Sometimes It’s Nice to Go to Someone’s House and Eat Their Food

Let’s face it – no one can cook for everyone all of the time.  Sometimes cooks just need a break.  I was lucky enough to spend last weekend at my friend Jeane’s house where I visited not just with her, but with some very old friends.  (Well, the friends aren’t old, just the friendships, ha!)

Anyway, Jeane and I haven’t had the chance to spend much time together during the past few years, mainly because I keep moving and she is now a mom.  But I was thrilled nonetheless to find out that even though we haven’t kept in talk-to-each-other-every-day kind of touch, we still have many things in common.  Hands down, she is truly one of the women I feel could (and should) be inducted into my “Influential Women Hall of Fame.”

Like me, she is committed to eating fresh, simple food made with natural ingredients.  We got to talking about local farmers markets (hers is out-of-this-world expensive, mine is affordable and abundant) and the importance of good food, great wine and traveling.

For dinner, we grilled chicken and steak, (my contribution was a piece of free-range grass-fed flank steak covered in Teriyaki sauce.)  She also made a super-yummy Portobello mushroom bruschetta – grilled Portobello slices topped with marinated tomatoes and fresh mozzeralla – that was really tasty and fairly easy to make.  I’ve only recently acquired the taste for mushrooms and this dish was nice and mellow for my oh-so-delicate taste buds.

For breakfast on Sunday morning, she whipped up an egg scramble – something I have completely gotten out of the habit of making – full of peppers, zucchini, chicken and cheese that I wolfed down in about 6.2 seconds.

But the piece de resistance was the peanut butter chocolate chip pie she made for dessert Saturday night.  It tasted just like a fluffy peanut butter cup on a graham cracker crust.  So yummy!  (I just may have to surrender the peanut butter popcorn recipe to get this one in exchange!)

So not only was the evening and following morning truly enjoyable (and hangover free!) I realized that as much as I love being in the kitchen, (and most people know to stay out of it when I’m in it because I can be a raging perfectionist,) sometimes it’s good to just let someone else cook.  I was reminded of techniques and ingredients I’ve forgotten to use, introduced to new flavors and food combinations, and generally just felt taken care of.

My thanks Jeane for being such a great hostess!  Now I’m off to find that peanut butter pie recipe…..