Martha Ain't Comin'

So, read a post today from a FB friend Carolyn Kinzbach Lackey.  If you don't follow her blog, you should.  She is a gifted writer - always good for a pick me up.  Today she posted about Becoming Meems:  The Supper Table.  Meems is the name bestowed on Carolyn's mother by her grandchildren and believe me, Meems is a stitch.  I always look forward to posts about Meems and her affinity for wearing her red beret.  Loves me a kindred spirit (my red beret is my chapeau de choice when whizzing around in the Batmobile in the winter).  But I digress...

Anyway, Carolyn has embraced the idea of people coming over for dinner and in this post lists all the reasons she had for not entertaining and how she overcame them.  Solution #2 inspired the name for this post.  Martha Stewart and now Pinterest can make entertaining daunting, but isn't the important thing getting together with friends and family?  Have you EVER had a really bad dinner with your loved ones?  Ok, maybe the veggies didn't turn out so well, but conversation can more than make up for that. 

I love to entertain - cleaning house, not so much.  Inviting people to your home is such an intimate act.  And a generous act.  You are sharing part of yourself with them.  What could be a better gift for someone. 

Now that we are empty nesters (for the second time), it is much easier to keep the house, as we called it when the boys were growing up - company inspection - and with all the pre-prepped goodies you can find at your local grocery store, well entertaining is a snap.  It is probably a good thing I like/know how to throw a party since as a nonprofit fundraising, I have to throw a few shin digs during the year. 

Tonight we are celebrating oldest one getting out of the house and going back to school.  Nothing too fancy - we are eating in the kitchen.  I have my standby white dinner plates and black tablecloth and sparklers to make the dessert more festive.  Menu:  Cranberry Brie Tartlets  Red Peppers with Hummus, marinated pork chops, roasted vegetables, Sister Schubert Rolls (another standby) and a green salad with my homemade dressing.  I will post and share recipes and evening highlights tomorrow.

Party on dude!

PS Am breaking out the fancy glasses to use for the pre-dinner cocktail.  About 6 years ago at Thanksgiving dinner, youngest one said (of the "good" china)  "I didn't know we had these dishes.  I have never seen them before."  Use the good stuff!