Lil dinner party

 Polpettone Farcito (or Egg-Stuffed Meatloaf)We had a date! Some dear friends we don't get to see enough came down to a.) deliver a HUGE PAINTING that I called "dibs" on and b.) just hang out and be together. Dinner and Scrabble. No biggie, but I wanted it to be special cuz we haven't seen them since Ray's funeral.  Leah has been having fun making soap and candles and brought a sample/beta tester pack of her "wake&bake" coffee&herbage scrubbie soap, a gorgeous goat milk soap, an apple scented soap, two candles: one gardenia and the other is a soft dove gray and is faintly bergamot? I swapped her some of the lemon curd Izzy & I made over the weekend.

Leah chose Italian as the inspiration for our menu and I started thawing all the things. Using venison hunted locally by the son of a friend and pork & bacon from steinhauserfarms. I used a simple spice mix of onion & garlic powder and black pepper. I used eggs from our hens and the last of the spinach from last year's harvest.

That was served with rosemary sweet potatoes and was very well received.  I was thrilled to also serve a peach and almond cheesecake. Everybody loved it but I wish I had put some peaches IN the batter. The almond flour crust worked a treat. Super caramelized and crisp. I would share the recipes, but I basically just winged it cuz...well...I like to cook!

It genuinely makes me happy to feed friends and it was such a lovely night. Can't wait to go up and see their farm!