cycle that forced us to eat ruebens everyday for about a week. It started out with an innocent craving, which led us to the co-op to buy a loaf of rye bread, a package of tempeh, a bottle of thousand island dressing (or whatever the hippie equivalent is), sauerkraut, and some cheese. The pack of tempeh was a perfect portion for the two of us, but we were left with half a loaf of rye bread and 2/3rds of a container of sauerkraut. What are you supposed to do with that?
Our solution was to go back to the co-op the next day to get more tempeh. And then back the next day because we had run out of bread. Then we had to use all of that bread... you get the idea. Anyway, we got really good at making tempeh ruebens, so I thought I'd share the goodness at dinner tonight.

The menu:
- Tempeh ruebens
- Meaty ruebens
- Cucumber and (garden) tomato salad
- Cherries

The guests: Aaron, Adam ("Trickster"), Adeel, Ebony, Em, Mod, Ryan ("Murph")


The empty chair was for Mod, who joined later.


Murph got in a quick game of solitaire catch-a-chicken and won. Good job, Murph!

Build your own 'bob

For dinner tonight we had grilled veggie/meat kabobs. They were pretty tasty.


The menu:
- kabobs
- watermelon
- sour cream and onion chips


The guests: Andy, Austin, Emily, Patrick

After dinner, Austin, Andy, and Lou played a friendly game of catch-a-chicken.


Andy cornered Bug by the coop for the win.


Austin was a good sport about his loss.

If the guests demand pork chops

You gotta give em pork chops. I made an impromptu rule yesterday that if there is only one RSVP for a night, the guest can have a say in what I make. As of late yesterday Justin was the only guest who had reserved a chair, and so, requested pork chops. Once word got out that I was making pork chops the chair count sky-rocketed!

The menu:
- grilled pork chops
- grilled zucchini
- grilled beans
- (leftover) grilled corn
- watermelon
- caramelized bananas with vanilla ice cream. yum!




The guests: Andy, Austin, Emily, Justin, Missy, Patrick


(Em and Mod came later)


Logistical note for Friday: dinner night will take place outside the Saint's stadium. Tailgating, followed by cheering on my favorite baseball team! They won't break your heart.

One down...

Despite the heat, humidity, floods, downed trees, and threat of more severe thunderstorms, the first night of open dinner table was a success.

The menu:
- brats and veggie burgers
- potato salad
- fire-roasted salsa like my sister, Danica, taught me how to make
- grilled corn



The guests, in alphabetical order:
Aaron, Andy, Em, Jeff, Justin, Laura, Mark, Mod




Highlight of the night:
Andy: "Why is Mark calling me?"
Melanie: "Is he stuck in the bathroom?"
Andy: "Hello?" (pause) "Yeah, I'll be right up."
It's okay, Mark. You're not the first to get stuck in that bathroom. It's trickier than a bathroom should be.