The story of a successful evening...

The children are running around the house screaming as loud as their 2, 3 and 4 year old lungs allow.  From the living room through the kitchen, into the hall, back around the sofa  and back around again.  Pounding soles of their size 10 preschool and toddler feet mimic the sounds of an African safari stampede.  One is crying as she runs, another trying to pry a gummy bug away from the third.  The baby, number 4, swings in his rocker watching the craziness, wondering when he can join in on the chase.  From the adult outsider's perspective, this is total chaos.  Where is DCFS?  The volume control police?  What happened to indoor voices?  Yes, the outsider would call it chaos.  We simply call this a play date. :)

In the midst of all this... fun... Adolfo and I are carrying out conversations with our friends Dave and his wife, Jacob's Godmother, Christine.   As we yell over the kids screams, we're awaiting the arrive of our other guests, the Godfather, Hudson, and his darling wife, Alpa.  Although it is harder to talk with three kids and a baby sharing the same space, I think we've all managed the feat.  As I am telling Chris how pretty she looks this evening and how my mom was commenting on her being such a good friend, I can hear Adolfo and Dave talk about this house repair, that home project.  Female and Male conversations are quite... well, female vs. male.

Hudson arrives and I quietly wonder if inviting him to this mini-zoo is going to give him nightmares, rendering him permanently sterile and fearful of little people.  Alpa might kill me.  She'll be joining us later, otherwise her ovaries would have shriveled up in fear as well.  Thank God he's a stronger man than that and she's running behind.  (And thank God the children have calmed down... somewhat.)

So tonight's event is dinner to talk about Jacob's upcoming baptismal.  The guests shuffle to the dining table where we carefully set the fine China out for 6 adult guests.  The kids are too busy running from Alex's bedroom to the playroom like wild banshees to bother with food.  Great!  We should be able to enjoy most of the dinner.  Our trained parent ears listen for the change of laughter to cries in case someone upsets someone else.  They are playing together pretty well.  In a few minutes, Adolfo will put on Ice Age 3 (thank you On Demand) and they will be utterly content for quite some time.

The man of the hour spends his time being passed around the dinner table and I begin serving the 5 course dinner I spent the last two days prepping for.  First up, the Antipasti: Trios di Crostini.

1. Kalamata tapenade with feta
2. Baked Brie with apple, honey and pecans
3. Goat cheese with sun-dried tomato, black olive and basil chiffonade

I take notes from our guests.  The tapenade is strong, paired with a strong cheese.  Everyone likes it, the guys prefer it.  Hudson has a second.  The baked brie is a hit amongst everyone.  It is the sweet crostini of the bunch, with a feeling of warm dessert before the dinner really begins.  The brie is ooey and gooey and the pecans add just the right crunch.  I have a second of this.  I could have fifths and sixths if I had made that many.  The Goat cheese crostini is served warm, just so the cheese has glossed over.  I am a lover of goat cheese.  It is the most fabulous cheese out there as far as I am concerned.  I'm not sure who ate the extra(s) of that one.  All I know is that they were gone before I could return to the table with the second course: the Insalata.

On another blog, I came across this fabulous idea for prepping a salad early and serving it interactively.  I built the salads upside down in glasses - the kid of whisky glasses most of us have stashed somewhere but rarely (i.e., never) use.  Guests are served their salad cups and flip them over onto their dish.  They then can ladle on the dressing to their liking.  We had Romaine hearts, carrot, cucumber, tomato, croutons and blue cheese dressed with a raspberry infused balsamic vinaigrette.  Fresh, crisp, delicious.  Christine thought it was very good and both Alpa and Hudson - who don't care for blue cheese - enjoyed even the cheese.  Everyone commented about how big the salads were.  No one expected the cup to hold as much as it did.  I went around the table grating fresh parmesan for those who wanted it.  No one ever turns down more cheese.  I think that is probably the eighth deadly sin... refusal of cheese.  I duck out to prep the bowls for the third course, Primi: Gnocchi Veronese.

In preparation of the soup, I prepared the broth in the afternoon and took my shot at Gnocchi.  The broth was delicious.  A sauté of vegetables coupled in stock and cream.  The only dry seasoning is the thyme.  After reading recipe after recipe of how to make homemade gnocchi, I am discouraged by the constint reminder that gnocchi takes time and practice.  Guess what?  I don't have time, let alone time to practice. Then I find one from some random site for Ricotta gnocchi.  Plans change, I'm going for it!  

The Ricotta "dough" is rolled out and cut into little "pillows".

Then they are boiled until the pillows float.

Remove from water and enjoy!

As I cook the gnocchi, both my mom and I try little pillows of heaven.  They are quite yummy.  I add them to my stockpot and wa-lah, Ricotta Gnocchi Veronese.  Back to the present time, dinner...

I serve the soup.  It is good, but salty.  I didn't anticipate the Ricotta gnocchi adding the salt to the stock.  Future note to self, add more cream or go with potato gnocchi.  The guests are split down the middle.  The salt lovers, like myself, find the sodium to be tasty.  The other half would prefer to cut it with some bread or the cream.  They all were prepped - everyone signed their dinner waiver as my test subjects for Gnocchi Veronese.  Despite mixed reviews on salt, everyone finishes their soup and it's on to the 4th course, the Piatto Principal.  Hello Cheese lasagna.

I love saucy lasagna, but it's been my experience that is not the case for everyone.  I also love meat lasagna.  This is the first time I make a lasagna that doesn't feature super-amounts of sauce and meat.  Lent, although I love this time of the year, the meat sacrifice does sorta suck a little.  The cheese lasagna has ricotta, mozzarella, gran pecorino, parmesean, and is served with two seasoned bread twists. I can't make it through the course.  I'm stuffed - but don't want to overstuff (dessert is next!).  I pass on the extras to Adolfo, who always helps me out in these binds.  He finishes my dish as the guests finish theirs and I excuse myself to feed Jacob.  

Once Jacob is happy and passed out in his pack-and-play, I head back to the kitchen to prepare the Dolce - our fifth and final course.  I'm serving Chocolate Lava Cake a la mode with a Raspberry Chambord Sauce.  Alpa asks me, is it a REAL Lava Cake?  The last four times she has ordered Lava Cake, there has been no lava.  I tell her I hope so.  :)

The Lava (aka Molten, aka Volcano) Cake starts with melting two chocolates and butter over a double boiler.

You warm it until it is completely melted and smooth.

The Dolci and the Primi are the two courses that I made from scratch (minus the vanilla bean ice cream).  I'm proud of the dessert and want to present it just so.  I plate the lava cake over the homemade Raspberry Chambord sauce then dust it with powdered sugar.  I set a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the dish where it just overlaps a side of the cake.  I dust that with cocoa powder.  Now is the moment of truth...

Everyone has their dessert in front of them.  Hudson and Adolfo's cakes split at the top and you can see lava everywhere!  As I cut into mine, it is perfect!  Christine and Dave have lava flowing.  Alpa cuts into hers... well, there is a little lava-like remnants.  UGH!  The only one that is more cake than lava ends up in front of her.  I swear, she must be lava-cursed.  Hudson swaps dishes with her quickly.  The next time she looks down, there is lava.  Everyone is happy. :)

Dessert was definitely my favorite part of the meal.  I really enjoyed the Gnocchi Veronese, although salty, and could eat the Antipasti and Insalata all day.  I figured out today that I am not a fan of cheese lasagna.  I guess that is why I never order it at Italian restaurants.  There is something delicious about ground meat. :)

Amazingly throughout the evening, we were able to discuss the baptismal and los padrinos (the Godparents) divided to conquer the extras - candle, bib, etc.  The evening ended in a success, everyone was stuffed, the task at hand was addressed, and the families (and kids) enjoyed themselves.  Thanks everyone who attended, and thank you to everyone who has read this post.  It's a long one, I know.  

If you want any recipes or have questions/comments, feel free to send me a message.  And again, thanks for reading!