Dinner Party Delight
Yesterday, I had a beautifully fun and relaxing day of getting ready for my dinner party guests. I had been planning to have my friends, Shannon, Cindy & Jaime over for dinner for quite some time. So once the menu had been planned and the table scape had been decided upon, I set to work. 
But I was in no mood to rush myself or take any fun out of the day. Shannon came over around noon to relax with me and help me out with the cooking. (And yes Shannon, transferring meatballs from one plate to another, IS helping). I don't typically need much help in the kitchen, but I do like the company. Good conversation can only aid in the joy of cooking. When we weren't cooking we chilled and watched an America's Next Top Model Marathon on VH1. We also watched country music videos, but I won't go into it. It was fun. Eventually Jaime and Cindy made it over and we began to feast. 
On the menu was the following: Homemade Meatballs and Spaghetti, 
Broccoli with lemon bread crumbs, Herbed garlic bread, and for dessert:
We ate and ate and ate, and then when we couldn't fit one more meatball in our belly's; we ate more!
Dinner was fun and we laughed a lot, including when I tried answering Shannon's question of "what meat did you use in the meatballs?" to which I answered: "Porf-en-berf-en" and couldn't quite spit the words pork and beef out. TO which Shannon and I started to die laughing, followed by Jaime and Cindy laughing at us... to when I almost choked on my meatball and had to cough the whole thing back out! mmmm.... Well done Sabrina!
But I was in no mood to rush myself or take any fun out of the day. Shannon came over around noon to relax with me and help me out with the cooking. (And yes Shannon, transferring meatballs from one plate to another, IS helping). I don't typically need much help in the kitchen, but I do like the company. Good conversation can only aid in the joy of cooking. When we weren't cooking we chilled and watched an America's Next Top Model Marathon on VH1. We also watched country music videos, but I won't go into it. It was fun. Eventually Jaime and Cindy made it over and we began to feast. On the menu was the following: Homemade Meatballs and Spaghetti, Broccoli with lemon bread crumbs, Herbed garlic bread, and for dessert:Chocolate Pear Pastry.
We ate and ate and ate, and then when we couldn't fit one more meatball in our belly's; we ate more! Dinner was fun and we laughed a lot, including when I tried answering Shannon's question of "what meat did you use in the meatballs?" to which I answered: "Porf-en-berf-en" and couldn't quite spit the words pork and beef out. TO which Shannon and I started to die laughing, followed by Jaime and Cindy laughing at us... to when I almost choked on my meatball and had to cough the whole thing back out! mmmm.... Well done Sabrina!After dinner we fell upon the couch in a "carb induced coma" as Kelly called it over a text message.
Awwww... a tummy full of meat and carbs... what could be better!
Then one fell on Jaime too...
WE stayed up talking, until we declared that we had somehow become too old to stay up really late, and then we all crashed. Bright and early we woke up, and I made Bloody Mary's for the girls (sans alcohol of course)... 
We chatted for awhile longer, and then we parted ways with memories of good food, good friends and high school musicals... (Zak and Vanessa, ain't got nothing on us!)
Awwww... a tummy full of meat and carbs... what could be better!To top the night off, Cindy brought over the 1993 Watertown-Mayer's production of Grease! Both Cindy and I were in Grease our junior year of high school. We were both Pink Ladies; Cindy was Marty and I was Jan. We had a blast putting on Grease! So being able to watch it from 14 years ago was pretty amazing. How young and silly we were... Such a fun time in life. Why was I ever in such a hurry to grow up? (This is my actual Pink Ladies jacket, that I saved)
After Grease, I don't know how it got started, but Shannon put on a pair of my pointy shoes, and declared that she looked like the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and the next thing I know...
After Grease, I don't know how it got started, but Shannon put on a pair of my pointy shoes, and declared that she looked like the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and the next thing I know... A house fell on her... (or an ottoman, same thing!)
Then one fell on Jaime too... WE stayed up talking, until we declared that we had somehow become too old to stay up really late, and then we all crashed. Bright and early we woke up, and I made Bloody Mary's for the girls (sans alcohol of course)... We chatted for awhile longer, and then we parted ways with memories of good food, good friends and high school musicals... (Zak and Vanessa, ain't got nothing on us!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chocolate Pear Pastry Recipe:
1 Frozen Puff Pastry Sheet (thawed for 40 min. before using)
2 oz chopped hazelnuts
6 chocolate cookies (I used oreos)
2 ripe pears
1 egg, beaten
2 TBLS sugar
1\2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface roll out pastry sheet into an 18x10inch rectangle. Transfer to the cookie sheet. Fold over 1 1\2 inched on each side of the long sides to make a rim. Use a fork to pierce the center in 1-inch intervals. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Reduce oven temp to 375 degrees.
Combine hazelnuts and cookies in a food processor and pulse until they resemble sand. Peel the pears and cut each lengthwise in half. Discard the cores and stems. Return the pastry to the cookie sheet. Distribute the nut crumbs along the center of each pastry. Arrange the pears, cut-side down, on the crumbs, alternating stem and round ends. Brush the rim of each pastry with some egg. Sprinkle with the sugar.
Return the pastries to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until pears are tender when tested with a fork. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Place the chocolate chips in a small cup and microwave 1-1 1\2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over the pastries.
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