29 for Dinner

From her vantage point at the kitchen counter, Addison could see that the conversation on the patio was flowing smoothly. A promising sign since eight virtual strangers were meeting for the first time. They were all neighbors on one cul-de-sac in a newly constructed community, and Addison had made this grand gesture, a dinner party to get to know her those who would be living closest to her family. So far, it seemed to be going well.

She removed a pan of warm canapés from the oven, transferred them to a serving plate, and carried them outside to join her husband, Sam, and their guests.

Al and Jan Richardson lived directly next door. Addison knew they had moved from Minneapolis to Blue Springs, had two teenage children, and that they both worked outside of their home. They appeared to be deep in conversation with Sally and Roger Kemp, the couple who lived on the other side of the Richardsons.

Addison had asked each couple to bring something to share in tonight’s meal, so she and Sally Kemp had enjoyed a phone conversation around Sally’s choice for the soup course, but they’d never actually met until now. She joined their conversation for a few minutes and learned that the Kemps were Realtors in town and worked together as a team.

Norman and Rosemary Fields were a shade younger than the others. When she and Rosemary had decided that Rosemary would bring a Caesar Salad, she learned the Rosemary was a stay-at-home Mom who dabbled in Little Theater and that Norman was an Architect.

The last couple, who were just a shade older than the others, were Ann and Al Fitzgerald. On the telephone, Ann had revealed that she was an artist and Al was a psychologist. Ann offered to make a fresh fruit dessert.

After about 20 more minutes passed, Addison announced that dinner would be ready in about ten minutes, and she signaled Sally Kemp to return to the kitchen with her to begin plating the soup. 

The table looked lovely. Addison had used dark green placemats and snowy white napkins. The flatware and goblets sparkled. The centerpiece was a lovely arrangement of yellow and white daisies. White service plates were in place, ready to receive Sally’s chilled cucumber soup. The guests gathered, and a choice of sweetened or unsweetened tea was offered. The soup was really delicious, and a recipe exchange for it and several other summer soups directed the opening conversation. 

While Addison and Sally cleared the soup course, Rosemary Fields served her Caesar salad with homemade croutons and dressing served on the side. Norman broke the conversational ice during that course by bringing up landscaping, a topic of interest to all four couples. They wanted the sod and bushes on the common areas fully installed by the builders before the rainy season to avoid dealing with mud. Each couple, it turned out, had received different information from the developer. They immediately decided to all approach the developer together using their common property ownership to provide a little leverage.

Allison smiled at her own success in party planning as she and Rosemary cleared the salad course, and Rosemary stayed with her to help serve the plates with the main course; Addison’s contribution. Her menu included gourmet stuffed peppers, mashed cauliflower, and garden peas with pearl onions , garnished with a few slices of fresh, crisp apples with their bright red peel showing.

Hot dinner rolls and several bowls of chutney completed the entrée service. As her guests began eating, Addison waited, just as her chef father had suggested, for spontaneous little “ummmm” sounds from the guests as they tasted the delicious food. She wasn’t disappointed.

Norman the Architect opened the dinner conversation speaking directly to Addison. “This is delicious Addison. I’ve been looking forward to this evening since your invitation arrived. Your suggestion that we each bring with us a list of three people that we would invite to an intimate dinner party, contemporary or historical, really intrigued me. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have found myself inviting and then uninviting dozens of people as new possibilities came to mind.”

“And did you finally settle on a guest list?”

“I did.”

“Please share.”

I started with our country's founders and almost stopped there, but my mind then went on to musical performers and then actors and actresses. Then I realized that for the past 30 years of my life, I’ve been fascinated by the founders of my profession – architects. So after sifting through a number of my favorites, I settled on the father of modern architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, the creator of the geodesic dome, and I. M. Pei, an idol of mine personally. He just died this past year.

“Interesting,” Roger Kemp commented. Sally and I are Realtors and have a casual interest in architecture, both professionally and personally. As we have traveled around the country, we’ve visited four Frank Lloyd Wright houses, all very different from each other. Each one was fascinating.

Addison turned to Norman’s wife - “While Norman was picking architects, Rosemary, which three guests did you decide to invite?

“Since I’m a stay-at-home Mom – my world is pretty much made up of what my mother used to call ‘dishes, diapers, and dust’. I do hope I made some interesting choices, however. A pioneer in child development, long before Dr. Spock, was a man named Arnold Gesell – he was my mother’s guru for raising me, and his books, now out of print of course, are fascinating to read and full of common sense. I also have considerable interest in Feng Shui, the Chinese art of placement in home design and decorating and I selected as my second guest, Terah Kathryn Collins, founder of the Western School of Feng Shui. And finally my family food expert, Rachael Ray is my ‘shero’ because of her 30-minute meals.

“Can I be a fly on the wall for that dinner party?” Sally Kemp asked. All three of those people interest me, especially the Feng Shui lady.

“Who did you pick Sally?” This time it was Sam asking the question.

“Well, I chose Real Estate as a career because I like houses and I like people. My personal dream is to buy lovely old homes that need restoration and turn them into showplaces, so my heart went right to popular decorators. I’d love to have an hour or two to sit with Martha Stewart and the mother-daughter team,  Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E Laine of “Good Bones.’

“Could we record these parties please, and play them back at future dinner parties?” Jan Richardson asked. So far, I’d like to hear them all.

 What about you Roger?” Are you interested in flipping houses too?” Sam asked.

“You bet, which Is why I’d like to meet with the Property Brothers – Jonathan and Drew Scott and Norm Abrahams of ‘This Old House.’

“It’s a beautiful night,” Addison noted, looking out the wide, dining room windows, “Why don’t we move to a more comfortable seating area on the patio, and Ann and I will serve dessert and coffee after a bit.”

After they all took comfort breaks and settled in on the patio, Jan Richardson began the next conversation.”Al and I came up with one list between us, which I guess isn’t exactly what you asked for, Addison, but we had a lot of fun doing it, and interestingly enough, even though we’ve been married for 15 years, we learned some new things about each other in the process.”

Addison noted a warm smile that passed between them as Al picked up the conversation. “We focused on “Persons of Interest” to both of us. We each picked one guest, and then we collaborated on the third. My pick was Benjamin Franklin. I could talk to him alone for a day or two.” And mine was Eleanor Roosevelt,” Jan Added. “Our joint pick was Carl Sagan, the astrophysicist and we decided we wouldn’t need to say a word throughout the whole meal. We could just sit back and listen, and learn.”

“That would be amazing,” Sam chuckled. “I can see Benjamin and Eleanor going at it and Franklin challenging Sagan about whether or not there really is life on other planets.”

“Let’s push the pause button and contemplate that,” Addison suggested. “Ann and I will get some dessert going. Sam, would you help serve coffee or tea or an after-dinner drink if anyone would prefer. Then Sam and I will share our guest lists.

Dessert had been chilling in the refrigerator.  Knowing they would be eating on the deck, Ann had selected pastel colored stemmed dessert dishes filled with honeydew melon balls, fresh blueberries, and snippets of candied ginger. To the rim of each dish, she added a wedge of lime, and when dessert was served, she poured a little iced ginger ale over the top of each dish.

It proved to be the perfect ending to an already very refreshing meal.

Settling back down with her coffee, Addison picked up the conversation where she had left off. “I love to entertain, and so I own some great biographies and autobiographies of famous hostesses from history. Some of the most interesting were Washington hostesses, but I was afraid their conversation would be too political, so, after careful thought, I decided to invite Emily Post. She was my mother’s favorite authority on entertaining. We would be sharing Martha Stewart, Sally, because she has a solution for any problem. She’s the McGyver of home entertainment. Finally I chose Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, who I think would hold her own well with the other two. And just like Al said, I not only wouldn’t have to say a word, I probably couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”

“So, that leaves me to invite the final guests, and anyone who knows me knows it will be all about sports, Sam laughed. Three isn’t nearly enough because the “greats” are all “great,” but I went with my childhood heroes- Joe DiMaggio, Mohammed Ali, and Joe Namath.”

“You could sell tickets to that one for sure,” Norman said.”Glad to know there’s another sports fan in the neighborhood. Rosemary gave me a killer man-cave in this new house. I’m looking forward to some great nights watching sports with my friends.”

“I have to say Addison, not only did you do a really fabulous job of entertaining us, but we each of us came with three extra guests each, and they provided some great entertainment.

“A piece of cake for Martha Stewart and me,” Addison grinned. Shall we do this again?”

“How about our house next month,” Rosemary asked. “Personally, I’d like to continue with a theme like this.”

“I have a book by Marlo Thomas, Ann shared – it’s an anthology – and each contributor shares the best bits of advice that he or she ever received.

“I like that,” Norman added, “I can think of one or two right off the top of my head, starting with my father teaching me to drive. We could all gain some new insights. Could everyone agree to that and is Saturday night a good night for everyone?

Eight hands rose spontaneously. Addison just sat back and glowed. The quintessential hostess had done it again. Dinner for 29 and counting, she thought.  Damn, I’m good!”