Three months ago, a couple on the fringes of our community invited Joshua and I to have dinner with them. Today, it finally happened. We played schedule ping-pong for weeks, and finally settled on a Sunday lunch, at 1:30pm today.
While not quite an odd couple, this man and woman certainly have their peculiarities…he’s from Alaska, she’s from Columbia (accent included).
We arrived promptly, flowers in hand. Apparently, it’s not the “Columbian way” to bring something to add to the meal. Jacob apologized that things were a bit behind schedule – Sunday is his wife’s day to Skype with her family, who are now spread out around the globe, in such delightful and exotic destinations as Barcelona, Rome, and Berlin. (!)
Anyway, we sat down at the kitchen counter and watched our hosts make cilantro & lime guacamole, margaritas, and Peruvian quinoa with millet. The margaritas were to be enjoyed with the freshly-produced guac, corn chips, and salsa. An hour later, we sauntered into the dining room to have Columbian soup topped with fresh cilantro and onions and some slices of bread slathered in rosemary-infused garlic oil. Not to mention the salad, which was topped with a dazzling array of chopped cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, peppers, and jicama.
And THEN, Jacob cooked the salmon in ginger and lime juice. And we ate that with the quinoa and more salad and the soft flesh of butternut squash.
I was desperately trying to keep portion size small, just so I could fit everything. Jacob disappeared after lunch to pop his homemade coconut-ginger-macadamia cookies in the oven. “They’re better hot and fresh out of the oven,” he explained.
Um. YEAH, they are.
Conversation flowed freely, and we discussed everything from how they met (this story included beachtime guitar serenades and some slightly ambiguous references to what may have been skinny-dipping in Oak Island…), to college majors, to English as a second language, to travel, to potentially living in Israel. I have also laid dibs to their large and very unique solid wood table with chairs that look like they came from a medieval castle
All in all, a very pleasant afternoon. Of course, we had planned to scoot out around 3:00 or 3:30, so that Joshua could get some work done, but we couldn’t very well leave before the cookies were served, could we? I should think not. So we said our farewells after singing a post-meal duet (our hosts are unfamiliar with the Hebrew to the after-the-meal blessing) at 5:00pm.
Who needs dinner?
with this ring 