Gourmet Lady Blog

THOUGHTS ABOUT COOKING AND ENTERTAINING

Last week I was having an impromptu dinner at Susan's vacation house and was asked by her guest Peggy, "are you a good cook?"  I paused while I thought about this.  Compared to one friend whose idea of cooking is warming up take-out food, I'm an extraordinary cook.  Compared to another friend who does elaborate dishes that are made from recipes with numerous exotic ingredients and use up pans, blenders, sieves and require a lot of monitoring, I'm a simple cook.  But my focus is always more on my guests than the food.  And so I answered, "I'm an excellent hostess and entertainer."  At the core of my own personal cooking philosophy is that if you find very high quality products, you have something that tastes home-made already.  I like to make good food that is simple enough that I get to enjoy my guests. 

Susan's philosophy seems to be the same.  At the end of a very long workday for me, I accepted this spontaneous dinner invitation, and showed up -- without even a bottle of wine in my hand!  Did I forget that I own a wine store too?  www.thewineplace.biz   Imagine that.  I sat down, put my feet up, said thank you for the glass of wine, and was busy chatting with Susan and Peggy and during our conversation there appeared cheese & crackers, and Susan was putting together a delicious salad and we just had such a good time talking.  Enjoying good food and creating an enjoyable atmosphere is an art truly worth cultivating. 

Thanks for the dinner, Susan.  Next time I'll remember to bring wine!