The Quilt Inn Country Cookbook

Aliske Webb

Fare Weather Friends

More than occasionally we have friends over to the Inn for dinner. This may

seem like bringing coals to Newcastle but our entertaining is easily divided into those

who pay us, and those who repast for free. After all, who can resist a free meal (unless,

of course, it happens to be followed by a time-share pitch or the latest scheme in

multilevel marketing). All we ask is that they bring cheerful conversation, a good

appetite and that they leave behind empty plates (and the good silver).

Dinner guests are strange anomalies of the human spirit. You would expect

them to be charming, appreciative and at least on time. Usually they are the first two,

particularly if you are not trying to impress with a culinary coup de grace: the latest all-

vinegar meal, or a mono-maniacal masterpiece from Southern California. People are

so polite. They won’t say to your face that a tarte de seaweed is hardly their idea of an

appetizer, let alone appetizing,or that for the fourth time, the smell of red wine vinegar

precedes you into the dining room. No, they simply won’t eat.

Guests do expect your menus to be sensible. We know that if you are

particularly proud of your navigation skills around the kitchen, this may seem like an

imposition. We’ve all been there. Lemon with everything, (it smells so fresh!), cream

with everything, (it adds a je ne sais quoi), garlic with everything, (at least everyone is

on equal footing thereafter), and the fabulous dessert that is trotted out meal after meal

because everyone thought it was great the first time.

Guests should be met at least halfway. You will not impress with your ability to

turn zucchini into a five-course banquet, or that you know how to recycle the shrimp

from the appetizer into a soup, main course, dessert and sherbet. Nor will it help if you

present them with a theme dinner, (say, an all blue brunch: grape juice, blueberry

cassis, blueberry pancakes, blue ice cream and a blueberry flan).

When you think about your menu, ask yourself these questions: What is in

season? Then don’t serve it. Fresh corn is one vegetable I can thick of that everyone

has had their fill of long before they make it to your table, even if you have invented a

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Country Cooking