suite: cooking is love

This weekend I'm making dinner for some friends I never get to see. Or, really, more accurately friends I don't get to see hardly as much as I want to. It makes me sad sometimes to think about how much of their lives I miss: new babies have been born, books written, jobs changed, birthdays celebrated, huge projects undertaken. In any case, I've decided to remedy this by having these folks who mean so much to me over to my house for dinner and pretending, for just a few hours, that we have all the time in the world to talk and laugh, argue and debate, tease and flirt and share jokes and most of all eat together. My first, exhausted thought, was to do one of those sneaky things and order gourmet pizza from Oven, throw out the boxes, sprinkle freshly chopped parsley over everything and serve lots of booze. But then. But then I thought how much I want to cook something luscious and intense for these friends of mine.  I'm one of those people who think cooking for someone is a way of communicating with them. So, as much as I don't feel like shopping and chopping, I'm making a real dinner. Most of what I'm making is easy to prepare ahead, not too expensive and very delicious. I've thought about the flavors and textures and seasonality a lot. Everything I'm making I've cooked at least once before, so there will be no scary, unpleasant surprises. I hope. I'll be posting the menu, my shopping list and recipes for everything in the next few days. Stay tuned...

An Early Fall Menu for Six Beloved Friends

cocktails
lemon-ginger martinis
port-laced paté with grilled bread, micro salad, and cornichons
whitebean purée crostini

appetizer
lemon asparagus soup

main course
rosemary beef fillet
salad with roasted beets, baby arugula, and capers in a walnut oil vinaigrette
assorted roast squash
garlicky roast potatoes

desert
poached pears with creme fraiche

Shopping list part I (aka do it tomorrow, girl):

1 litre vodka
1 litre port (the cheapo variety works fine as it will be used to cook with)
4 bottles red wine, 2 bottles white
1 case seltzer water
12 lemons
1 1/2 pounds chicken livers
1 pound unsalted butter
1 lb beets
2 lbs small, organic potatoes
4 heads garlic

stay tuned: tomorrow we make the ginger-lemon syrup for the martinis...

**also, filed under who knew?: peanut butter sandwiches will save the planet