I did what I came to do

I got suckered into a social gathering this weekend. A bunch of lady friends wanted to investigate a yoga retreat. Tucked between vinyards in the misty mountains of Santa Cruz county, the retreat is a lovely destination.

I didn't really want to go, given the probable attendance by a person I find toxicly parasitic. But there were enough other people that I was interested in seeing that the trade-off seemed reasonable. No one had stepped up to wrangle dinner, and there was a food kitty which meant I could cook for the masses without having to pay for every single person's dinner myself.

Surprising no one drama occurred*, driving off most of the people I wanted to connect with. However, the quickly dropping attendance roster meant I could spend the food dollars more lavishly.

Saturday morning I hashed out the evening's menu. We'd have micro greens with dried cherries, almonds, apples, and chevre in a mild vinagrette. The vegetarian/vegan entree was a savory compote of black beans, tri-color bell peppers and red onion in a cumin-chipotle marinade. The carnivore's entree was pan-seared chicken topped with an onion-blueberry reduction. Both were served alongside coriander infused wild rice with sauteed vegetables (another vegan dish). I was still $60 under budget at this point, so I popped for two bakery cakes (a princess cake, and a dark chocolate ganache torte), and three bottles of wine. One of them, a German white from the Rhine valley was every bit as delicious as I'd remembered (minerals & grass with plenty of honey notes).

The flavors are complex but the prepwork was not. I had three people at my beck and call. One diced a small bag of onions and some carrots. Another chopped the dried cherries and the apples. The third juiced a few lemons, toasted the almonds, and heated the vegetable broth for the rice. Working at a leisurely pace we got the 3-course dinner ready in 90 minutes. About what it takes me to make a 3 course dinner for two people working all by myself.

*Pit accomodation-seeking mommies against others who feel the accomodating is a one way street and you get acrimony.