We had a dinner party last night, a long over-due welcome to the neighborhood dinner party.  My table looked so pretty and I like to share these pictures with you.


I used my Le Jacquard napkins and a table cloth that was made from a large remnant of upholstery fabric.  The dinner plates and soup plates are Arte Italica's discontinued Portofino pattern in a deep sage grey-green with a pewter rim, very lovely.  I have a set of 6 and hunting for more.  The goblets are from my 39 years ago wedding registry, the very fancy Lalique, pattern Langeais.  I was never more fancy than when I was 21.  I just looked them up online and almost fainted at the price now.  But I have to say, they are like holding angel's glass, ethereal and beautifully delicate.  Now I am determined to use them more often, why not!

The champagne flutes are made by Roost.

The dinner was simple, starting with Tomato Soup with Wild Rice made from my husband's summer tomatoes that I roasted, pureed and froze.  Followed by roasted Fred Steak with an artichoke salad.  For the veggie side I had planned on making a flashy pepper and asparagus stir-fry.  But yesterday I was looking for a piece of wire and had to move a stack of old books and then I sat down and looked through the old books for an hour.  A trip to my past!  My cookbooks from my childhood, also mother's from her childhood, so fun to look though.  So many memories of a 9 year old me making Happy French Toast and Sunny Day Salad for my family.  Then a familiar notebook appeared that I knew to belong to my Grandmother Pearl, full of hand written recipes from the 40's and before.  As I was leafing through I thought, why haven't I ever made any of these?  Like Cytha's Prize Lemon Pie ("my favorite" written in the corner) or Lelia Patterson's Chile Sauce whose first ingredient is "1 peck of tomatoes".  There's recipes for Marshmallow Pudding, Mrs. Zimmerman's Meatballs and Casserole Corn.  On a whim I decided to make the corn pudding and even though I doubled the recipe and had only 6 for dinner, every last kernel was gone.  It's simple and I would file it under comfort food.  The recipe calls for a jar of creamed corn, I know my family canned and bottled but I've substituted purchased canned creamed corn.


Casserole Corn
Mix 1 can creamed corn with 2 well beaten eggs.  Set aside.  Mix 2 tablespoons flour with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.  Whisk in 1 1/2 cups whole milk and beat until smooth.  Combine with corn mixture and pour into greased casserole dish.  Set in a pan of hot water (I forgot to do this step and it was fine) and bake in slow oven (325 F) for one hour or until firm and brown on top.  Mine took longer at a higher setting as I doubled it.  It was a hit!