Last month, Betty took me to lunch for my birthday. She commented that she loves curry and has been to India seven times, so for her 87th birthday, I made chicken and cauliflower curry and brown basmati rice. Mary Rose joined us, along with with singing friend Linda.
What went well: the low flower arrangement that we could see over. Instead of spring colors, I might have picked up the blue of the tablecloth and the burnt orange of the plates.
The mandarin oranges on the buffet in the center of the image were dessert, along with a single dark chocolate truffle from See’s candy. The salad was spring mix with cruciferous crunch with my sesame/ginger dressing. Mary liked the dressing. I heated fresh naan bread in the oven too long and it was hard on the bottom. I hated firing up the oven just to heat the bread, but it was 68° outside and the windows were open slightly and the kitchen vent fan on because the Covid Omicron variant it peaking here and two of my guests are in their 80s.
I had set out dolmas and peanut-butter filled dolmas on the coffee table as appetizers, but the air was redolent with the fragrance of the curry and everyone wanted to sit right down and eat. Betty left about 2 and her thank you note said, in part, “What a fun, exciting afternoon I had with you yesterday. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Mary Rose is stimulating and provocative. I really enjoyed her, and Linda is lovely to be with, too. You are the best. Thank you for producing that delicious lunch. I ate every last drop and it was so good.”
Mary left at 3 because she needed to give Peggy’s dog its medication, and Linda stayed until 4, saying:
Thank you! It was the most enjoyable lunch I’ve had for many years. I loved the conversation, the sharing of ideas and confidences and backgrounds. I don’t know whether the fact that for me it was one of the most stimulating conversations Ive had means that I lead a very boring life, or that it was really good. I am happy to have met (or re-met) Betty, and your sister, sweet faced Mary. For me she is a charming puzzle. The food was delicious…. “
Do better: I left the naan in the oven too long and the bottoms became hard — I inadvertently cooked them a little. Only Mary drank the Early Gray tea. Betty liked the Stella beer and Mary brought some Italian Pirone beer.
Today’s NYTimes ran this graph of the current thinking on the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
