Coming to your hometown for just a few days typically means there is not nearly enough time to see everyone. And when you bring home one of the most recently born children, there is increased responsibility to see everyone. So, my Mom set up a “viewing”. Although, several of us thought that sounded a bit too much like a funeral and we attempted to change it to a “showing”. I am not sure we were successful with the re-name, but the party certainly was. Basically, she said stop by anytime after 1pm and that is what folks did.

Of course, we had to have snacks because we love food so much. While someone prepared a quick breakfast before we headed to mass, I prepared the Raspberry Butter and Herb Butter. Two classic Allison family party foods. Actually, the Raspberry Butter is usually Strawberry Butter, but since we had Raspberry Jam from the bushes in the backyard that seemed more appropriate.

The butters are very similar a 1/2 cup butter and 8 ounces cream cheese are blended together. For the sweet variation, about a 1/2 cup jam is blended in. For this batch we strained the seeds out of Raspberry Jam, but other variations are delightful too. For example, we had Apricot Butter at our wedding that was paired with Roast Beef, horseradish, and more to stuff into sandwiches.

For the Herb Butter, after the butter and cream cheese come together a clove of garlic with a generous handful of fresh basil leaves are whipped into a puree. It is addictive. Want the exact recipe? Head over to Lilly’s Table for the Winter Green’s Butter and use basil instead of arugula.

I also made a simple veggie dip, which I just now realized is not actually on Lilly’s Table… yet! Clearly it will need to go up there soon. It is simply: Greek yogurt, a lemon (zest & juice), a generous amount of chopped fresh herbs and grated parmesan cheese. This has been a hit at multiple parties, so I will work on the exact measurements and photograph it for LT soon.

Xerxes sliced up tons of cucumbers & zucchini from my parent’s garden for crudites as well as some carrots from the store. We put out a bowl of amazing, candy like cherry tomatoes, too. The fruit platter was gorgeous including strawberries, figs, grapes, pineapple and blueberries. There was also a medley of cheese to slice and crackers to pair them with. Friends generously brought items to add to the casual feast.

The day was festive, delicious and bright. Juliette was thrilled that two little girls arrived for her to play with and it certainly made the day lovely for us too to have her entertained, when our job was to meet, greet and catch up with so many folks.

The first part of the day included family friends, mostly from the church I grew up in. Juliette and the first little girl spent their time diving into the dress up clothes, which included dance costumes from my sisters and I. It was quite nostalgic to see her dressed in the lime green and pink tutu butterfly outfit from one of my first recitals. The guests reminisced about how my childhood was full of similar piles of dress up clothes in the basement.

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It was wonderful to see everyone and Zed was in full force, either peacefully sleeping and contentedly being transferred from person to person or peeking his eyes out to look around and show off his big beautiful smile. Everyone generously showered him and Juliette with gifts as well.

The evening included a few more friends who trickled by and then we settled in for a dinner of leftover pasta salad and my Dad’s smoked salmon that we forgot to bring out during party time and more herb butter, because it just made sense with the meal.

I can’t believe I forgot to take a few photos of the gorgeous fruit platter and the other dishes during the day, but in the evening I couldn’t resist quickly capturing the table set in such a pretty manner despite that the meal was a casually tossed together mish-mash of leftovers.

It made me realize, as much as I obsess over the food, a beautiful dinner is not just about what you consume but how and with whom you enjoy it. And the evening was quite delightful, I must say!

May your night be just as precious & sweet,

Lilly

Today was entirely dedicated to packing. Well, mostly. I say this because trying to pack with two small ones’ agendas makes for a long day of organizing, doing laundry, making decisions, being interrupted by sadness, pressing toddler questions and more. It is all enough to make you want to lock yourself in the kitchen to cook. Or I’d be happy hanging with a kiddo, but thinking about the logistics of packing is not one of my favorite choirs. Although, we are very excited that packing means we are heading to my parent’s house in Washington state.

In the spirit of procrastination, I found myself considering the fact that we were leaving our now ready to harvest garden. Which meant I gathered up a few tomatoes and a generous handful of basil for breakfast. The result was a paper thin omelette stuffed with minced tomatoes, torn basil and a few small dollops of creme fraiche. We were all very happy with this start.

By lunchtime, I finally had Zed restful and sleepy enough to actually start packing, but then my belly was growling. Juliette and I split a Sunflower Butter & Peach Sandwich. We both inhaled our halves and agreed we needed a second. We also ate a few pinches of almost stale potato chip pieces.

About three hours later, I was mostly packed and ready to run out for a quick appointment. On my way, there I found myself at Whole Foods for a couple of lemons, French bread for tomorrow’s plane ride and a small, cheap Chicken Sonoma Salad Wrap. I make my own Chicken Sonoma Salad and am always happy to eat it this time of year when grapes are starting to become lovely. The wrap was fine although I found myself wanting just a couple cubes more chicken to even out the thick tortilla, but I am not sure it is even worth that complaint.

Next, was Juliette’s official first ballet class. After last week’s attempt we were all very excited the big day had finally arrived. But first, we made a quick stop at Sloan’s Brewery for some happy hour Grilled Artichokes (my recipe is here on Lilly’s Table).

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Coming home, dinner became a major group project. Pasta water started boiling. The milk started to simmer for Homemade Ricotta. We ran to garden and gathered the bulk of the meal, a couple zucchinis and all the tomatoes we could find. All chopped up with sherry, olive oil and three cloves garlic thinly sliced. We kept the veggies cool, folded into the dressing and then tossed in the hot pasta. The creamy ricotta with flecks of lemon peel was prepared to be dolloped on top. We kind of fought over the ricotta until it vanished. Overall, this meal was delightful but especially for this hot night.

May your night be cool and your dream’s dreamy!

Lilly