Alison & Andrew's new kitchen..

So this is what a kitchen looks like when you have someone competent redo it.

The picture doesn't do it justice. There is a Wolf range with a very nice Wolf dual oven. Both ovens have a convection or conventional option with a soft-touch self-hiding control panel. Very nice. There are also dual opposing sinks. You can't see both in the picture.

Anyhow, she invited me over to cook dinner on Sunday. While our kids were playing in the pile of dirt in their backyard that the landscapers have yet to spread, we whipped up some good stuff.

We started with a spinach and artichoke heart dip with fresh Parmiggiano.

Artichoke/Spinach Dip

We had a composed salad with strawberries, some very creamy goat cheese, and some home-made balsamic dressing that Alison Made.

Composed Salad A la'Alison

We followed that up with a perfectly roasted chicken. It was only perfect because I used Tony Bourdain's recipe from the Les Halle cook book.

Making the pan gravy

Tony's Pan Gravy (finished product). Note the veggies. Don't neglect the pyramid!

For dessert, it was a fresh Mango, Peach, Nectarine and Blueberry Cobbler.

So we finished dinner and had the cobbler on the front porch while the kids caught fire flies. Now that's a slice of Americana.

Thanks for reading. My next post, which I hope to finish before I go on vacation this weekend, will be about an un-planned dinner with a good friend of mine, Adolfo Mendez, owner of Cubano's in Silver Spring and Nellie's in the District.

Keep eatin'.