Gourmet Lady Blog

There are some very wonderful folks who have a custom called invite-the-gourmet-lady-to-dinner.  This is a lovely custom which I do my best to encourage.  Long ago before I was the Gourmet Lady, I was always the one doing the entertaining.  Since I became the Gourmet Lady, now I don't have the time for that, and frankly, my china is still in boxes.  I'm hoping to unpack it next week, really I am.  At New Years, most people make serious resolutions such as pay off their debts, lose weight, clean the garage, give up smoking, etc.  I prefer a different type of resolution, and last year resolved to "learn to be a good guest." 

In my endeavor to be a good guest, I have discovered that it really is great fun to *be* a guest.  It's wonderful to receive the invitation in the mail, have someone drop in the shop and say "come over for dinner next Friday" or even, "come over for dinner tonight."  I think about the time I used to spend getting ready for dinner parties -- delightful, but we're talking a bit of time spent planning, recipe hunting, list making, shopping, table setting, and the hours upon hours of planning the seating charts for formal dinners.  My goodness.  Did any of you realize that I keep mental track of who is left handed, who can't hear out of their right ear, who passes food and who hasn't figured that out, who is a good conversation starter, not to mention who is allergic to what?  Yes, I kept mental track of that, or maybe I'm just mental.

Oh, but back to being a guest.  So now I walk through the door of someone else's home, carrying an appropriate hostess gift.  A bottle of Oregon wine is always a good choice, or a little bag of afternoon tea goodies (lemon curd, clotted cream, scone mix, Tea Forte teabags), some gourmet peanut butter and jam, crystallized ginger, what could be better.  And I take note of the view and the decor and the guests and relax and chat and have a good time.  I'm usually given a "pass" from dishwashing chores, how lovely. 

To be cooked for is an exquisite treat for me as a guest.  A recent dinner invitation came from Linda and her mom Lina, where I frequently dine witih just them and their two birds, Cookie and Kiwi.  Lina is prone to saying, "have you met the birds?"  They are cutie pies, and good company for her when Linda is away.  But I digress.  This last weekend, Linda had invited her entire hiking group from Bend to for a weekend at the coast.  They arrived with hiking gear and a feast fit for royalty.  Their hiking plans changed due to a big storm, so Plan B included attend Oregon wine tasting at The Wine Place www.thewineplace.biz -- they filled the store.  At dinner, all of them produced a favorite dish and there was tamale pie, brocolli cheese casserole (no, there can NEVER be too much cheese), chicken salad, and someone made homemade huckleberry ice cream which was the perfect pairing with chocolate cake.  What a treat.  I'm hungry just thinking about it.