This dinner started as every summer UN dinner starts: with my apartment's temperature exceeding 80degF by 10am. And I'm hosting! Nothing makes you a better host than treating your guess to a dinner/sweat lodge combo, but since I didn't believe that at all I whipped out my brand new AC unit and brought that crazy back down to 70.
I went with the too-much-is-better-than-too little approach and doubled that already generous serving size of the dumpling recipe. I managed to finish readying all of those dumplings/buns for steaming just in time for people to arrive.
As usual, it smelt (and looked) AMAZING.
As I was shoveling the chop suey into my mouth, I think Jenny posed the question, "Vietnam or Samoa was better?" Not fully aware of what I was doing my body shut down and I completely stopped moving as I internally work through the problem and thought about that previous delicious meal. Unfortunately this was also the most critical moment of "the shovel", as I like to call it, and I froze in place with a stream of noodles flowing out of my mouth. Since this glitch was corrected in seconds no one was able to snap a pic, but I generously obliged a re-enactment so the memory could be captured.
Once all the laughing and teasing had concluded about the relatively minor fault in my programming, I was back to shoveling, and Jenny followed up with a comment about how good those Vietnamese spring rolls were. *Glitch* goes my brain once again.
I really enjoyed this meal. I even got a second full helping of everything, when usually I hold off on because I usually remember the lesson learned in the "remember to leave room for nut cake" episode.
Post dinner we held our usual leftover frenzy. As planned, I had tons of dumplings left over. However, I did not anticipate there being more vegetarian guests than meat eaters, so the vast majority were pork. I ended up forcing more than a few on Mike (the other meat eater), and also brought quite a few to another friend whom I visited a couple days later. To those who, like I, ate leftover buns all week... you're welcome.
As is tradition, during the pre-dessert meal break we pulled out a card game. This time, Wizard. Several rounds in Amber's pooch, Jack (or Jacki-poo-bear as I like to call him) let out a whine that was a good indication that it was time for a pee break. Amber and Thanasi headed out, and a conversation was struck up about my multitude of hats on stands and hung on the wall that I never really wear. The conversation progress and Amber and Thanasi end coming back inside to to Mike in a stereotypical Fargo bombardier hat, Jenny in my excessively poofy white alpaca hat, and me, sporting my Chinese rice hat, shuffling for the next round.
After defeating all my rivals I celebrated (while everyone else drowned their sorrows) with some coco rice dessert.
Post dessert, Mike picked up some beer (thanks Mike!) for some Baseball-not-that-Baseball, and ended our night.early morning with a little Drawful. I spent over half the following day regretting life's decisions, except for the one where I decided to double the dumpling recipe and ended up with leftover buns for days. Mmmmmmm...
(Celebrated June 29th, 2019)
