Two of the friends that we’ve known the longest in Las Vegas have been going through some tough circumstances, and, I thought, needed some TLC in the form of a dinner party at our house.
Sometimes it helps just to know you have friends that love and care for you and want to see you happily distracted—at least for a few hours.
Welcoming Flowers
My Mother was in town from Florida and when I called my friend I told her that this was the reason that I wanted them to come to dinner. Partially true, but not completely.
My brother & I grew up eating my Mother’s Spaghetti Casserole. To this day I still crave it. Just cooked spaghetti, ground beef and pork, Marinara sauce, cheese and an inner filling of sour cream, scallions and cottage cheese. Put together like lasagna. But like lasagna, the whole is more than the sum of it’s parts. So, you’d better make sure the parts are top quality.
A Great Value
Mom's Spaghetti Casserole
I got a Sterling Vineyards Meritage for the dinner which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. This wine had flavors of cherry, berry and chocolate and had a full, rich finish. Since the Casserole had some heavy flavors I thought this wine would taste good and it did. Best of all, it’s under $10 a bottle. The only thing I’d probably do differently, is to open the wine before dinner to let it open up. I noticed that it tasted better at the end of the dinner.
I had some Roasted Garlic Dressing from our Thanksgiving Dinner, so I made another salad with Romaine lettuce, sliced Granny Smith apple, blue cheese and toasted pecans.
Romaine, Blue Cheese, Pecans & Apples
Spaghetti Casserole cries out for Garlic Bread. Which I made and wrapped in foil to put into the oven in the last 15 minutes of the casserole baking.
This is a heavy dinner, so I wanted the appetizer to be light. I found an old recipe for stuffed mushrooms that are stuffed with olives, anchovy, cheese, lime juice, butter, soy sauce and are baked and served hot.
For dessert I made a favorite (of mine). A pecan cranberry tart. Just a pretty typical pecan pie that has fresh cranberries sprinkled liberally over it. The tart flavor of the cranberries adds a refreshing note to the sweet pecan filling.
Ready to sit down
Getting to sit around the table, eating, drinking and catching up with our friends was the best part of the evening.
Yummy!
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