What Shari Had For Dinner-- Saturday Guest

The big man hasn't been in much of a mood to venture out, so when our friend asked if we wanted to have dinner we decided to whip something up at home. Since I was in the middle of extracting honey and getting ready to leave early the next morning I opted for easy dishes that don't need a lot of cook's attention.

For appetizers I looked into the fridge and came up with a winner -- James says it's THE new house party dish. Rosemary crackers (I would have toasted up some crostini but if I have to be honest about it I burned them and didn't have enough bread to try again and still have some for dinner) spread with fresh ricotta, topped with a thin slice of prosciutto and half a fresh fig, and drizzled with S&P, balsamic vinegar, fruity olive oil, and chopped mint. Super easy and delicious.

For dinner a tomatoey mixed seafood stew cooked up with diced fennel, celery, and dry white wine. On the side a simple salad of radicchio and parsley with tangy anchovy dressing and crusty, old fashioned garlic bread for dipping.

And for dessert a puff pastry apple tart. I had some Trader Joe's all butter puff pastry in the freezer (one of those thing you buy for a rainy day that takes a long time to come). After the dough was thawed (just took 10 minutes) cut into neat circles and chilled (for 30 minutes in the fridge) I layered on thinly sliced apples, sprinkled about 1 TB of sugar and drizzled with a couple tsps of sugar. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes at 400º, serve with ice cream.

Hopefully the memory of Saturday night dinner will keep Himself going while I'm out of town and he's living the bachelor life of trader Joe's pizza and Wendy's drive through.