EASTER DINNER

Tomorrow we will be hosting our 5th Annual Seafood Easter Dinner.

Our first Easter dinner was celebrated in my Capitol Hill apartment in the spring of 2005. D and I had been dating for about three months and we thought it would be fun to celebrate the Resurrection with our friends and over good food. It was a good time, but looking back I see that we've come a L-O-N-G way.

For our first Easter dinner, we served all the food buffet style and in one course. We ate on couches with plates in our laps. D made enough food to feed three or four-times the number of people we invited. I think I ate pasta with mussels for a week afterward. Our second Easter dinner was held in our first apartment. Again, we ate on the couches or tile floor (we didn't have enough seating for everyone). That year, we did the get the proportions right. Our third Easter dinner was in our new house. We sat down at our wonderful dining room table. Everyone had a seat! We had a four course meal and enjoyed the company of all of our guests. We also announced my pregnancy that day. Last year, we again had enough seating for everyone, including two little ones. We ate a wonderful meal and enjoyed the company of all of our guests.

Tomorrow we'll have a full house - eight adults and two kids. Everyone will have a seat at the table. We also plan to break out Bunny Bowling - a wonderful little game D picked up at some over-crowded furniture store for $1.

For dinner we will be having a five course meal:

1. cheese and crackers

2. carrot-cashew soup with ginger

3. salad - romaine, heart of palm, artichoke hearts and blue cheese with a vinegarette dressing

4. salmon baked in puff pastry with a vegan curry-cheese sauce and spinach. Served with broccoli and roasted mini-red potatoes with fresh rosemary.

5. pound cake with fresh strawberries and blueberries.