Dinner at home with friends

(This is a blog translated into English using chat GPT）

Yesterday, we invited Shinji and Makichan over to our house for dinner, which was long overdue! I looked back and realized the last time we got together was in November last year, so it’s been over six months!

As always, Shinji has such a dark complexion! The contrast with Emmet’s skin tone is striking!

Since Shinji and Makichan’s family runs a farm, when they come over for dinner, we often receive freshly harvested vegetables from them, and I take care of cooking. It is a great system, isn’t it?

They let us know in advance what vegetables they would be bringing, so I decided what to make and went shopping accordingly. However, I found shrimp, clams, and pork blocks on sale at a great price, so we had to change our menu plans.

I made the easiest Aqua Pazza with the shrimp and clams. As for the pork, I bought some apples and used the delicious balsamic vinegar and butter that we received from our friends to season it, and then grilled it. (By the way, it ended up being in the oven a little longer than planned, so it became quite dry. I’ll have to redeem myself next time!)

Also, during our previous picnic, Matt-kun made some delicious hummus, and he shared the recipe with us. So, I gave it a try the night before. It’s just a paste made of chickpeas, sesame paste, lemon, garlic, and olive oil, blended together in a mixer. It’s incredibly simple! But it turned out to be incredibly delicious! When serving, I drizzled olive oil and sprinkled paprika powder on top. It goes well with vegetable sticks, crackers, or bread—basically, anything!

Among other dishes, I made potato salad with the purple potatoes we received as a gift. Fionn brought back carrots from the harvesting experience, and I made a salad with apples, walnuts, whole grain mustard, wine vinegar, and honey. I grilled the onions and baby corn that we received from the two of them and added some dill that we also received for the salad. It was a feast of gift-inspired dishes.

Oh, and I also made galettes with the potatoes we received from the two of them, as per Makichan’s request! The potatoes turned out to be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside—so delicious!

I heard that they have to wake up at 4 a.m. every day during corn season! When I asked why so early, they said that corn has the highest sugar content when harvested before the morning sun hits it. And it’s true, the corn from Yuubeji is incredibly sweet! Once, when they didn’t have any available and I bought corn from the supermarket on a rainy day, Fionn refused to eat it because it wasn’t tasty. It seems that this extra effort and daily hard work really pays off in terms of flavor.

The next day, the two of them went to work in the fields at 4 a.m. again, but they came back home much earlier than usual, around 11 a.m. Even so, after getting back home and taking a bath, it would already be past midnight, so they didn’t have much time for sleep!

But they ate most of the dishes we prepared and said that everything was delicious. I’m really happy about that! There are still so many menus I want to try, so I’ll continue experimenting and having everyone taste them!

I can’t wait to have my own home and host even more wonderful dinner parties. When that happens, I’ll invite even more friends, so please come and join us!