My Best Friend’s…Dinner
26 Feb
It’s no secret that I have issues comparing myself to others. I’ve mentioned before how, when I go to a party or even the grocery store, I often feel either over or under dressed, too quiet or too loud, and too tall or too…tall!? Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one thinking these insecure thoughts because when I glance around at others those issues seem to be the last thing on their mind. I guess some people just have their stuff together and don’t care what others think, and while I aspire to be one of these people, I have to admit that I also struggle with feeling jealous of them. That’s why it continues to amaze me that I have been friends, for more than a decade, with a girl who has her act together more than any one else I know. And instead of being remotely jealous of her, I simply just want to be more like her.
My best friend Nadia isn’t just super-model gorgeous, but she is also kind, generous, a fabulous mother of 2.5, an understanding wife, and a great friend. Every time I see her she makes me feel like a million bucks. For example, I told her only recently about this blog and not only has she been reading it every day, but she posts the most supportive comments (you can’t miss her…she’s the one who signs off with all the XOXO’s – love it!), and tells everyone she knows how great she thinks my writing is.
Among her many other talents, Nadia is a fantastic cook and is the best at presentation. I’ve already mentioned what a challenge presentation is for me. When she comes over I throw something together and we sit in the kitchen and serve ourselves from the stove. If I’m feeling particularly hostess-y I will hand her a separate salad bowl to go along with her dinner plate. But that doesn’t happen often because I’m usually calculating how much extra space that bowl will take up in the dishwasher, which equals an additional 2 minutes of standing over the dishwasher, which equals 4 minutes if I use a bowl as well, which equals too much time for me to commit to offering her that extra bowl. But when I go to her house, as I did last night, she not only cooks up a storm but serves it up beautifully and clean up is the furthest thing on her mind.
Appetizers:
Skewers of fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and basil.
One of these skewers rolled onto the carpet when she was serving them to me and Nadia didn’t blink an eye. She just calmly washed it off and proceeded to eat. If it had been my carpet? I would have dashed into the kitchen, dropped the plate on the counter, located the Resolve spray, and scrubbed until I wore a hole in the carpet.
Olive bread with gorgonzola and honey.
I almost risked a horrible stomach ache to try this amazing combination but at the last minute I managed to refrain. Instead I had bits of the cheese with honey and let me tell you, this combination is a keeper.
Dinner:
Caesar salad with homemade dressing.
Sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes, oven baked potatoes.
Baked salmon with onions, capers, and potatoes.
While the salmon was easily the highlight of the evening, every single thing Nadia served was delicious and in proper serving plates. I felt like I was eating a 3-course-meal at the Peninsula Hotel.
Afterwards we had some of the Oatmeal Balls that I made yesterday and a new cookie recipe that I tried but that ended up tasting like a rubbery Larabar. Trust me, you don’t want this recipe.
Oatmeal Balls (oatmeal, rice cereal, peanut butter, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips).
We had these along with a cup of tea and some great conversation.
Thank you Nadia for a great dinner and for being such an amazingly supportive, nice friend.
Love you lots! XOXOXOX
