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Thursday night we invited our friends Nick & Linda over for dinner. In October when we learned we’d be moving to Cincinnati and needed a place to crash for three days while we did a whirlwind round of house hunting, Fr. Bob’s friends Nick & Linda generously took us in without knowing a thing about us. They were having a bonfire at their home when we arrived late that night so they introduced us to all their neighbors, trusted us with the keys to their home, and even gave us a garage door opener to use while we stayed with them. They housed us, fed us, gave us our first real tour of Cincinnati, helped us locate areas of town to start our house searching in, and advised us of the areas of town we definitely wanted to avoid. When we signed the lease they took us out to dinner at Montgomery Inn BoatHouse to celebrate. When we moved into the house a week after our wedding, they showed up at our front door to help us scrub the fridge and unload boxes from the moving truck. They brought with them a “welcome home” box full of new-house necessities like toilet paper, disposable plates and silverware, bottled water, light bulbs, hand soap, and cleaning supplies. They also brought a lasagna, salad and garlic bread; it was our first meal in our new home. They even picked us up at the Cincinnati airport and drove us back home after our Christmas vacation. Needless to say, we’re very thankful for them! We’ve all been swamped lately and haven’t seen them in several months, so to remedy that and to say a big old “Thanks For Being So Wonderful To Us!” we invited them over for dinner.

I was excited for the opportunity to break out our set of cute wooden salad bowls, Packer wine glasses (yes, we actually own Green Bay Packer wine glasses), and shapely serving dishes I collected during college. I used our low bowl succulent garden for a centerpiece because A) it’s awesome, and B) it adds a sweet flair to the table and still allows you to see and converse with the person sitting across from you, unlike a vase of tall blooms which can block people off from one another. For an appetizer I made a fantastic creamy spinach artichoke dip (find the recipe here) and served it with lightly salted bagel chips. And because I grew up an olive-loving Bidus, no dinner party would be complete with the obligatory and beloved black olive and petite dill relish tray that has made an appearance at every family function and social dinner since as far back as I can remember. For dinner we started with a really simple yet abundantly flavorful salad I absolutely love – spinach, strawberries, almonds, and goat cheese. Try it. It is astonishing how tasty this salad can be. I don’t even use dressing on it because it’s so good without it. After the salad course we dined on crescent rolls and my grandmother’s crowd pleasing Italian sausage pasta casserole. We drank Door County wine – black cherry and honeycrisp apple were on the menu – and finished the meal off with a Le Cordon Bleu custard-filled butter cookie crust fruit tart I’d made that afternoon (recipe here). The fruit tart is absolutely mouth watering! I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for a quick dessert to throw together in less than 30 minutes, but if you’ve got a few hours of time on your hands, guests to pamper, and a hankering for something light and sweet, this dish is both visually beautifully and delicious without feeling to sinful or heavy. Nick & Linda brought us a pretty bouquet of flowers, which if my memory serves me correctly, is actually our first bundle of flowers we’ve ever had in this house! It’s about time!

Sadly, I’m working both days this weekend because that’s just the point we have to be at in our lives right now in order to keep our ends meeting, but I hope you’re all having a lovely summer weekend :-)