Dinner at Sandi's

Sandi is a great cook and she just loves to cook. She usually cooks for her staff, her friends, and anyone that is willing to try her creations. She cooks when she is stressed, when she's happy or sad...you get the picture.

Last night she had me and my husband over for dinner.  She also invited 2 other friends which ended up cancelling; oh well, more for us to eat. The problem is she cooked all day and had enough food for eight. Her hors d' oeuvres were so exciting and good that I suggested we finish them and come back the following night for dinner. 
She had 2 kinds of salami with mozzarella cheese in them. There was goat cheese that she baked with a marinara sauce, there was a garlic cheese spread, assorted nuts and some of her favorite and mine, Vermont cheddar cheese served with crackers. She also had little sandwiches (rye bread) stuffed with ham, cheese and Jalapeno jelly. Can you understand why I suggested dinner be postponed?

We started our dinner with a Beet, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad. The dressing she made didn't turn out the way she wanted so she served it with a blue cheese dressing. That worked well.  The juicy pears, the sweet beets and salty goat cheese was such a nice combination.

For our entree, she mad Black Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Sauce. That was absolutely delicious.   She served this with mashed potatoes, equally as good and she roasted some Brussels sprouts and asparagus.  My husband could not finish his portion as he was too full.  I on the other hand tried my very best to clean my plate and was successful.

Dessert came and we didn't have to make choices as she made 2 kinds which of course we had to try.  My favorite key lime pie with just the right amount of tartness served with whipped cream was one of them. The other was called "brown paper bag apple pie" ; this is because the apple pie is baked in a brown paper bag.  I have never heard of that before...with my luck I would probably set the kitchen on fire.  The top was all nice and crunchy with the mixture of flour, sugar and lots and lots of butter.

When we got home I tried to watch some television, go on the computer and tried to amuse myself as there was no way I could go to sleep on such a full stomach. Needless to say, when I weighed myself this morning, the couple of pounds I lost came back with another friend (an extra pound).  This is the end result of dinner at Sandi's.