A dinner party of Lilliputian proportions

Chris and I had our friends Stacy and Andrew (they're newlyweds!) over for dinner on Friday night, and it was so much fun :) S & A would probably agree, except for the part when I forced them both into the bathroom and demanded that they admire the ceiling :)

"Isn't it beautiful?? Doesn't it look amazing? Don't you LOVE IT??," I bellowed, gesturing wildly towards the plain white ceiling and walls. Being polite folks, they agreed... though, now that I think about it, they looked a little scared. ;)

I also had fun getting ready for dinner. I straightened up around the house that morning (although if I hadn't spent much of that time on the phone, with first my mom and then Frances, I would have gotten done faster-- wouldn't have had nearly as much fun, though ;) ) and then headed out to the stores. Trader Joe's was my first stop where I found, in addition to the other things on my list, a fantastic bunch of sunflowers for $3.99! Go, Joe! Though these aren't the actual sunflowers I bought, they are remarkable similar in size and quantity:

(photo from Thomas Hawk's site)

I arranged them in a tall, cobalt blue vase and put them on the corner table in the dining room-- gorgeous!

After finishing up at TJ's, I headed over to Whole Foods to get a rotisserie chicken, which I would later pop in the oven to re-heat. Everyone said that it was good, so I believe them. I always feel weird about serving something that I haven't tried, but what's a vegetarian to do? Take people's word for it, I guess ;)

Here's the menu:

Freshly baked bread (still warm from the oven) and butter
Herbed mixed greens salad, with a flax seed oil dressing

Barbequed rotisserie chicken
Mushrooms and brown basmati rice

Chocolate pound cake (baked that morning)


Here are the recipes for the bread and the rice dish. I'll post the recipe for the chocolate pound cake later, when I have more time.

I got this bread recipe from my mom, and its an old standby: easy to make and delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cupt sugar
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 5 cups flour
• 2 eggs

Directions

• Pour the warm water into the bowl of your mixer (don't forget to use the bread hook attachment, if you are in fact using the mixer), and sprinkle the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar over it. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Add the remaining sugar, the milk, the salt, and the butter
• Mix together
• Add in 2 1/2 cups flour, and beat until smooth.
• Add eggs, one at a time.
• Add two cups of flour, a little at a time, until the dough is smooth.
• Turn dough out onto a floured board (1/2 to 1 cup) or countertop and kneed until satiny
• Grease a large-ish bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish cloth and set in a warm place for one hour (I put mine outside in the sun on the deck with great results. A barely warm oven, with the door open, also works well).
• Turn the risen dough out onto the board again, and punch down. Kneed into a ball. Cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Shape the dough into two loaves.
• Grease two loaf pans, and add dough. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Heat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for 12- 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and turn out loaves onto a clean cloth.
• Let bread cool a bit before cutting, or it will crumble.
• Enjoy with butter, mmmmmm!

The rice dish was one of those happy accidents-- you know what I'm talking about! I'd originally thought that I'd just saute the mushrooms and serve them separately from the rice. But then, as I thought about it, I decided to try it this way. Am I glad that I did, as it was quite tasty.

Mushrooms and Rice

Ingredients

• Brown basmati rise, cooked according to directions (I went the 1 cup water, 2 cups rice route and it made enough for 4 people, with a bit left over)
• 2 packages of mixed wild mushrooms
• Shaved parmiggiano reggianno cheese

Directions

• Cook rice, and set aside.
• In a large saucepan, saute the mushrooms in olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Cook until done.
• Add the rice to the mushrooms, and stir. Add more oil if needed.
• Add the cheese and stir until everything's well mixed.
• Add a bit of sea salt and/or pepper, if you like.
• Enjoy!

Ok, I'm off to do a few things around the house. I'm proud of myself, though, as I actually made the bed and did some laundry before I sat down at my computer this morning. Its all about iron control, you see ;)

Thanks for stopping by,
Kimberley