My Dinner With Nate and Briana

TWO first class cooks showed up at my house to make dinner Wednesday night. Talk about luscious treats. The best of summer fruits and vegetables got cooked up into wonderful sauces and roasted with fish and roast beef.
It was hot - in the 90s - and outside was the perfect place to set up tables and chairs. The smells inside the house were too much to take anyway. Too, too good!
So we've got the flowers, plates and silverware. We're off to a good start here.
I did have to go back into the house for a few peeks at what was being prepared and to see if the cooks needed anything: a grater, a juicer ... a taster?
Outside the guests were starting to arrive and everyone was hungry and happy to see each other again. It had been a while since our last visit with some of the folks.
It was perfect weather even though it was hot, but there was a nice breeze coming up. One of our guests was especially well turned out, with shiny new shoes on her feet. How about that green grass? No chemicals; just a bit of well water. (We didn't ask Lila to click her heels together and wish she was home. She was so cute we wanted her to stay forever!)
Here is Briana, her mother, and one of our cooks. Briana has her own business, Red Apples, a sustainable private chef service. Reach her at bluewillow32@hotmail.com.
The small grilled pizzas were cut into triangles and served as appetizers. They were topped with the smallest and sweetest tomatoes, sauteed red onion and melting cheese. Delicious again. And the homemade pasta!
Inside the house things were still cooking. It was getting very warm in there with the oven roasting potatoes and pots on the stove boiling away. A gravy reduction was going on for the roast beef. The smell alone was almost enough to fill you up! (Only not quite.)
The pink raspberries (or white; not sure which) were so sweet and ended up in a sauce. That's chard and maybe red pepper on the back burner.
Fresh, organic, sustainable, local. This is a great way to eat everyday. And here are the polenta squares with a savory veggie topping. They were cold and made a nice treat for such a warm afternoon. Nate prepared these, I think. Here he is posing with the beets he bought at the market and then prepared.
Are you almost "pictured out"? Here is my glass of Cubanismo wine from the Willamette Valley and my triangle of pizza. (water back)
What a dinner! I'm running out of time now and don't want to make you too jealous, so I'll stop telling you how wonderful it all was. Please feel free to imagine you were actually there - femminismo