A Dinner Party

K.Adler and her husband invited us over for a dinner party last weekend and it was a huge treat. I guess I'm in the "in- between" phase of life where some friends are married, some are not, but most don't think to have dinner parties. A hint to any of my friends reading this, a la "Field of Dreams," organize it and I will come. If I had a big enough apartment with a full-sized dining room table, I would be hosting dinner parties once a week.

Dinner started with a refreshing and much needed cocktail, made by LeMec, with his signature liqueur Chambord. To accompany the cocktails, we had crisps and cheese. I think one couple brought a couple varieties and Swimster brought some as well (we decided to do the wine and cheese duo, he brought cheese from Murray's Cheese shop and I brought a South African red wine from Morrell's). I'm not sure who to thank for this, but there was a small square of quince on the cheeseboard. I had never had it before and found it a sweet topping with the cheese and crackers. I will now be in search of quince in each and every grocery store, maybe they even have it at FreshDirect.

After the cocktails and cheese we moseyed to the dining room table. Here we enjoyed a colorful salad with strawberries and onions and Blue Ribbon Bakery vinaigrette, green beans, roasted potatoes, blue cheese-crusted steaks (the steaks were from FreshDirect I should add), and to end the evening, an incredible apple and blackberry crumble.

Click here for the recipe. It was one of the best crumbles I've ever had, and may have even topped my mom's version of Ina Garten's apple crumble. I hope Mom's not reading this. Instead of oatmeal, the crumble in this dessert is simply flour, butter and sugar. It is amazing and I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a sweet treat. Make it for yourself, which I fully intend on doing, or bring it to your next party.

(K.Adler's note: double the butter in any cooking light recipe:)

Enjoy! And thanks so much to K.Adler and LeMec for such a special evening!