Veteran's Day on the casual tip

So, I've been distracted, travelling and not cooking.  That changed at the beginning of November.  Why?  Because one of my favorite food holidays is approaching.... Thanksgiving.

But there is a smaller holiday that comes up first.  I'd been on the road and didn't plan anything big.  But my husband and I did have one guest over for a homey Veteran's Day meal:

Panned spinach with onions and garlic
Spinach and ricotta ravioli with a red sauce
Toasted Baguette
Lovely Zinfandel!

Apple Cobbler

One hostess note:  If any of your guests or relatives are college age men or twenty-something men, double the amount of food you are making!  If it seems like you have a ridiculous amount of food..., you have make just barely enough.

That looks like a scary picture of something. Did you eat it before your tri?

Personal Celebrations - Triathlon Afterparty

This year I did my third triathlon. It was a sprint distance-- 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run, and was held early in the morning. Since it wasn't a killer distance race (anything longer than the sprint distance), I decided to have friends over for a celebratory breakfast after the fact. I'd hoped my husband would be the main chef, but to thwart me, he came down with the flu just a few days beforehand and I had to yank his food handler's permit.

Luckily, the menu I had in mind centered around a 'must do ahead of time' dish. Got me thinking of other 'do ahead' food and the menu was born:

Pear coffeecake with ginger pecan crunch topping

Mexican Egg souffle

(oven) Home fries

Fruit Salad

Mimosas

Chai

Pomegranate sparkler

The coffeecake was made a day ahead. The egg souffle has to be assembled a day ahead. I popped it in the oven when I left for the tri, and my family took it out of the oven when they came to spectate. The fruit salad was made a day ahead. The home fries were prepped a day ahead. I even made the chai a day ahead! I wanted to make biscuits, but I was tired when we got back from the tri. I had just enough energy to shower and pop the cork on the champagne for the mimosas! Cheers!

BTW, most of the recipes for this meal are made up or are in inaccessible cookbooks. If you want one, just email me or post a comment.