Dinner Party

I went to an awesome party at my library. It was given for those who are participating in the summer reading program. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to it. Gram nearly had to kick me out of the house in order for me to go to it. I do NOT like to be thrown into social situations in which I don't know anybody. Once, I went to a wedding in Indiana with the guy who was my boyfriend at the time. I didn't even know the bride or the groom. He tossed me into the pack of wolves and I was left to survive on my own. (Apparently I didn't make a good enough impression because they told him to dump me, which he did a few days later. Over the phone.) I have always been a shy person and it takes a long time for me to open up to most people. I was afraid this party would include a bunch of people standing around making awkward conversation. Boy was I wrong!

First of all, there were only nine of us there. I'm not sure how many people are in the program but I was surprised to see so few. Upon arriving, we were asked to sit at one of the tables in the small(ish) community room in the back of the library. I recognized one of the librarians but everyone else was unfamiliar to me. There was a man at a table in front of the room with food and cooking utensils and I still didn't know what was going on. A nice lady named Shirley sat down next to me and we made polite chit chat throughout the evening. (Another thing I'm horrible at!) The party got underway and the guy at the front introduced himself as a personal chef. The library hired him to make a full course meal for us! We started off the evening with freshly-made pico de gallo. He made it without alcohol and served it to the expectant mothers, and then added beer and served it to the rest of us. Then he added peppers, though I can't remember which kind. I preferred it with the peppers. Then he made Caesar salad, which originated from Tijuana, keeping with the Mexican theme for the evening. I also learned that anchovies are a common ingredient. I wasn't particularly fond of learning the fact but was able to swallow most of the salad.

After the salad came the main course: pork tacos! He had roasted pork tenderloin marinated in tamarind (sp?) chipotle sauce. He had two types of peppers and lettuce to add to the meat after it was heated with mushrooms in the sauce. It was SOOOOO delicious. I have to email him to get the recipe. I was expecting the tacos to be spicy hot but the sauce was more sweet than anything else. He told us to save room for dessert because he had something special for us. He had made polenta almond cake with a creamy caramel almond sauce. I felt like I was in a modern-day episode of Downton Abbey since we had our own personal chef and was served a 4-course meal. I was stuffed by the time my cake was finished but I asked if I could take a piece home for Gram. She enjoyed it as well. We were also given some coupons for free food at Culver's and Taco Bell, though Taco Bell will never live up to the food I had at this party! I also picked out a really fancy reusable drinking glass. I'm really glad I signed up for the reading program, though I never expected all of this. It was a great way to end the Apostles' Fast!!!

In other news, Gram and I are watching season 2 of Downton Abbey again. It's nice being around somebody who is addicted to it and Mr. Bates as I am. We just finished the fourth episode in which Matthew and William go missing. I think one of my favorite scenes will always be when Mary sees Matthew at the concert for the solders in that episode. My mom tried to watch it once but couldn't get into it. She and my step-dad will be here on Monday to stay with us for a couple of days. I miss having her around for many reasons, but one thing I'm really looking forward to is her neck rubs. She has tough thumbs and knows how to massage out the little balls of stress in my neck and shoulders. Sometimes I feel like my head sinks down into my shoulders and she can stretch out my neck. I'm usually sore for a couple of days but the stress is lowered. We will be celebrating my step-dad's birthday next week and Mom wants me to bake a cake and key lime pie. I found an easy recipe online and I hope it turns out well. Gram has a long list of things that need to be cleaned before they get here and I'm not looking forward to it. But she even bothered to get our dog to the groomer's so he's not smelly while my parents are here. Of course, that means I get to shampoo the carpet in the living room.

My second and final namesday of the year was on the 27th. I didn't do anything special but was able to get to church Friday. Our priest asked me to help out the chanter during both services. Some of what we sing is in Greek but the books we use have Greek phonetics in them so it's easier to follow. The chanter and I switched over to English during one of the hymns that closely resembled something we sing at my church in Michigan and I have to say that we rocked at it! The choir director asked me to sing with them on Sundays but I can't do that right now. I'd rather chant than sing though.

I hope I don't wait another two and a half weeks before my next post. A friend of mine has invited me to Cornerstone next week. It's not really my kind of thing but this is the last year for it and there's going to be some Orthodox stuff going on. I'll definitely take my camera if I go.

Until next time,

~Staci~