Dinner Party

Friday evening, we hosted our first dinner party here in Belgium. It was small, intimate, and a very welcome change of pace from the usual nights out we've been so accustomed to here.

I kept the menu quite simple - a roast beef, pan roasted root vegetables with thyme (fresh from my little window sill herb garden) and a green salad. Because my oven here is still a mystery to me, and doesn't work like the one back home, I had to adjust my usual roast recipe - essentially combining two different recipes and adjusting the cooking time (luckily, it worked out fine and we didn't have to order pizza). For dessert, I threw together the Pear Almond Tart that has become a household favorite around here.

Christian and Anna are from Germany, Vickie and Chris are from South Africa... We've all grown up worlds apart, yet over a wonderful meal, and (several) bottles of wine, we spent the evening chatting as though we were lifelong friends... 

We're already making plans to visit South Africa for Chris and Vickie's wedding (he just has to propose first... minor detail), and we're heading to Germany in December to check out Christian and Anna's hometown, Cologne. 

But before we get ahead of ourselves planning big trips, we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of our good buddy TommyK this week! (TK, baked goods and lots of beer await! Hurry up!)