We decided to eat outside on our porch (freshly stained, btw--it's now a lovely peachy/orangey shade, rather than gray), so we moved the table outside. Because of the way our house faces, we get shade on our porch, so with the slight breeze, everything was perfect.
Beginning with chive toasts and several cheeses from the Carr Valley cheese company (up in Mauston), the appetizers were duly enjoyed as conversations began. Lavender lemonade accompanied.
The next course was yellow squash and basil soup--this used up a bunch of the thousands of yellow squashes we have (worse than our zucchini plants...) and was an extremely pretty soup: my first thought was it was like a bowl of gold! The picture does not do it justice. Sesame grisini was served on the side (mine turned out VERY crunchy, but tasted good).
This was followed by poached pears. I used Bartlett, rather than the Bosc the recipe calls for, and they turned out wonderfully.Then was the main course: tilapia with cuban oregano pesto and slow roasted tomatoes. (Yes, I know the fish itself isn't local, but the local stuff was über-expensive... okay, maybe not über... but still...) We used those stripey tomatoes with a little corriander and they were delicious. The fish Chip did in the smoker, which gave it a lovely mesquite taste. We served this course with a sweet, white wine from Wollersheim Winery: River Gold.
Chip then took everyone out to the yard to play some Bocce ball while I got desserts assembled. We ended with blackberry flan and lemon straws (a cookie). I made crème brûlée coffee from the Door County roastery. The whole dinner took about three hours, which we expected, and was quite relaxed, which we didn't expect! All-in-all, a good cooking day.
This was similar to cooking days we do with Dave!
Book recommendation: Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Recipe recommendation: Lavender Lemonade
Movie recommendation: Prince Caspian
6 comments:
wow, that sounds so fancy!you want to come and be my personal chef? :) I envy your ability to do that. just thinking about it gets me overwhelmed. choosing the recipes is the hardest.
Yes, we have piles and piles and piles of recipes! Fortunately, our theme dictated a few things, and then timing and finding things that complemented also helped whittle it down.
It helps to do it with someone. Our cooking days with our friend Dave are even better--three doing the planning and cooking!
that does all sound very fancy! i don't generally like squash but that soup looks pretty even if the pictures dont do it justice.
Hey, all of those dishes look and sound wonderful! Mmm, the gold soup...what a great al fresco dining experience. And of course, the local aspect makes it all that much better. Bravo!
That sounds like a fantastic menu from start to finish. They all look and sound delicious
Thanks, everyone! It was really fun and I look forward to trying to do it again with a different season.
We have scheduled a cooking day with our friend Dave in a couple of weeks, so I'll have more fun menu ideas to present! I think we're going French bistro...
Post a Comment