Eating on Jitneys

I had my first dinner party at the new place on Saturday and was able to test out a few new recipes and devices. This made me a little nervous, since I knew that at least 12 people were coming, but then I realized that I am the only person that probably cared, especially since the estimated eating time was about 11pm and I think most people were considering this a party, rather than a dinner party. So then I just had fun with it. I kind of got in over my head, but it was worth it when I realized that it had all been eaten by about 3am. The menu consisted of things I like, not really things that go well together. But do I really need to explain myself? I made samosas, spinach and pine nut ravioli (with olive, butter, pine nut and roasted red pepper topping), and pistacchio ice cream. The ice cream was the best by far, but I didn’t get any pictures of it. I did some research on the Cooks Illustrated website and finally settled on a Kreps ice cream maker. It is basically the most exciting purchase I have made in months, and it was very affordable on Amazon.

Ellen brought over some Mushroom Loaf which I didn’t get a good picture of either. I kind of documented us plating our food while everyone else was drinking/not caring behind us. Priceless. Here is one picture of a plate. It actually looks kind of gross, now that I look at it, but both were delicious. I used won ton wrappers this time around, rather than making my own pasta. I was super skeptical at first because I don’t normally like cutting corners like that, but they saved so much time and tasted nice and light. Until I get a pasta maker I will probably keep using won ton wrappers.

Take a look. It tasted way better than it looks: