Country Kitchen:
Who's Coming to Dinner
By Mary Emma Allen
Whenever there's a library book sale, I head for the cookbook table. At a
recent sale, I discovered a journal in this section of books. Only a few
pages had been written, and I wondered if someone had placed it here by
mistake.
However, as I glanced through, I realized this was a dining or dinner
diary. Here a hostess had begun chronicling the occasions when she had
guests for dinner.
"What a fun idea!" I thought, as I glanced through. Then I began to think
about developing one of my own, perhaps called, "Who's coming to
dinner?".
This would be different from the cooking journal I described in a
previous column. It could be sort of an expanded guest book with a
listing and even description and recipes of the foods served.
What's in a Dinner Diary?
For instance at one dinner party, this diary writer mentioned the people
attending her meal. Then she gave the menu - tomato/cuke/melon salad,
herb bread, stuffed roast pork, and apple sauce.
Another menu was more elegant - spinach/basil salad, baguettes, wild
rice, sweet potato and carrot puree, pickled asparagus, cheesecake and
cherries, amaranth coffee.
What would you place in your dinner diary? Wouldn't it be fun to read
this in future years, remembering the occasions, trying some of the
recipes again?
Family cookbooks, food journals, and dinner diaries can play a role in a
family's food heritage. Even the usual diaries may make references to
food cooked and served during the course of a family's daily life. As I
browse my grandmother's and mother's diaries, I find it interesting that
they so often referred to the family foods.
Scrapbooking Dinner Diaries
The dinner diary I found at the book sale was a simple lined notebook
with attractive black cover bound in red. The title handwritten across
the first page was, "Dinner at the ..............." Then brief notations
were given of those attending and the menu.
However, you can add sketches or scrapbooking designs to the pages and
create an attractive presentation. These may be items of your own design
or the stickers and borders available for scrapbooking.
The dinner diary may become a memorable family collectible. This also can
be a project to use with the children in your family as they develop
family food journals and collages.
Dinner Diary Recipes
APPLESAUCE was served with the stuffed roast pork in the dinner diary I
found. This might have been the canned variety with spices added. Or the
hostess could have served the homemade type by cooking the apples and
adding sugar and spices as needed.
She also served HERB BREAD. This can be of several varieties. Some cooks
make it in the breadmaker, others "from scratch." You also can make
breads in a slow cooker, especially if you have one with the special
metal insert.
You also can take bakery bread, slice it, then spread with herbed butter
and heat.
For HERBED BUTTER, chop 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
herbs such as basil, tarragon, or dill. Stir in 1 cup softened butter or
margarine. (Some people like to use unsalted butter.) Spread on fresh
bread; also can be used on bread you're going to heat in the oven or
under the broiler before serving.
QUICK HERBED BISCUITS - Using canned biscuits, roll or dip them into
melted butter. Place on greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with your desired
herb or mixture of herbs. Bake according to directions on the package.
(C) 2003 Mary Emma Allen
About the Author
Mary Emma Allen has been writing her "Cooking Column" for newspapers
and online publications for 30 years and
has compiled a family cookbook. She’s currently compiling a
cookbook/story book,
"Tales From a Country Kitchen." Visit her web site for more cooking
articles. Contact her at me.allen@juno.com
