Campaigning isn’t all work — sometimes it’s just yummy. Amanda Daly invited me to her church group yesterday, where they were doing their annual ‘cook as many dishes as possible from an Ina Garten cookbook and vote on your favorites’ party. She introduced me to many of her friends, and told them all that I was running for library board. It wasn’t an intense campaigning event, but I did end up talking to a few people about the library in more detail, as we were sipping our drinks. Then it was time to EAT.
The meal was amazing — we all had just a tiny bite of each dish, but with thirty appetizers, twenty entrees, ten vegetables, and twenty deserts, that was still 2-3 meals’ worth of food. Plus copious amounts of wine and cocktails. Four hours of DELICIOUSNESS, great company, and great conversation.
My personal food favorites: smoked salmon deviled eggs, soppressata and cheese in puff pastry, lobster and potato salad, filet of beef with gorgonzola sauce, rack of lamb (with tzatziki, I think?), mustard roasted fish, peas and pancetta, roasted pear and apple sauce, tagliatelle with truffle butter, Eton mess, cranberry and apple cake, and rum raisin tiramisu. (With a generous hand on the rum.)
I would gladly serve any of those at a dinner party. And I don’t think I’ve ever made an Ina Garten recipe before, so I guess I’m a convert! The woman who organizes the event is an Ina Garten super-fan — she’s done this for seven years running, each time with a different cookbook. 🙂