Dinner

In the end, the malaria treatment was so effective that they announced me cured before I had any symptoms. From this point on, I'm just a data point on a series of graphs. I asked so many questions about the process and the research that the doctor recommended some books to read and promised to send me the paper if/when it is published. This same group worked on the recently approved  malaria vaccine, so there's cause for hope, but maybe not for decades.

In the meantime, I had some friends over for a long-planned meal. We had done a multi-course French meal in July and I wanted to do something similar with a fall, Italian theme. 

We all dressed up. I was careful to choose a roomy skirt to allow for gluttony.

Tagliatelle, served with a walnut sauce. Delicious.

.

This picture serves to remind me that burrata is an incredible cheese and that my friend L is an excellent photographer.

When I visited Albuquerque recently, my Uncle de-I gave me a fresh pasta tutorial and sent me home with imported semolina flour, admonishing me to quit using the all purpose flour I had previously used. I followed his instructions to the letter, except I let the machine do most of the kneading. (Sorry, Uncle, I'm lazy!) 

Dessert was a trio of homemade ice cream, which I thought would be the pinnacle of the meal, but it was, in fact, underwhelming. I have been trying out more gourmet recipes lately, and while Campari raspberry was a keeper, lavender blueberry was like eating a flower. Masala chai sounds good in principle, but ended tasting mainly of cinnamon and I ended up tipping the leftovers into the sink. My brother is a huge chai fan, so I'm not giving up on that idea yet.

I wish friends would come to dinner every week. Although I have to prepare for two days, the reward is hours of conversation, a week of delicious leftovers, and a house that is cleaned from top to bottom. It's a good deal.