Friends for Dinner

We invited a dear friend and her two sons for dinner tonight

Dinner in the dining room

Lace tablecloth, damask napkins in silver rings and the Spode Blue Room

(because it's dish washable!)

Peonies from the garden in a crystal vase are the centerpiece

A "homey" dinner filled with foods from the Farmers Market

Nancy Fuller's Farmhouse Rules pot roast and gravy

(It's a keeper of a recipe -- both the pot roast and gravy)

And if you have gravy you have to have mashed potatoes

With a good piece of butter to melt into the hot potatoes and for color a sprinkle of paprika on top!

Baby carrots, real baby carrots, glazed and roasted asparagus

So good, so fresh!

A pre marriage days recipe for fresh strawberry pie

Because I have a goodly amount of local strawberries

I do think it was the best strawberry pie I've ever had

(and I chalk that up to the strawberries rather than the cook!)

We had a delightful evening 

And all too soon they left for home

And I tidied up!

The dishwasher is humming and Jim and I are going to end the evening on the front porch in our rockers.

It's a delightful evening out!

The strawberry pie recipe:

FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE

1 baked pie shell

1 quart strawberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

3 T. cornstarch

few drops red food color

Whipped cream for serving

Put water, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.     Cut up 1 cup of strawberries and add to water, sugar and cornstarch mixture.    Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and clear. Add a few drops of red food color.    Stir.     Hull the rest of the berries and leave whole.    Put them into a bowl and pour the cooked mixture over.     Stir until all the berries are coated.    Pour into prepared pie shell.    Chill until serving.     Serve with a garnish of whipped cream.