Before you think that I’m really amazing (I’m not), let me tell you that I’ve lived in this neighborhood for about ten or eleven years. I would drive in and out of my house and glance at other people that I saw living here. Maybe give them a wave if they looked at me…but…that was all.
Then something clicked about two years ago. I realized that we’d all be glancing/politely waving at each other for the next eight years unless someone did something. And since I was the only one who was struck with this blinding revelation—-it was up to me.
So two years ago, I invited everyone on the block to dinner. That invitation garnered mixed responses. Some people looked at me and said nothing. Other accepted right away. And a few with great hesitation.
I complained to a friend about this and she said, “They think you’re going to hit them with an evening of multi-level marketing.” Made sense.
That was two years ago and today we really have a neighborhood that knows and is bonded with each other.
Time for the fall Neighborhood dinner.
The Silver Palate Cookbook (great recipes) has a recipe for Lemon Chicken that was tasty and, this is important, is mostly make ahead. On line I found a Capellini Gratin. For the green salad I made an old favorite, Justin Wilson’s Vinaigrette. Then I used the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book for my bread. 
One neighbor volunteered to bring dessert, another the appetizer and another some wine. We were set.
A day before, I marinated the chicken pieces in 2 cups of lemon juice. Fresh squeezed. I made the Vinaigrette and bagged the salad. I made my bread dough and refrigerated it. Also cooked the capellini in salted water, drained it and combined it with heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper and fresh grated nutmeg. That got spread in a buttered casserole and refrigerated.
The day of the dinner, I dried the chicken pieces, coated them with flour and spices and fried them on both sides for about 10 minutes for color and crispness. These got placed in shallow baking pans. Then I combined chicken stock, lemon zest, brown sugar and a bit of lemon extract. This got poured around the chicken and baked for about 30 minutes at 350.
The Capellini Gratin (which was on the counter to bring it up to room temperature) was baked at 425 for 50 minutes. As soon as that was out the bread, Pain d’Epi or Wheat Stalk Bread went into the oven for about 25 minutes.
The chicken was great at room temperature and the bread had to cool. The Gratin was covered with foil and allowed to sit for about a half hour while we enjoyed the bruscetta appetizers (eggplant and tomatoes/basil) that my neighbor Meagan brought.
For dessert, Frank stopped at Leopold’s Bakery on West Charleston Ave. and bought a selection of their pastries that we passed around and finished the wine with.
We started with a delSol Verano Tinto that was flavorful, fruity yet pretty powerful as far as standing up to food. The best part….only $2.99 a bottle at Lee’s Discount Liquors! The Fetzer Gewurztraminer was medium sweet and easily went with both the dinner and the appetizer. Especially since there was some sweetness in the sauce for the chicken. Good match for the white wine crowd. This wine was about $6.50. 
The last wine was my favorite: Louis Martini Cab 2007. Very balanced, cherry, blackberry, chocolate—complex but easy to drink. This was the most expensive at $15.
Good food, good fellowship and you can’t beat drinking and walking home!
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