Did you say dinner AND a movie?

It takes a bit of coordination to get all the girl's together, but the stars moon must have lined up last night.  I had a dinner party for 11.  Yes, it is an odd number, but were missing one "Sista".  Our condo is much smaller in size from our home, but we do have more open space which allows us to have larger formal dinners.  After all my years in the big old house, I was close to an expert in large gatherings both inside and out.  It was nothing to entertain 50 at Christmas or at a bbq on the deck.  For now, those days are gone.

Last night felt special to me.  It was another opportunity for me to work on recipes and be with people I love at the same time.  It was also a busy time for me as I had three business luncheons to cook for in the middle of preparing dinner for my friends.   

The focus on the menu was to be fresh, in season vegtables which is hard for us who live in the East during April.  Thought:  I cannot wait for the summer!  I also wanted to ensure I kept with a somewhat Italian menu as that's how I make my bread and butter.

The Menu

Mini Pizzettes

     Shrimp scampi with grape tomatoes and shredded mozzeralla cheese

     Asparagus chopped and sauted with pesto and fontina cheese

Parmesan crisps

Sweet pea & mint soup

Mixed greens with walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese

Roasted vegtable lasagna

Dessert

     Cannoli

     Orange zest, chocolate crusted mini cheesecakes 

I had such fun preparing and more fun as everyone arrived.  My instructions were to bring nothing, but they came with plenty of wine, beautiful flowers, calzones and even pasta!  There is a reason why I love these girls.  We visited, ate, laughed, ate some more, had dessert and cappuccino and then headed downstairs to our theatre room and watched the academy award winning movie, The Blind Side.  How much fun was that? 

Life is good when you live your life with great friends....  How lucky am I?

Fino a quel momento (until that time)

LID