Chips in China
One of the first dinner parties we hosted, back when we lived west in Notting Hill, was a Yunnan extravaganza I was recipe testing for @georgiafreedman ‘s incredible book “China South of the Clouds.” We had invited Greg and Garth to join, but I warned Ed— I wasn’t going to be putting anything out as an appetizer as I had enough to do, so if he wanted to get something for the guys, to please go ahead and do so.
I barely noticed what he’d picked up that day, and when I finally did notice, it was too late. 🤦♀️All of our wedding china bowls were out on the table, each filled with CRISPS. Crisps! Potato chips! In china! The horror! The ladies in the registry department at Scully & Scully would have died. I mean: I was more than a bit flabbergasted / aghast myself.
I have a lot to say about the whole potato-chip-as-a-pre-dinner-snack thing that goes on in this country, but I won’t. What I will say is that now every time Greg comes for dinner, he always brings “crisps for the china bowls.” And I’ve just come to accept that the most action those bowls are ever going to see is potato chip-related, and I guess I’m at peace with that.
Greg also always brings a bottle of red wine (typically Spanish) and a bar of chocolate (always dark). 🍫He knows we will have G&Ts and white wine, but probably not red. And he knows I don’t do desserts. At least I typically don’t and haven’t really ever. And he’s one of these people for whom a meal isn’t finished without something sweet. So he comes prepared. Most of the time.
Last Friday night Greg showed up empty-handed for once. And, though he was out of luck when it came to vin rouge, he hit the jackpot when it came to dessert— these little delights, molten olive oil chocolate cakes, from @csaffitz “What’s for Dessert” for @rainydaybites final February #rainydaybitescookbookclub challenge. Now, I’m not saying I’ll be doing dinner party desserts from now on, but their ease and deliciousness could be nudging me in that direction…and I did get over the chips-in-china thing, so people can change 😉