wandering dinner #2

We did the neighborhood dinner thing again last night.

 Five courses with a Mediterranean theme and a palette cleansing bike ride between each one.
 I am most lucky to have such a lovely group of neighbors. I think this is universal. Good neighbors are everywhere. I have always had great neighbors. This group is especially nice and it's been a joy getting to know them better.

First stop: Drinks
  Sage and Gabrielle's for a fresh and bright watermelon, mint, lemon and vodka concoction. 

Howdy neighbor. Nice to meet you. How can we love our neighbor, if we don't know him/her?:

Second stop: Appetizers
Katrina's garden for an amazing roasted eggplant dip with pita, pepperocini and olives
a feta, kale, and tomato salad
and chimichuri with fresh bread and a host of edible weeds for dipping
all made by a single dad and his two daughters. It was so yummy, I could have called it all good right here.

This is as good a time as any to mention that there was also a mobile bar that floated with the party serving Sazeracs on a vintage ironing board. We do not mess around here in Happy Valley on a Monday night. My sister in law casually asked if any of us have jobs. We do. But we also have priorities. And class, and a sense of adventure.
When's the last time YOU had absinthe on a mountain bike?

The bar traveled to each stop and was accompanied by music and eventually, mahem. I love that Celeste can set up a bar in a skinny minute, will move into an upstairs apartment in a new neighborhood and get busy planning parties, and can rock some eighties short shorts. Thank you, Celeste!

Part of the pack, Rasta Stevie and Mimi.

Can Sage play catch with his dog, ride a bike and drink 'the green fairy' all at the same . Yes, he can.

Third stop: Soup and Salad
A huge vat of chicken and pasta soup with fresh vegetables, a green salad, a dozen loaves of home made bread, beer, wine, water and a sweeping view of the whole valley. And the ironing board.

And Lew caught snake # 389.

It's behind his back. They all look suspicious, don't they. He was waiting for the beautiful blond thirteen year old girl. He chased her halfway to Denver with it.

This party is pure heaven for the kids. Bikes, trampolines, new neighborhood nooks and crannies to explore. They travel as pack and do their own thing. And while our neighborhood is certainly safe, it's nice for everyone to feel a personal connection and have a greater awareness of our collective brood.  Some I had never even SEEN before, till I saw them jumping on my trampoline.Their parents had sent them out on their own and I'm so glad they did.

Fourth Stop: Dinner

Will and his bike storage and repair silo. Biking is serious business in these parts. Maybe next time we can tune-up along the way.

Three quinoa combinations full of fresh vegetables and tangy sauces topped with crispy pepitas.
This meal was light and perfect and we gathered around a fire as the sun began to set. Bikes lined the length of the driveway. The crickets chorused.
I left a bit early to get dessert ready and Della started to follow me. She soon realized that the crowd was not yet moving and stopped short.
'I want to move with the group in the dark.' she called to me.
And that was just perfect; a hundred or so neighbors kept an eye on her.

Fifth Stop: Dessert

 
 We did dessert. Last time we did this, coming home was challenging. I strategically stationed myself at home for the final stages of the party to preempt wandering through a dark valley searching blindly for a driveway that I frequent multiple times a day.

I ditched the Greek theme and went with South Georgia.

Blondies, my grandmother's lemon squares, and Matt's grandmother's rich and chewy brownies.
And lots of watermelon.

Rasta Stevie said it best.

"F@*#k Gluten, man!"

I went easy on the absinthe and heavy on the water and all was well.

Let's talk.
There are a million reasons not to do this. Not to make an effort to gather and break bread and laugh with your neighbor. We are all busy. We are all hesitant to invite over a hundred friends and strangers.  Don't worry about how your house looks. Don't worry about the food. Don't worry about the expense, it's not as much as you might think. Don't worry if you're just renting or are new or are soon moving on.
Logistically, it's quite simple. Find four or five or ten (two families per stop) people, come up with a theme to help narrow the food choices, copy off some invites, and distribute. Della and Max put these in mailboxes. Yes, I know that's a federal offense. Did you notice how we are all carrying backpacks? This is what makes it so dang simple. We all bring our own plate, forks, napkins and cup. No providing a thousand utensils or dish washing. Everyone leaves and you're done and no landfill is groaning with disposable plates and party gear.
Did you also notice that casual is good. No one is dressing to impress. Come as you are.  

We are a funny bunch. There are longtime valley veterans who have been here forever and will never leave and itinerant seekers who find our slice of heaven and call it home for a brief season. We fall somewhere between the two. Deep roots or fanciful wings, we are all travelers on this same road.
We are neighbors.
Love your neighbor.
At the very least, party with them.

Oh yes! I almost forgot. How do we know when to hop on our bikes and move to the next house? We let forth a blood curdling coyote howl. It becomes collective. Keeps things a little wild.

I love Garth's jazzy yellow bike. I first met him about a year ago, when we picked him up hitch hiking one morning on the way to school. Very nice guy.

In other news....

The critter is still in the freezer. He's waiting for me to wrap my head around the whole process and brush up on Taxidermy 101. And this week is already full, so he will remain in the freezer till we return home from our vacation.  We leave on Friday for a family adventure. 

We will be in southern California dropping Lew off for a week of marine biology camp while we camp out and surf and play in the sand. Max wants to go to lots of museums, I want to eat Ethiopian food and some good dim sum, and we are going to try to find matching tiger panties for the entire family. 

Try and stop us!

See you on the flip side.