Valued more than hoarded gold...

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

~J.R.R. Tolkien

Every year for the last few years, I have donated a home-cooked meal to the Women’s Alliance Silent Auction at the Unitarian Universalist Church we attend.  I prepare and serve the meal in our home.  I always pick a theme.  Like one year I cooked “comfort food.”  I gave the recipient a choice between meatloaf or mac and cheese with all the fixings.  And one year I auctioned off “A Taste of Cincinnati.”  That included Cincinnatichili (a true treat!) cooked the long way and buckeyes for dessert.

This past auction, however, I bit off a little more than I could chew.  I decided to donate a Mexican dinner.  Holy Guacamole! What got into me??  I had the recipes that looked good, but had a hard time obtaining some of the ingredients, which means we didn’t get to try them out prior to the big night.  But the fortunate thing is that our friends, the Smiths and the Mulligans, won the auction and the night was more about companionship and catching up than it was ever about the food.   And , well, a few Margaritas didn't hurt…

After dinner, we built a fire in our fire pit and enjoyed a gorgeous late summer night, a little single malt (well, Scotch is universal, after all!) and talked way too late into the evening. 

  Now my mind is working…what can I do next year?

I love beets!  Part of the Ensalada Mixta from my Moosewood Cookbook.

If it's Margarita's you want, you have to squeeze a few limes.

The Morning After