Thursday, August 31, 2006

at home with mr chatty

it's really dull to post about dates that go well. Mr Chatty is fun, affectionate & has a super laugh. I am taking it real slow with him & that's taking the panic out of it all.

He's gone home to Perth for a few days (that's another repetition, boys from Perth, WA) so I invited him over for dinner last night. This is huge for me, to cook dinner & make a fuss, but I did it for a reason.

Last week I had dinner with Liz's mum, an old-fashioned-cooked-everything-from-stratch-shoeless-cooking mum. In between all her stories about when Liz was young, she said the best way to entice a man was to show him your homemaking skills. Cooking , looking after guests, old fashioned hospitality talents. As we sat there agog at the quiches, fresh cooked vegetables & other home made treats we all pined for fridges full of food, kitchens surrounded by friends all being well fed & I kinda thought, yes, she's right. It's what's missing. The martha-stewart/ nigella lawson touch (without the cameras)

so I cooked. I had pate & humous to start, a meat & two veg meal with salad. We lay on the couches (I dont' have a dining table...a now crucial homemakers missing element) and we slowly unwound, talked about the plight of aborigines, sydney real estate & 80's music. He helped tidy up too.

i'm on a mission to get married, so I'll have dates in my kitchen. maybe this is the way?

2 comments:

The Snarkess said...

I think so! Sounds like a beautiful meal.

My secret when I'm trying to really impress is lasagna. It takes hours of friggin around, but that can all be done way ahead of time. Instead of layering in a pan, I layer one noodle, then sauce then meat, cheese, etc, then noodle, until I have about six layers on one noodle...then I roll it up like a cinnamon bun and flip it on it's side. Makes a little elegant bundle, which you then cover with a little sauce and cheese, then pop in over. Clean up all mess and shave legs. Hide anything embarassing in apartment. Open wine.

When boy comes to door, pour wine, slide one lasagna roll onto plate, garnish with a sprig of fresh basil, and wait for the compliments on your (apparently) effortless hostessing to roll in! ~lol~

The Snarkess said...

over = oven (heats up better that way) ;)