Melanie told me yesterday morning that she was bringing carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, so I went to the gym and ran FAST before heading to Green Lake last night for family dinner. I'm not a huge dessert person, but carrot cake is my weakness. Love it. Totally worth the cherry red face I wore for the duration of the night.
As usual, Charlie dog greeted me at the kitchen door and lead me into the crowd standing around enjoying happy hour. It was a small gang this week - Grandpa, Ted, Johnnie, Mel, Morgan, Eddie and I - but we managed to have a great time. This should come as no surprise.
Ted made me a mango and hooch cocktail, garnished with a wedge of lime and it quenched my after-gym thirst perfectly. We had exciting family news this week - Courtney got into nursing school! I talked to her a few days ago and got the whole scoop so I could update Grandpa. He tried to break the news to me and I had to give him a hard time. She's my sister, of course I've heard the news already! And I got all the details so I could give him a good report.
My investigative journalism skills held true because I was able to give him more information than he had AND answer his questions. I even updated him on her new job. It's not often I know more than him, so I'm counting it as a win.
As Ted finished up the cooking, we migrated to the table. Dishes passed around the group and plates filled with green salad, Something Something Broccoli (that's Broccoli Diablo Au Gratin minus the Au Gratin), brown rice, baguette and Halibut TWO WAYS!!!!!!
We are at the beginning of halibut season and apparently Johnnie had to remind Ted that it was time for some tasty white fish. He was a little taken back that she had mentioned it first, seeing as 'that's the kind of shit he talks about'. We all had to laugh, because really, that's the kind of shit we all talk about.
As we dug into our plates, we were trying to identify one of the characters in the salad. Was it a water chestnut? No! And in unison, Morgan and I named the mystery veg - heart of palm! Another round of laughs for the fact that we are indeed food nerds.
And now to give the star some attention. We had halibut fillet sauteed in lots of garlic and butter and finished in the oven. We also had halibut cheeks in a buttery sauce that I did not get all the components of because I was too busy enjoying the end result. After gladly taking the last cheek, I decided it was my preferred piece of the halibut. It had a completely different texture and flavor from the fillet. But honestly, I'm splitting hairs here. Both ways were delicious.
Turns out Johnnie's dad was quite the fisherman and she told us about the parties her folks would throw when he brought home a big catch. Can you imagine thinking of halibut or troll-caught salmon as a poor person meal? With all the emphasis we now put on the protein we eat and the money we pay for it, it's crazy to think of these catches being the undesirable/cheap option for feeding the neighborhood.
As we cleaned our plates and cleared the table, Melanie brought forth her entry into the dessert category. Our normal dessert maker is in Spain right now and Mel was brave enough to step in and make sure we all got something sweet to finish the meal. Like she had told me, she made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and they were the bomb. I'm not the only one who ate more than one. Totally worth being that girl at the gym huffing and puffing to finish out the night with a great dessert. Thank you Mel for taking the dessert maker title this week.
Over the course of the evening there was lots of talk about lots of things. Boyfriends, bike rides, family, food, comicon, Tacoma, more food, restaurants, hiking season, allergies, Thanksgiving, turkey, work, vacation and the different ways in which people travel. Big parties on Wednesday nights are fun, but there is something special about a smaller group. Last night was a testament to being able to hear everyone sitting around the table.
PS: I took pics. I will upload them tonight. This will be standard protocol.
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