How exciting it is to think one has arrived at being a hostess for a dinner party. Whether it be for 2 or 10 or more it is a real test of organization of so many things; planning the menu, buying the food, planning the seating, and finally getting everything ready before the door bell rings for that first guest. (And surely if mother could do it, so can I!!)
Pete and I had not been married very long when he announced that he had invited 2 couples he knew to have dinner with us in a couple weeks. I did not know these folks at all but was excited about the possibility of being the ‘perfect wife’.
I poured over my cookbooks for ideas and recipes and finally announced that I would be roasting a turkey. I cleaned the house to a faretheewell, got all the ingredients, set the table, got the turkey in the roaster and was on my way to fame as a newlywed cook and hostess.
The guests arrived and were delightful. Smells of roasting turkey filled out home and we toasted just about anything we could think of. Pete carved the turkey, the mashed potatoes were not lumpy, the vege was al dente but alas – – the gravy was set in front of a male guest and when he lifted the bowl to serve he yelped, he burned his fingers, and gravy spilled all over that end of the table. I had not taken into account that the stainless Revere bowl was not a gravy boat and it was way too hot!! My perfect table was a disaster as we lifted the gravy saturated utinsels and bowls and put mismatched bath towels all over the table. There was more gravy. I put it in a passable bowl and dinner went on.
I doubt these two couples gave it all another thought. I still shudder when I think of it 40+ years later. Pete and I went out and bought a gravy boat the next day and we still have it and use it.
I am reminded of this as our daughter, who by her own admission, doesn’t cook, has invited 16 guests for a dinner party. I can warn her about a gravy boat – but what will happen I forget to tell her about? Stay tuned.