May: Linguine with Clams — The Dinner Party Resolution

I guess it's important to admit that I sort of cheated this month. This dinner party actually took place in June. But June 1st, which is barely June, and we went to Japan for almost two weeks in May, so there just wasn't enough time to squeeze anything else in. Given that we've only been back for a few days and are definitely still jet lagged, I wanted to keep things as simple and summery as possible for this one. I'm also starting Whole30 today, so I wanted to make sure I had a little bit of all the things I won't be eating for the next 30 days. Last summer, I made Smitten Kitchen's recipe for linguine with clams about as soon as she posted it. Paired with some crusty bread and a caprese (possibly Nick's secret favorite food), it made the perfect summer dinner. Given how delicious I remembered it being, I decided to make it again, this time with a Caesar salad (as Deb recommends in her post). Nick's very helpful suggestions for other things we might make to round out the meal included lamb lollipops and Chinese restaurant-style ribs (???). I went for grilled vegetables instead.

At this point, you won't be surprised to read that FreshDirecting while jet lagged did not end well. I ordered about half of the things that I actually needed. And to make matters slightly more complicated, over the course of the week I'd invited a few more people to stop by so I couldn’t be sure how many people we would end up being. With this in mind, I woke up yesterday and got to supplemental grocery shopping. Just as I was reaching for a third box of linguine (thinking I might triple the pasta recipe instead of just doubling it as I’d planned), I got a text letting me know that one of the couples wasn't going to be able to make it. And then the people I'd invited last minute also let me know they couldn't come. I should have foreseen this at the beginning of the day when I ran down the menu for Nick and he said he thought it sounded like it would be a light meal...we now had enough food for 8, and we were only going to be 4 (and a baby).

With my shopping out of the way, I took care of what little actual cooking there was to do. I started off with the Caesar dressing from Julia Turshen's Small Victories cookbook. And since I already had the food processor out, I decided I might as well use it for the linguine prep — chopping 14 cloves of garlic and 2 huge bunches of parsley. While doing this, I realized I only had 2 lemons and I needed 3 (despite having already been to 5 stores, including the fish store where they have free lemons you can just take). I texted Nick and asked if he could grab a lemon while he was picking up sparkling water (which I'd also forgotten to get from FreshDirect).

When our friends arrived, I got straight to work on the linguine — feeling a little pressure to keep things moving for the youngest guest we’ve ever hosted. Taking advantage of the 2 weeks of the year when it's actually nice to be out on our balcony, we ate outside and learned about all of the latest parenting controversies. The clams were really excellent and I loved the Caesar dressing — I’d made it once before, but last night it really seemed spectacular. Plus it felt great to be able to feed 2 of the busiest and most impressive parents/people we know.

I think he had a better time than this face makes it seem like he did?

With bedtime fast approaching, we came inside for an insanely delicious pie our guests brought as well as two recitations of children's books from memory (I told you, very impressive).

After our guests left, I started cleaning up only to realize that I had completely forgotten to use the lemons AND to serve these chocolate candy-coated seashells I'd picked up for dessert AND to take any close-up photos of the food. I feel like last night gave me the smallest taste of what life with a baby is like.

By the time I finished the dishes, Nick had passed out on the couch…again — still jet lagged and stuffed. Today, I’m 3 meals into the Whole30, with over a pound of leftover pasta, 1.5 baguettes, and a ton of fresh mozzarella in the fridge, so we’ll see how it goes.