i have blogged about my obsession before
and told anyone who will listen
how i wish to be her friend
and have contemplated taking up bridge just to increase my chances
for a dinner invitation
while i have never actually owned one of her cookbooks
nor
made any of her recipes
i am in awe of her style
particularly her entertaining style
i could never only serve a hearty salad and crusty bread for dinner
with a dessert of chocolate bark
i'm not the sort
but i envy it in her
and every time i have guests for dinner
i try and imitate her unapologetic rule
of
only making 2 items for dinner and then buying the extras
but i never get there
i'm just not the sort
last evening we had guests for dinner
2 couples we have come to know over the years and have become good friends with
and i made a dinner of homemade pasta, chicken saltimboca, 4 veg and dessert
I thought maybe I shouldn't serve appetizers
Ina wouldn't
she would serve nuts or something
so that is where i stood
until about five o'clock
when i began to panic
i couldn't give it up
i had to have some sort of nibble for my guests
and i wanted it to be really simple
to go with my very french aperitif
i turned to what i had on hand
and made this a simple yet absolutely delicious
start to our evening
Walnut Stuffed Figs
dried figs
toasted walnuts
mascarpone cheese
finely diced bits of well-cooked bacon
stem and split the figs, stuff with toasted walnuts, top with a small dot of mascarpone, and then sprinkle the bits of bacon on top. These are also lovely with a bit of blue cheese in place of the mascarpone.