Mrs. Geek and I had our first real grown up dinner party as a married couple on Saturday night. We wanted to do this for several months now. We weren't able to seriously entertain in our home for a better part of the last 18 months because of wedding preparations and our ongoing war with boxes. Now possessing lots of shiny new housewares and a very pleasant home entertainment system, Mrs. Geek and I very much wanted to try to get some of my friends and some of her friends together over good food and drink.
The idea was to have a fondue party, in three courses. After an appetizer of a couple steamed artichokes with clarified butter, dinner consisted of a cheese fondue with bread and fruit, a bagna cauda with sausage, lightly cooked asparagus, and roasted peppers, and finally a chocolate fondue with various Pepperidge Farm-type cookies. We also had a lovely salad with champagne vinegar dressing brought by two of our guests, and several wines, including a couple chardonnays and a roussane.
Though putting two different groups of friends together can sometimes be problematic, our little dinner party came off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We talked about wine, music, and re-told several stories about our wedding... which was the last time everyone at our party was together, even though several people had not yet met at that point. The food ultimately came out great, and we've received compliments from more than one couple we invited.
The event only had two real downsides for me. First was that I did a majority of the prep and clean up for the event. Mrs. Geek was away at a University class necessary for her continuing professional education from early morning to early afternoon on Saturday. This left me with the task of cleaning much of our apartment. Being the master of the kitchen domain in our apartment, I also did the bulk of the clean up afterward on Sunday. All the activity really wore me out and I got sick on Sunday night... with either some kind of short term stomach virus, or nausea that accompanies the vertigo I get when I'm very tired. I missed work yesterday, but I'm back at Company O. today.
The other down side was weight related. Fondue is rich food, and I tended to indulge a bit more than I should have to lose weight. I jumped on the scale at the gym this morning and found that I was a couple pounds heavier than I was on Friday. No more rich food for me for a little while, thank you very much.
It was worth all the effort, though. We all had a great time. I'm very happy to be part of the cause for that happiness.
said drgeek
on 2005-03-01 at 4:41 p.m.
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