June 2008 5 Course Dinner

It's hard to believe that we cooked two 5 course dinners a month apart, but we did. We must have had an abundance of time and energy! Again, I have no pictures of this dinner. So I am sharing a picture of our front field. This is where our guests pull up and come up to the house.
This dinner was a huge success. We once again overfed everyone. You will be glad to know though, that this was the last time. Even when our dinners incorporated more courses, we kept our portions very small. I believe it was after this night, that Carrie and I sat down and had a good discussion about plating. We wanted our guests to experience new flavors exploding in their mouths; just a hand full of bites, and then the dish would be done. Then they would sit in anticipation waiting for the next course. Ha ha. Well these were our thoughts. And our hopes. Whether or not there was any anticipating going on, I'm not sure. I do know we always had very enjoyable evenings, and everyone loved the food. Well...there may have been a dish here or there....
This was also a night of mishaps. Or, putting it a little better, a night of Carrie mishaps. Yes Carrie, I'm grinning. Carrie began the prep work by tackling the dessert, which was a Banana Cream Pie. My notes tell me that she spent three to four hours on this pie alone. In a kitchen with many tasks stretched out before you, that is a lot of time on something that's not working. It just would not come together right. We ended up putting the pudding in a glass and adding raspberry jam and whipping cream and....whatever worked at the moment. We needed to move on. The soup boiled over as we were eating, and made quite a mess. At the same time, the sausage wouldn't cook. The direct result of turning on the wrong burner....

1

Roasted Pear and Arugula Salad

2

Cream of Poblano Soup

Rosemary-Salmon Pillows

3

Fruit Cups with Mint

4

Grilled Prime Rib Roast with Garlic and Rosemary

Chevre Zucchini Gratin

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

5

Chocolate Balls

Lily Rose's White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie...kind of....