How Sunday Dinner Turned Into Sunday Supper

I woke up at 7:25 AM on Saturday. I finished the Blog entry and posted it, then hopped into the shower. We picked up one to two inches of snow (I can't really tell from inside, but you can't see the lawn anymore) overnight, BTW. I'll regret saying this in late January or February, but it looks pretty.

Now I gotta get cranking! I invited Jake and Carla over for dinner at 2:00 and I need to clean the house, prep the food, etc. So, I swept the kitchen and downstairs floors, vacuumed the area rung and the two walk-off carpets, swept all the wood floors and then dry-mopped them with Endust, etc., etc., etc. About 12:30 PM, I was done with the house cleaning and more or less done in!

So, I thought a 30-minute nap might do me good. It probably would have, except I slept until just before 2:00! Yikes!

So, I prepped the Cauliflower-Goat Cheese Gratin. I cut the cauliflower into florets and put as many as I could into my casserole dish. I coated them with heavy cream and then mixed in 1/2 pound of shredded Monterey Jack cheese and two cups of grated Parmesan. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and then cut up 6-ounces of goat cheese into chunks. Those went on top and I set it aside to bake later.

Jake and Carla showed up about then with a bottle of Spanish wine (Marques de Caceres - Crianza) and the mystery dessert. The dessert turned out to be a mincemeat-cranberry tart. They also brought some appetizers (good thing, too, since dinner would now be late): Artichoke-Asiago Dip, Spinach Dip, small pita rounds and blue corn chips.

So we munched on appetizers while two pounds of baby read potatoes, cut into chunks, boiled. I made the basting liquid for the ham (1/2 cup fresh orange juice, 1/2 cup peach nectar and five chipotles, minced. I put the spiral cut smoked ham cut-end down in my roasting pan on a rack. I spooned some of the liquid over it and in between the layers.

The ham went into a 375 degree F. oven for about 30 minutes and I basted it every 10 minutes or so with more of the juice. I mixed up the glaze (1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup of honey) and reserved that for later.

Meanwhile, I made the potato salad with 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup chopped celery, two tablespoons of jarred pickle relish (drained) 3/4 cup mayonnaise, two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup shopped green onions and one tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley leaves. I folded in the potatoes and six hard-boiled eggs, cut in big chunks, and then asked Carla to season it with salt and pepper (she's better at that than I am).

I pulled the ham out, glazed it and stuck it back in the oven, along with the gratin for another hour (it takes that long for the glaze to caramelize).

We talked and set the table and then finally ate about 5:30 PM. Everything tasted pretty good (I especially liked the Cauliflower-Goat Cheese Gratin). Carla cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher and then we had dessert.

That was excellent! Now I love mincemeat pie, so it was a real treat for me. This was like a regular mincemeat pie but with the added tartness of cranberries and a perfect, flaky crust.

My brother Jim called during that time and chatted for a bit. I loaded Jake and Carla up with leftovers (I'd never be able to eat all that stuff) and they gave me the rest of the tart! They left about 7:00 PM and I got busy on my own leftovers.

I cut most of the ham off and stuck it in a baggie in the fridge. The ham bone went into another baggie and into the freezer for either split pea or bean soup. The rest of the gratin went in the fridge as well. I soaked both the roasting pan and the casserole dish for cleanup on Sunday morning.

So, let's review: I was two hours and three minutes late at their house on Thanksgiving and now late for my own dinner party. While I did put out some good dishes, I never made the black-eyed pea salad, the biscuits or even put on a pot of coffee. And, I'll get some good-natured ribbing about this for a while... Sigh...

My friend B___ called and we talked for a while, catching each other up on things. I was going to watch TV but decided to read instead. When I started to nod, I took off my glasses, shut the light off and went to sleep. For a change, I didn't notice the time.