Inaugural Dinner Menu

Well we actually have a full table already for our first "Dinner on 12th" gathering. That's so exciting! Here is the tentative menu, though I do reserve the right to change anything based on what is available at the farmer's market on Thursday...

Truffled purple potatoes** with shaved pecorino
Garlicky borlotti beans and sauteed beet greens*
Roasted beets* with smoked blue cheese* and walnut oil
Wild chanterelle* and sage* risotto
Apple* and pear* tart

* = locally grown
** = VERY locally grown -- i.e. from our friend/neighbor Stephanie's garden


We are looking forward to seeing several of you this Friday and hopefully many more of you in months to come.

A model for our dinner conversation

As a psychologist, I am well aware of the research showing that watching effective models leads to improved performance. In my search for ever increasing performance and effectiveness in my life, I decided to search for effective models for the kind of dinner conversation I hoped we would have at Dinner on 12th. Fortunately, the internet came to my rescue as I stumbled upon this video.

As John McCain recently said, "If I were a dictator" I would make sure that we discussed the environment and national security concerns at all dinners...just as see in this video. As such, this is an absolutely non-mandatory requirement to be viewed by all dinner attendees.

Welcome to Dinner on 12th

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

We are seeking community. Well that...and a darn good meal.

Food and friendship have been known to go well together. Each of us needs to eat and each of needs friends. So, we figured, we'd put them together.

We (Jenna and Jason) are interested in building more community in our lives and one of our efforts is to unite this with our love of food. Community is by its nature local. And often, so is the greatest food. So, we have set out to develop a stronger community, by sharing together in our local gastronomic bounty. This blog has been created to help organize one facet of that effort, our monthly community dinners.

What's this?

Dinner on 12th is the name for our disorganized, delicious, and sometimes decadent gathering of friends at our home for food and camaraderie. Each month, we plan to host one meal at our home. Food will be prepared by Jenna. Jason will eat it and compliment her. All we ask from our guests is to bring a willingness to share in our community, to expand your own community, and to bring a bottle of wine to share once in a while.

Dinners will be on fridays, once a month. Earlier that week, Jenna will post the menu. We ask that you let us know if you are thinking about attending a day or two ahead. This will not be a formal event, so no need to dress up or put on your Sunday best. Just a few friends and some good food.

This will be an old-fashioned sit down dinner. So for those who have ever been at our house, you know that our table seats about eight at the max. We want everyone to come, but if some week we have too many and exceed our capacity, we welcome you to come the next time instead.

So be looking for an email announcing the first Dinner on 12th, which will be held on Friday October 24, 2008.