Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Dinner Party

Whitney M.

February 7, 2010 - 2:14 PM

Last night, a bunch of my friends and I got together and made a delicious dinner. Originally the plan was to make dinner for my roommate from the dorms because she made me dinner at least three times last year when I lived in a three bedroom apartment that should have only housed one.

So I never had her over last year. But this year, my apartment is my pride and joy. I keep it tidy and do a weekly apartment-wide surface cleaning. Also, this year, I have gotten more into cooking. Although I am not a magnificent chef yet, I am learning and it has become really quite enjoyable-especially when I have a ton of starving college friends to feed.

So last night, although I said that dinner should be served at 6:30, we weren't eating until 7:30, but that is okay because it gave us time to chat and work as a group to pull the meal together.

Although I generally wouldn't ask my guests to participate in the meal production, I needed a lot of help. I underestimated the amount of work I had set out for myself, so when people offered their assistance, I took them up on it.

The menu was as follows:

• Coq au vin
• Polenta with parmesean
• Asparagus with sautéed onions and garlic
• Homemade cloverleaf rolls
• Petite chocolate turnovers for dessert

It doesn't seem like that much when I list it, but I couldn't believe how swamped I felt. So when Collin asked what he could do, I asked him to take over the polenta, and when my dorm roommate Laura asked to help, I gave her the task of making the homemade cloverleaf rolls, which turned out excellently. Kinsley made the chocolate turnovers, and Jessica did all of the dishes. Earlier that day, Jaimee and I went to Winco to buy all of the ingredients, which took more than an hour that we had planned on using to study for our economics midterm. She was so generous with her time and energy that the night would have gone terribly without her.

The best part of the evening was that everyone, especially those who didn't really know each other, talked all night and engaged each other while I fretted over whether or not the dinner would come together at all.

These are the nights that I will remember long after I graduate: ones spent with good friends who love to contribute and make life so much richer.