May 13, 2014 Dinner with the Palmers Baked Ham, sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus, pinto beans, sauteed chard with apples, pinons and raisins, and corn

May 13, 2014 Dinner with the Palmers   Baked Ham, sweet potatoes, steamed asparagus, pinto beans, sauteed chard with apples, pinons and raisins, and corn

We wanted to see the Palmers, so I suggested baking a ham (Lowe’s $1.49/lb.).  The ham was pre-cooked.  Suzette said to bake it covered for no more than 1 ½ hour at 350˚, which I did, but when the timer rang instead of removing the ham, I left it in the oven and it must have kept cooking and it dried out rather badly.  Next time I will cook it to a pre-set interior temperature like a real chef.

   

When Suzette came home, we picked chard and Suzette chopped up an apple and then sauteed the chard with the chopped up apple and raisins.  We put the chard in a container and we took it with the lovely rhubarb/strawberry compote Suzette made on Sunday, a bottle of rosé wine and the ham over to the Palmers around 7:00 pm.

When we arrive Susan had laid a lovely counter with potato chips, rounds of baguette, cream cheese, her family dip and smoked salmon.  I ate a few rounds of cream cheese and salmon and Susan poured us glasses of a lovely Chateau St. Michelle Washington State dry Riesling.

We enjoyed conversation about Lisa and I mentioned seeing another Hicks “Peaceful Kingdom” at the Philadelphia Art Institute, along with the Van Eyck that Charlie highly recommended with its exquisite detail.

Soon we began placing dishes on the buffet area beside the dining table, including a bowl of freshly steamed asparagus, corn, sweet potatoes, Suzette's chard and pinto beans.

I sliced several slices of ham and we filled glasses with wine and were ready to eat.

We enjoyed conversation as much as the dinner, especially my dried out old ham.  Everything was delicious. I discovered how much Susan and Charlie like bean and promised them our ham bone.

The high point of the meal was when Susan served warm coconut macaroons for dessert.  They were bought at Costco or Whole Foods and the secret that made them so delicious was Susan toasted the macaroons in their new toaster oven for a few minutes to heat them through and toast the coconut on the edges.  Charlie ate ice cream, but I could not eat any more than one macaroon.

Finally at around 9:30 we went home stuffed from food and good discussion, including comparing notes on the two contemporary economic books in the news, Tim Geitner’s Stress Test in which he defends the need during the financial crisis to prop up the banks that got us into the international financial crisis and Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-first Century and the recent discussion in the media about income inequality and lack of equal access to education and their effect on American culture.

Bon Appétit