A Little Dinner Party For My Mom's 89th Birthday

 Last weekend I had a little dinner party for my mom's, Lorraine, 89th birthday.  When my parents decided to move up to Denver two years ago to be closer to me and Len, I was fortunate to get many of my mom's gorgeous tablecloths since they were downsizing and had sold their huge dining room table.  I just adore this batik tablecloth that they had bought over 35 or 40 years ago in the small fishing village, Yelapa.  back then the best way to get there was by boat from Puerto Vallarta.

I made another horsetail grid armature to set nine roses on it, the stems cut two inches from the bottom of the square vase.

A wonderful photo of my pretty mom!

And my dad, Bob, handsome at 93!

More roses in one of my copper pots from Santa Clara de Cobre in the state of Michocan in Mexico.

This was the menu for the evening.  The spiced nuts and chicken liver pate will be in my upcoming appetizer cookbook.  I need to get cracking on that again but spending time outside in the summer seems to get the best of me.  Especially since I have a new bike!!  More about that later.

Appetizers and drinks in the living room.

Marinated lamb about to be put on the grill.

I finally made these Eggplant Parmesan Stacks.  What is great about this, they can be prepped ahead of time and then put in the oven for 15 minutes before platting them.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN STACKS - Serves six


3 medium eggplants, 3" - 4" diameter
   salt
  olive oil
simple tomato sauce (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
6 ounces fresh whole milk mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Paremesan 

Cut the eggplant into 18 slices, about 1/4" thick - sprinkle with salt
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute slices in batches until soft and pale golden.
Drain on paper towels.

I like to make the Basic Tomato Sauce from Mario Batali's cookbook, Molto Italiano.
I make a big batch of it and freeze 2 cup servings in zip-locs.  Sure makes life easier.
Add the oregano and basil to the sauce.

Line a baking dish or sheet pan with parchment paper.  Place six eggplant on the sheet.  Top with a tablespoon of the tomato sauce, a few pieces of mozzarella, topped with a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan.  Repeat layering twice.

Bake in 425 oven for 15 minutes or until the cheeses are bubbling.  Garnish with a few oregano leaves.
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I made more of a casserole of this recipe and sent if home with my parents so they could have it the next night for dinner.  Actually two night in a row!

It was a great evening of delicious food, good wine, great friends and some very nice gifts.
Next year will be a big celebration, Lorraine's 90th.