Party On

Yesterday we had my seminar students over for a little lunch party. It was fun to have them, and also fun to cook . . . we don't do as much entertaining since we've had the little ones and it requires more juggling and maneuvering to pull things off. I made up some ribs, macaroni & cheese, blondies, and brownies the day before during naptimes and after bedtime. April, our babysitter/angel-sent-from-heaven, picked up baguettes on her way to our house in the morning, and I threw together some sandwiches with turkey/cheddar/apple and roast beef/provolone/roasted red peppers and a strawberry walnut salad. I had vinaigrette to dress the roast beef sandwiches but couldn't think of what to put on the turkey ones until I hit on honey butter, which may have been a mistake since now I've been putting it on the leftover bread and eating it by itself . . . no wonder my post-pregnancy weight loss seems to have reversed itself in the last week.

Anyway, it was fun to think of a menu, and the nice thing about college students is that they will basically eat anything with gusto and delight whether it turns out right or not. Allison Clare loved having them over. She would say things, and they would all laugh, and then she would smile coyly and say, "Silly friends." Gillian was a little tired and fussy, so Sam and I passed her back and forth like a little hot potato. It's not like the old days of kicking back at parties, but life is a new kind of party all the time.