Over the weekend Mr. Sauce, Esq. and I bought ourselves flatware.
To be honest, I don’t even know why we were discussing flatware. I know it went from my Global Knives to Henckles Knives, to looking at the Henckles flatware sets and then ultimately buying service for 12, some Pyrex, an oven thermometer, an instant read thermometer, a splatter screen and a pizza stone set.
It was like doing a wedding registry but getting it immediately and paying for it ourselves.
It wasn’t until this morning, 2 days later, that I realized how much silverware we bought.
I mean, I guess it’s good to have replacements for items that are designed to basically last forever and that never leave your house.
Seriously, who loses a fork?
However, I take solace knowing that the 65 pieces will be put to use for all those big dinner parties…
that I will never have again.
THANKS CORONAVIRUS!
Well, I actually did have a dinner party, albeit a very small one, earlier this month (it’s OK–Maryland had already gone into Phase 2–although thinking about it, that probably means nothing).
This dinner party is from a dinner party cookbook–the San Francisco Dinner Party Cookbook by Judith Ets-Hokin.
The menu (from the section, Light Dinners) includes Stacked Crepes and Ham, Sliced Herbed Tomatoes, and Peaches in Caramel Sauce.
And just like the description, I did serve this on a Sunday evening for a party of four! And I did follow the method and prepared it just like Ms. Ets-Jokin outlined. It was so easy!
In addition to the light dinner I had some artichokes on hand and made an appetizer. I used THIS roasted artichoke recipe from Gimme Some Oven. As a variation on the theme, I roasted them earlier in the day and served them chilled with an aioli made from store-bought mayo and some of the herb filling from the artichokes.
They were outrageously good and super-simple to boot.
The tomatoes are just sliced and topped with dried herbs and olive oil and popped in the fridge.
As for the stacked crepes with ham–I didn’t end up with enough crepes to make stacks so I just rolled up sliced ham (the same ham I used for the stuffed ham sandwiches) and topped it with the gruyere-based cheese sauce.
They may not look like much, but they were yummy.
I am going to share the dessert recipe with you because it is worth trying, especially since we are in peach season.
The caramel sauce was unlike any I’ve ever had before, and I don’t particularly like peaches, but this was very, very good,
Ah! Look at all my IKEA silverware that I took out of the drawer to see how many of each spoon and fork I had. They did not match. I did not have enough.
So I guess it’s a good thing that I bought all that silverware.
But I am here still wondering, WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THE TEASPOONS GO?
That cookbook looks like something that should be in my collection as well, especially since I live a couple of hours from SF. I’ve had the same flatware set for about 15 years and always assumed all the pieces were there. Then recently I was reorganizing my drawer and discovered that I’m missing a fork, a soup spoon and 4 teaspoons! I have no idea how the heck this happened, but maybe it’s time I invested in a new set too.
I’ve lost forks and teaspoons over the years. I think as guests help by scraping plates, the silverware ends up in the trash. Either that or the grandkids throw them out. It’s never a bad thing to have a few more than you need. The dinner looks good; I’ll have to try those artichoke and the peach dessert.
I’m missing several good knives. I am perplexed. And yes, I have totally cried over the “company” place settings. Anyway, enjoy your soup spoons!
I’m missing a fork, a soup spoon and two teaspoons; fortunately, we got a few extra sets and some extra spoons so we still have service for 12. I’m actually surprised that we haven’t lost more flatware in 22 years. I think Gremlins must sneak in during the night…
Those peaches look amazing. I’m also imagining them with some really good (or better yet, homemade) vanilla ice cream.