liamsaunt

roasted salmon in a honey mustard garlic marinade, green beans with almonds, rice pilaf, sweet and sour carrots, chardonnay.

Friday dinner: Roast rack of lamb crispy herbed spaetzle winter squash puree brussels sprouts with brown butter and garlic red wine (cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot blend)

I always start with a clean kitchen, and if it is going to be a big meal with lots of guests, an empty dishwasher. When it is just the two of us, I cook and hubby cleans up. I always clean as I go, mostly because I have a limited amount of space in my kitchen. If we have big gatherings, we clean up together, in shifts, though often cleaning is put off to spend more time with friends. We usually try to finish cleaning up before bed. Best case: I go to bed, hubby cleans up!

I love to cook with my Mom and with my sister too. I am lucky in that everyone in my family gets along, live near to us, and we all love to spend time together. Also, all of the inlaws and extended family people get along as well. This means that most weekends we have a meal together on one afternoon/evening, depending on schedules. My mom usually calls my sister and I on about Wednesday to see what we would like to eat, and we assign dishes, or one person (usually me) cooks the menu for all. Since we all live close to each other, it is easy to share cooking duties and equipment. My mom is a great cook, but since my sis and I love to cook as well, she often acts more as a "consultant" these days, walking through and inspecting our dishes. Of course, she will never say that we are doing something wrong (smart woman!). We joke that everyone has their role: I cook, Mom and sis help, my husband is the wine person, and my Dad watches the grandkids. All other guests are exempted from duties (other than keeping me company in the kitchen). I have great memories of cooking with my Mom when I was a kid, especially baking biscuts and chocolate cakes. Now, she is baking the biscuts with her grandson. (unfortunately for her, at 6 AM on the weekends he stays overnight!) In my completely unbiased opinion, my Mom makes the best biscuts ever.