Dinner is Served

Before

Before I write another word, let me just say that I love having people over for dinner. I enjoy the conversation, I enjoy being with folks who I might not see that often, and I enjoy the light buzz of that second glass of wine. If I could have friends and family over every evening for a relaxed dinner, I would. Last night we had a visitor from the chilly north, from the bullet riddled streets of Chicago. Sam the man was here, and Mark made a delicious Cuban dinner for him. Something people of Cuban descent apparently can never get enough of. Plantains, black beans and rice, roast pork, and of course Mark's famous flan for dessert. Here's the problem, other than dinner, I only got to spend about fifteen minutes talking to Sam and catching up on things not fit for Facebook. The rest of my evening was devoted to cleaning up the kitchen. How on Earth can one skinny little guy cook dinner for only three people, and leave a mess as big as the World Trade Center pile. Seriously, I was in the kitchen for over an hour last night cleaning, and then this morning I spent another half an hour cleaning up the clean up from last night. If it were up to me dinner would be ordered out and served on paper plates. Unfortunately, Mark does not go along with that idea. He always goes full out for our guests. He insists on the best food and the best presentation. So if you are ever invited to our house for dinner, do not turn it down. You will not be disappointed. Unless something happens and Mark isn't around. Then you can expect pizza delivered in a cardboard box. But I can guarantee that there will be a fair amount of liquor and wine served with that pizza.

After