Cook out, eat in!

Tonight we are having some dear friends over for a cook out/eat in. Margaret and I met in 7th grade and have remained friends for over 40 years now. We used to go a CCD together and were in youth group at church together and we even had a crush on the same guy at one time. That is until we found out he was gay and not interested in any of the many girls who also had crushes on him.

When Jason was a toddler and I was pregnant with Jen, Margaret introduced me to her then boyfriend Scott. Fast forward 28 years and they now have 2 young adult daughters - both in college. After moving their oldest into her senior year off campus apartment, they'll head over here, hopefully for a relaxing evening and a chance to forget tuition and rent bills.

Between the humidity, bugs that come out every evening, and the ever constant threat of thunderstorms these days, I made the executive decision to eat inside. Thus the cookout/eat in. It's much safer! Because we have an huge a/c unit in the window just to left of my pretty red cupboard (no you can't see it - it's UGLY!) in the picture above I decided to set my table a bit differently. Instead of a table scape in the middle, last night when I was setting the table, I decided to put it along the side that is in the direct path of the a/c instead of seating a guest there. If need be we can turn the a/c lower (or is it higher?) and aim the vents up to the ceiling, but then the chandelier spins like crazy. Because there are just the 4 of us tonight, I think this is a better solution.
What's on the menu you ask?? I made my cheddar horseradish spread. It's made with cheddar cheese spread, cream cheese, minced onion, bacon bits and little horseradish. I never measure but it's about 2/3 cheddar to cream cheese. It's great on any plain cracker.

The guys will grill rib eye steaks (YUUMO!) as well as peppers and onions and asparagus. I buy inexpensive shallow foil pans and drizzle the bottom with EVOO, and then put the peppers and onions in one, and asparagus spears in the other, drizzle a little more EVOO over them, cover with foil, pierce the foil a few times and grill over direct heat while the steaks cook. I also made potato salad, Asian coleslaw and I have some wonderful hearty full grain bread. Margaret is bringing dessert so that will be a surprise. I like surprises!

So I am off to do more of the food prep, and work out in the garden a bit before the heat of day comes. I hope each and everyone of you are having a great weekend!

Until next time - hugs, Linda