May 14th - New Friends

First, an apology for taking so long to post this entry for the meal on the 14th. I don't really have an excuse... just lazy, I suppose. The guests on the 14th included Kathleen and Ryan Waid, Theresa and Seth Lind, and Carrie and Gary Kirk. Alysia met Kathleen, Theresa, and Carrie through the Harrisonburg Junior Women's Club, but did not yet have an opportunity to get to know them well. She was so excited when they all made reservations for dinner - a chance to make new friends! There was also a first for Cafe Davis that night - at around 7:30, the power went out! Luckily most of the food was already done, and we could heat it up on the grill. I'm sure it was a little weird for our guests, though... coming over to dinner at a new house with new people, and having no electricity. At least I had already planned to eat on the deck, where there was at least a little natural light at that time of the evening. Kathleen and Ryan arrived first, while I was trying to hunt down as many candles as possible. They were very thoughtful and brought a lovely bottle of wine. Thanks so much! Next to arrive were Theresa and Seth. It turns out that Mike and Theresa serve on a committee together at JMU. Wow - this is a small town! They brought a lovely hostess gift - the candle is a perfect match to all of the red accessories in my living room. Thanks to them too! And last but not least, Carrie and Gary arrived bearing dessert. They got a delicious white cake with raspberry frosting from Shank's Bakery (see link in previous post to check out their website). Speical thanks to them for bringing enough for everyone! Dinner consisted of shrimp in garlic sauce, green beans with lemon, broccoli and cherry tomato salad, and sauvignon blanc. I also added a tomato-basil pasta, and some french bread with an eggplant spread to round out the meal. The power came back on just as we were finishing eating, so we headed inside to the bar to play the "vintage" baseball and golf games and "Shoot the Moon." The conversation flowed easily, and it was so nice to meet some great new friends. I sincerely hope that we can all hang out together again in the future!