Soup
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Entree
Crown Rack of Lamb
Warm Mustard Sauce
Parsleyed Red Potatoes
Sauteed Vegetables Provencal
Dinner Rolls
Far Eastern Shore Autumn Swan
Dessert
Smith Island Coconut Cake
Before I got busy in the kitchen, I needed to set the table. The presentation is important, and it gives us a chance to use the good china and crystal that we usually keep in the china cabinet behind glass doors. We like to actually use it (once in awhile) to be able to enjoy eating off of it instead of just looking at it. When Mom saw the table set she asked "is someone coming over?" I said no, it's just the three of us. I guess she's not used to making a special meal just for the special people we live with. But I figure, the people we choose to share our lives with are the ones most deserving of a special effort.
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| Table for Three |
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| Had to be sure we had all the flatware, china, and crystal that we would need in place. |
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| Also had to be sure there was space for the serving dishes and the carving set was sharpened and serving utensils in place. Can't overlook any details that would distract from the experience. |
I set the table early in the afternoon to have time to get into the kitchen and still have dinner ready by 6:00. I wanted to eat a little early because we expected the trick or treaters to start coming by after about 6:30. In years past I've done dinner later, but it was interrupted repeatedly so I went for an earlier service where we could enjoy the dinner.
Before we started eating I told Mom what each of the different pieces of silverware were for so she knew which one to use for each course. She's never eaten such a formal dinner before and I was hoping she would enjoy the experience since it was just family and she didn't have to go out to a fancy restaurant, but she could still have a fancy dinner.
I also went out and cut the last of the daisies that looked presentable for a formal dinner.
Most of the daisies have withered now that we've had a couple of cool nights, but there were enough left to decorate Gloria's dinner table.
After a couple more hours in the kitchen, it was time for dinner.
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| The lamb is ready, the soup is hot, and the wine is open. |
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| I surrounded the lamb on one side with the potatoes and on the other with the vegetables. The potatoes were made with parsley fresh from our garden. |
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| The vegetables were a mix of red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, and onions sauteed in butter and olive oil. |
We were lucky and there were no interruptions until after we finished eating dinner, dessert waited until later (we were all full.)
It was just the right size for three and coconut cake is one of Gloria's favorites. Tonight, Jacob and Amanda are coming over and we're having home made pizzas. We'll keep the celebration going, but more casual tonight.
