We had six people come for our part of the church progressive dinner last night. Everyone showed up exactly on time at 7:00. We had all gone to another house for the hors'doeurves. My concern was how to bring all parts of the meal to the table hot and ready to eat at the same time. I didn't want to overcook the vegetables. This is the menu: rolled salmon steaks, brushed with a mixture of soy sauce and maple syrup, and baked in the oven; boneless chicken breasts, (for people who didn't want fish-which was only one), coated with seasoned bread crumbs and baked; wild and pecan flavored brown rice, mixed with toasted pecans and dried cranberries; julienne carrots; and fresh broccoli in butter. In the afternoon, I prepared the vegetables, cooking them until they were tender, but still very crisp, and putting them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking, then layering them in a casserole with a few dollops of butter. After the guests arrived, I put the glazed salmon steaks in the oven and took out the chicken breasts, which had finished baking, and put the rice casserole and the vegetables in the oven to warm up.
Lo and behold! Everything came out just right, all at the same time, delicious and crisp, not overcooked and soggy, and we were all enjoying our dinner about 10 minutes after the guests arrived. It went like clockwork.
George and I are still talking about our success...how good the salmon was, etc. After church today someone said, "oh, are you the one that made the salmon?" I guess we are famous. We all had a great time. We even went to the dessert course at another house about 15 minutes away, and enjoyed strawberries and whipped cream, and there were many cakes and desserts that I didn't even taste. We hurried home to do the dishes--my Noritake china can't go in the dishwasher--and fell into bed...happy and relieved.
It was a night to remember.
Have a great Sunday. I'm going to take a nap.
