All Afternoon in the Kitchen

I have started a little tradition of inviting myself to a friend's house for dinner, but volunteering to bring the dinner.  I do this for friends with young children, because they typically have a harder time going out at night.  Annie and Finn aren't old, but they go to bed later than most of my friends' children, so we have the flexibility to stay out!

Today as soon as we finished school and some basic chores (12:30) I hit the kitchen and did not leave until I walked out the door at 4:45.  I was cooking for a family of seven, plus my family of four, plus (I found out at 2:30) my friend's parents who were visiting this week as well.  That's 13 people, although 7 of them were young children.  And Finn is gluten-free.  

Here was the take-away-dinner-party menu:

*basic green salad on a big platter (with yellow peppers and red onions on top)

*baked pesto ziti (highly glutenous) 

*baked penne (gluten-free, featuring ground beef from our farm!)

*French bread (made as described, except I used 3 c. wheat flour at the start)

*gluten-free sandwich bread for Finn 

*chocolate pie with a gluten-free graham cracker crust 

I made it all, and it was all good.  

And I'm so happy because tomorrow I get the night off!