Sunday Night Dinner - I Go Over the Top

Over-the-top for me, that is. I get "A" for effort for this meal to welcome a guest, Beth, to Vancouver (from Toronto). The rest of the guests were, for me, spectacular. It was my second meal with fabulous people of accomplishment this week. Nicola Cavendish, Shari Ulrich, high-school friend Tara Cullis and bosom buddy Bruce Kellett.

I love cooking, especially on a sunny day. My kitchen is a solid wall of glass above the counter facing south-west. The winter light comes in like arrows and the food and my cooking looks fab-u-lous! How it tastes remains to be experienced, but it smells and looks good.

The Tourtière took forever to weave the pastry. You can see the top weave in the photo below and in the shot below that, you can see the weave of the body of the deep-dish pie—it fell apart a bit when I transferred it to the serving dish from the oven.

Pommes duchesse, but mine are half-parsnip. I have some
learning to do when it comes to piping potatoes.

Caramelized onion and fennel, chard, capers
and Kalamata olives.

The first course was a scallop salad with
frisée and pea shoots.

Dessert was apple cakes with Maple Sugar sauce
and whipped cream.

My gifts for Beth:

1. A fortune from a fortune cookie I got that says: "Joy will come with the return of a dear friend."
2. A poem I wrote (she loves shopping at Goodwill in Toronto):

Ahem…
Although a sip of champagne makes me frail,
Too much gives me the courage to prevail
And deliver a toast
To the gal we love most:
To Beth! Good health and all hail. 

I'm not finished. I want more champagne. 

So Beth,
Join your host, this happy gay male,
Raise your glass with another cocktail.
As all of your fiends
—who hope this soon ends—
Toast the Queen of the Rummage Sale.