Food Friday–what’s in my fridge right now edition

Last Friday  the local NPR station had Mark Bittman on as a guest. he talked about giving a dinner party. He mentioned feeling anxious about "doing a dinner party". I was thinking that he was talking about having say, twenty people over for dinner.  Well he didn't mean having twenty people over for dinner, he meant two.   I don't put any worry into a meal until I get to more than eight at the table. We usually feed between six and a dozen people on any given Friday night. If I could fit more people around the table, I would feed a bigger crowd.  Usually the number of guests at the table grows organically.

 Last Shabbat I sat next to my friend Mark. When the bar-mitzvah boy began to chant the haftarah I mentioned to Mark that it was my birth-Torah reading.  Mark said that it was the Torah reading for his bar-mitzvah.  Amazingly, Mark’s bar- mitzvah took place on the day that I was born.
I invited Mark and his wife Carole to join us for Shabbat this week. As it turns out, a few of my favorite people were also celebrating their birthdays  right around the same time. Our table is full for this birthday meal.

Nearly all of is is sitting in my fridge right now. The glass cowl of marinated vegetables is topped by a black plastic container containing babaganouj.


Next to the marinated vegetables is the guacamole that will be served with the ceviche as a first course on a bed of lettuce.

The chicken is cooling in the fridge so I can skim the fat off the pan.

I cooked the chicken with Schwarma spices. I assume that it will taste good because it smelled heavenly as it was cooking.
Our guests are bringing dessert. My friend’s son is celebrating his aufruf tomorrow.   I made some desserts for the great event.
I made these fruit and nut bon bons.

This is an old fashioned goodie that was hard to make pre-food processor and quick and easy post the age of food processor.

I used dried peaches ( I was looking for but could not find the tart California dried apricots so substituted dried peaches), figs, dates prunes and pecans. I pulsed the mixture until it was mixed formed into balls and rolled in dried unsweetened coconut.  You can use any mixture of dried fruit that makes you happy and  any tree nut  you have handy. I suppose you could also coat the outside of the fruit balls with chopped nuts or chopped chocolate or enrobe the balls with melted chocolate and let them cool. But I had chopped coconut hanging around in the pantry and used that. It’s a free country, make these balls in a way that makes you happy.

I also made a batch of cheesecake bars. They are waiting in the freezer.


I still have to make a starch for the meal. I may make taboule or I might go for rice.
My mother received the arm protectors today. She was very happy with them.  She was a little horrified that I suggested that she throw the old ones out.