Let’s invite them over for dinner, my guy says to me
Nodding at new neighbors we’d met only shortly
I hem I haw, what if they’re boring or worse talk nonstop
What if they hate spinach and despise chocolate?
My guy smiles and rings them up, barbecue Sunday at six?
They accept, so grinning a chocolate cake I fix.
He’s in charge of grilling chicken, an easy meat for all
But what if they’re vegans, should we eat at the mall?
Promptly the doorbell rings, my large cheese platter is ready
The wine is popped, the talk is fun, light and easy.
The grill is ready; my guy runs out in the frigid air
Meat marinated; he’s presented a cook’s care.
Conversation turns to their grandkids, my eyes glaze over
Leave to steam veggies, hoping we’ll all stay sober
Twenty minutes later the cheese is gone, the table set
My guy: “I’ll just turn the meat, almost done I bet.”
My rice plumbed, the asparagus ready, candles are lit
The guests pour more wine, then at the table they sit
My guy races inside to us with pink uncooked chicken
“Oh no!” he says,” the gas ran out.” His blue eyes spin.
But the new neighbors chuckle and say “we’re not hungry yet”
The chicken goes in the oven at three fifty
We open another bottle and discuss politics
And aging, travel, faith, even basketball picks.
Stomachs begin to grumble so I check the baking time
I reheat the vegetables and pour more wine
With potholders pull out the baked chicken that still looks pink
Oh. Damn. It seems that the oven has a slight kink.
I realize I’d preheated the oven before 8
But never hit “ON” button; now past 9 – too late.
So we sit under candlelight with silverware and a plate
Filled with veggies and rice – we can no longer wait.
The best part of the meal is the chocolate cake
Which we devour with glee in a half drunken state.
Oh no…oh no. Just know that you’re not alone. We’ve all been down that road or a real similar one. Thanks for sharing.
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It was embarrassing so I thought I might as well share the botched mess with my blogging friends. 😂🥴
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Thank goodness for chocolate it can always save the day! Honestly though good wine and a cheese platter AND veggies, who needs chicken?!? Damn you are nice neighbors to have! That cake looks SO good ~ yum!
Peta
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Well, Peta, if you and your guy are ever in our neighborhood, you are invited over for dinner. And no chicken, I promise! 💗
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s neglected to hit “ON.” Wine and cheese sounds like the perfect meal to me, Pam!
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I thought I was humiliating myself by sharing a poem of my dinner mishap, but I’m finding out that I’m not the only one who somehow misses an ON button, Jill. 🙄👌🤣
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Sometimes the disasters turn out to be the best events! Anyway who needs chicken when there’s cheese, wine and chocolate cake?
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I think that may be the major lesson in my dinner poem, Mary. Who needs chicken, indeed!? Hail to cheese, wine, and chocolate. 😄
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Alas, a familiar occasion. Things go better if you stick to salad. 🙂
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I’ve always been intimidated about making a hearty full salad. But perhaps I should reconsider… 😏
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It’s just my person taste. I love salads, and so easy when you’re unsure of when guests will actually arrive 🙂
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oh, a hostess worst nightmare…. thank god for chocolate!
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Chocolate saves the day… More often and better than Superman! 👍😍
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The best dinners are memorable dinners. You’ll be talking about that one for years.
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More likely I won’t be able to live this dinner down for many years. 😄But yes, memorable dinners are the best. 😋
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Your dinner with new neighbors was a sweet success, Pam!
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Agreed, Molly. The dinner was a success by the time we reached the chocolate cake. Haha. 😉🍷
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i absolutely love this! a perfect beginning to a new friendship
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Fortunately, these new neighbors who are now fun friends have a terrific sense of humor. And really, who wants friends who don’t have a good sense of humor? 🙃
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Certainly a memorable dinner party. I hope the new neighbors turned out to be friends. It sounds like you had plenty of yummy stuff to eat, and that chocolate cake looks fabulous!
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Since our memorable dinner we have gotten together with our new neighbors/friends several times. But I couldn’t help notice that when they had us over for dinner, their table was really really fancy and everything was perfect. I kind of hold that against them. You think they could’ve had at least one thing goe wrong. 🤔🤣
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Hahahaha.
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😂😂 Enjoyed this.
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Thanks for laughing along with me and my dinner poem. Although I, perhaps, was grimacing. 😏
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Wine and dessert are the best part of any fancy meal, so I think this is great. Entree? Who needs it?
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I’m beginning to think that an entrée is overrated. 🍷
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Love this!
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Thanks for laughing along with me and my undercooked chicken! 😆
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This just described more of my Christmas dinners than I care to remember! It’s no wonder that the thought of company for dinner makes my stomach knot with anxiety 😉
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I think you and I should come out with a new cookbook, Joanne. Cheese and crackers, wine, more cheese and crackers, wine, chocolate cake. Everyone would go home happy, and the hostess as relaxed as Jell-O. !
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Now that’s my kind of menu!
Wait, I think I may have done this one a few times 😉
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😆
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Painful with a touch of joy and humor. More wine!
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Somehow wine helps the mishaps seem not so miserable after all, doesn’t it? 🍷
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PS: My first-ever poem goes up Tuesday evening.
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I hope he got more gas for Saturday. We promise not to talk about our grandkids.
Bob Licht
________________________________
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I think you would agree that there was plenty of gas last night! 😆
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I would have been happy with just the cake!!!
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And perhaps that is the moral of the story… 🙃
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I think your new neighbors will be good friends. You all saw the positive in the situation and “overcame adversity!” Great story, Pam.
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We did get a good laugh about it, Barbara. Particularly when the wife of the neighborhood couple sent me a photo text a week later of their dinner that night. Rice and asparagus. 🤔😅
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All ‘s well that ends in chocolate cake!
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Chocolate cake could solve a lot of the world’s 🌎 problems. 😉
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You composed this well-told tale cold sober, I assume, which more than makes up for the uncooked chicken. Wine, cheese, veggies, and rice, a nice balance. 🙂
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A glass of wine while composing this poem might have helped me with the rhyme and meter time, Marion. But a piece of chocolate helped me find the couplet at the end. 😃
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Good friendships are forged under distress and wine and chocolate should seal the deal.
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Great combo! 👍
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Wine.
Cheese.
Chocolate.
C’est la vie!
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Wine, cheese, chocolate-what else would you possibly need in life? 😚🍷
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Sounds like one of my dinner parties. I get distracted when guests are here and always do some weird stuff. Sometimes you can cover it up (like throwing out the burned biscuits) but when it’s the entree it’s a little harder. Obviously our neighbors survived!
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Haha – yes, throwing away the burned biscuits is easier to get away with. Even picking up the roasted turkey when it’s fallen on the floor can be easily done if a cook is swift enough. But uncooked meat? A wise host/hostess just makes sure there’s lots of freshly baked cake on wait.
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Or a pizza place on standby! 🙂
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‘C’est la grrrr!’
Sorry, Warrior Pam, I suspect ‘your Guy’! ♥♥
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My guy is always the suspect. It’s just the way in a happy marriage, right? 🙂 🙂 ❤
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Best laid plans, lovely… thank goodness for humour, understanding and chocolate cake.. Hugs Xx
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Which is why I’m finally coming to realize, in my ‘elevated years,’ that plans should not be laid. 🙂 xo
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Fun story Pam. What could be better than bonding over mishaps and mayhem? 🙂
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Particularly if the bonding occurs MERRILY over the mishaps and mayhem, Brad. 🙂
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Agreed. 🙂
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You could not ask for a better dinner party- poetic and successful. The rhyming is entertaining and perfect- just like the party. I have no idea if your poem was based on an reality but what ever the situation, I found it hilarious.
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A pleasure to see you here, Yvonne. Oh yesssss, this poetic story was written as total non-fiction; it all happened as rhymed and metered out, asparagus by asparagus, and topped off with a bit of wine and chocolate cake. 🙂
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LOL! An unforgettable dinner!
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I bet the Captain would never run out of gas. Maybe he still grills with charcoal, the best way to go!
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We’ve had our dinner disasters, but you just chalk it up to experience for next time.
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😎
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We’ve all had those “dinner disasters” but one thing for sure–chocolate “cures” anything and “solves” any problems unless someone has a chocolate allergy! Your dinner still sounds like fun and that chocolate cake looks moist and delectable 🙂
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I love to bake, and the chocolate cake did not disappoint. Fortunately, I’ve never met anyone with a chocolate allergy! 🙂
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This story is hilarious! Love it. That’s why I quit inviting people to dinner that are not family. I’ll invite a new friend to lunch or dinner out and it will be worth it until they are family enough not to mind the foibles or I stop being so nervous and no longer do dumb things when company is around. My last husband would get tired of dinner guests and go to his bedroom to watch TV and leave me to entertain them. Once the food was gone, so was he even though he was the one that invited them. Your fellow sounds a bit more engaged. 😉
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Some people are just not comfortable with “entertaining” or being sociable. My guy and I have our routine down – he grills (usually – haha) and I do the rice/potato and veggie. He opens the wine, I make the dessert. When the company leaves, he cleans while I snuff the candles and wrap up any leftovers. Perfect!
But when it’s me meeting a friend, I prefer a lunch out. No mess, no fuss, just relax, eat and talk.
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Oh no! That sounds like something that would happen at my house, Pam. But it sounds like you have great neighbors gifted with patience and a sense of humor. 🙂 And it doesn’t hurt to top off the day with a chocolate cake!.
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I knew I’d like the new neighbors when I saw how patient and kind they were as the chicken morass went on and on….and on. They were unperturbed and helped us laugh at ourselves, and each other. But I think they enjoyed the evening the most when I served them the cake. 🙂
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Ha ha, Pam, this is so much fun! But all was not lost, right? At least it had a happy ending! 😀
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Chocolate seems to always make the ending happy, Jennifer. 🙂
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Wine helps too. 😄
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🍷
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Thanks for the smiles Pam…your poetry is as delicious as your chocolate cake. I am sure you guys enjoyed the evening, as the hostess is awesome!
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Phew, thanks Balroop. I was a bit nervous (as in a LOT) about sharing my poetic fun, because I’m not a poet. But I found the challenge of the rhyme and meter quite entertaining as I told my true-life tale. Many thanks for your applause. xo
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Hi, Pam – Kudos to your flexibility!
Your new neighbours sounds like keepers.
BTW – Is despising chocolate a real thing? Surely, it cant be! 🙂
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Excellent question. My one and only answer is that if someone DOES despise chocolate, I wouldn’t want to invite them to my house for dinner! 🙂
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Pam, I so wish I was your neighbour, pink chicken or not. Your cheese platter, vegetables, wine, Chocolate cake……and happy welcome must
have made it an evening though remember with fondness.
Miriam
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You’re not my neighbor, but if you’re ever in the neighborhood, PLEASE, come on over and I’ll serve some chocolate cake! ❤
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LOL! What are the chances? You will be telling this story for years. Sounds like a good time was had by all anyway and there was enough other food.
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Plenty of (overcooked) rice and asparagus, for sure. I’ve never seen guests enjoy my chocolate cake quite so much, though, I must admit. 🙂
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Chocolate and wine can fix most anything! What a delightful read Pam. I wonder if the neighbours will be inviting you to their home?
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The neighbors DID invite us to their lovely home for dinner afterwards, Sue. The only disconcerting thing about that evening was that their food was cooked perfectly and on time, with nary a problem. Rats. I was hoping for a bit more solidarity. 🙂
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Haha well my guess is they made sure to have a practice run. 😊
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You’re probably right. No fair!
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Can I just say that I’m loving the fact that your guy took the initiative to invite your new neighbors and plan the main meal… I’m impressed.
Once, when we had dinner guests (good friends, fortunately), I made a pork roast. Easy, peasy, right? Unfortunately, I misread the cook time… the cook time indicated was per pound, not for the whole roast. Oooops. Needless to say, we ate rather late, but the wine, appetizers, and good conversation held us over.
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Haha, a similar predicament. Helps when it’s old friends who know you usually know how to serve a meal. Pork roast is tricky – thus I’ve never tried it.
My guy and I have a good routine down – he’s in charge of the meat (usually grilling) and I’m in charge of everything else. Somehow he thinks this makes us even, but I will say, he does the dishes after the guests leave. 😉
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That was wonderful, Pam! You know… who cares about the chicken when the new neighbours turn out to be so great?
I foresee many a BBQ in your future…
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Just invited another couple last weekend for a BBQ. My guy bought an extra cannister of gas… just in case. 🙂
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Ha ha ha! 😁
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You will always carry this memory with you! I am glad you and your new neighbors got along so well! Not a total disaster. Loved your story in rhyme.
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Writing this in poetry form was a fun challenge, Patricia. Not as fun as a chicken-less dinner, but close. 🙂
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Never a dull moment… oh, those memories!
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Dull moments do not lead to poetry. So yay for mishaps! :–)
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Amen to that! ❤
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Oh Pam! This is a delightfully told funny incident. Who needs more than wine and cake? Not me! I hope the neighbors become very good friends. 🙂
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We have enjoyed our neighbors’ company in several get-togethers. Once at their home, but since then we’ve decided to relax and go out to restaurants. 🙂
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Brilliant Pam. Sounds like a terrific fun evening.
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The evening was full of chuckles (and a few groans from my guy and me, of course). 🙂 Thanks, Brigid.
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-giggles- Oh dear. 😀
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The more the red wine, the more the giggles. 🙂
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Ahem, yes, rather fond of the old Shiraz myself….
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Sounds like one of my dinner parties, only perhaps a bit more so! But it sounds as if you had a good time anyway, and that’s all that matters!
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It was the “more so” that worried me a bit, Ann. 🙂 But the neighbors were good “eggs,” as the saying goes, with a good sense of humor.
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That’s why I ‘m not a fan of dinner parties. But if you are in my neighborhood I will set a tea table for you that is so delicious and fun that you will never miss the chicken…Scones and cream, wine on ice, we would be wishing each other a lovely life.
I loved your poems along the way Pam.
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I have English blood in me, Cheryl, so your tea party sounds better than any cooked (or uncooked) chicken dinner any time. Scones and cream – I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven. ❤
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Chocolate cake covers up everything..:)
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Chocolate cake saves lives….and covers up all mistakes. 🙂
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Nice! A poem that tells a fun story.
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I grew up being taught that poetry was only for the serious-minded.
Nah, I think poetry can be fun too! Many thanks for enjoying. xo
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Twice , my sweetie run out of gas on his barbecue. Who cares when there is wine, chocolate, and cheese. Great story.
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Oh, funny Gerlinde. We do have shared experiences, don’t we? On the other hand, I remember the Christmas Eve that the power went off halfway through roasting the turkey (with 10 guests) and my guy powered up the grill and finished the job perfectly. He got double stars that night. 🙂
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It’s so much easier to nuke a Hungry Man dinner. The one with the brownie.
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Sorry. Can’t reply. Laughing too hard.
(Do they still make Hungry Man dinners?????)
🙂 🙂 🙂
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As long as there are people like me, there will always be Hungry Man dinners.
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So familiar! Unfortunately, I needed to experience several of these ‘mishaps’ before I learned to cook. Odd part is, they were some of my fondest memories!
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Ohhh, what a sweet reply. And you’re right, it’s the ‘mistakes’ in our cooking and hostessing that make the fondest memories. xo
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So lol Pam. You may have to pull tough love and fire your guy from BBQ duties as I’ve done with mine years ago, of course for complete opposite reason than your guy. My guy used to get too carried away with conversation and company while BBQing and steaks et al which became as palatable as shoe leather. Tough love still remains. 🙂
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Oh, Deb, thanks for the laugh. I did try and ‘fire’ my guy from BBQ duties for the same reason as your shoe leather steak. But he took matters in his own hand (ur, cell phone) and uses the timer on it. So while we’re talking away to our guests, all of a sudden his little phone timer goes off (making us all jump and lose the stream of discussion) and he hops off and goes out to the grill. Next time, though, he better check the gas more frequently. 😉
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Lol, almost trained! 🙂 😉
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Debby – I’ve tried to write a comment on your blog post about your first day (traveling to your vacation) four times and it keeps saying the site isn’t secured (and I checked all the buttons). What I tried to say was: I’m wondering why you didn’t have FOUR margaritas on the balcony after that day!”
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Arg Pam, I’ve been having troubled on my blog for 2 days now, when I go to my page it gives me an error message then 2 seconds later it opens. I’m trying to figure out the problem, but my site is definitely secure, I pay for that security to have https in my URL and that is fine, just checked. I hope that stuff straightens out soon, I know my blog just had a huge update and that’s when it went gremlinish. Oh, about the margarita, lol, are you kidding me? 4 tequilas = floor LOL 🙂 xx
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I had to hit the like button – but no like. Hope it gets settled soon.
And okay, 3 tequilas? 🙂
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Lol, thanks for being relentless. I received your comment and replied this morning 🙂 x
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Haha! This is too funny, and too familiar. But, you had plenty of other food by the sounds and looks of it! Now imagine you’d forgotten to turn the oven on for the cake! That would have been a bigger drama. 🙂
You can’t go wrong with cheese and wine. Like Peta said, who needs chicken? Plus, good company is the most important part anyway. Seems like that was all set!
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You are absolutely right. It wasn’t the food that was important (although it was still rather embarrassing), the camaraderie made the night a success. 🙂
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You’re BRAVE! We’ve lived in our place for almost two years now and only say “Hi!” to our neighbors. 🙂 – Marty
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Well, I’ll confess right now that we’ve lived here four years and are just starting to “come out.” In fact, I just took care of our next door neighbor’s poinsettia plant – from December 26 to today, when they’ve returned. They seemed shocked that the plant is still alive, but I couldn’t let it die on my watch!
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That was so fun! I’d say those neighbors are keepers. They just rolled with everything. It’s a nice thing, to have new neighbors over to eat. I’m impressed.
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We’ve gone to their house now once for dinner, and then “out” to a restaurant – figured that’s safer! 🙂
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Thank goodness for wine! You certainly bonded with these new neighbors. You carried it off beautifully! Cheers!
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Thanks – the wine and chocolate helped me slide into home plate. 🙂
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Pam
I love reading about other peoples kitchen disasters.They make me feel a lot better about myself
Wonderful, fun post
Laura
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Well, that’s what we writers should do. Expose all of our failures and funny ‘messes,’ which joins the world together, since we all have them! Humor Helps. 🙂
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A wonderful tale indeed. I’m sure the chocolate cake went down a treat. 😃 You’ve reminded me of the first time hubby and I had family over for Sunday lunch. We were very young and quite poor, so my sister-in-law brought a joint of beef with her. I’d never cooked such a big piece of meat before and popped it in the oven hoping for the best. When time came to eat, out it came, still raw inside and bleeding profusely. I was mortified. We had to cut it into slices and fry it to save time. Not great at all. There was unfortunately no chocolate cake to save the day. 😳
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Pam, your neighbours are lucky to have you and your hubby next door … the warmest and friendliest of people … and to top it all you bake the most stupendous chocolate cakes! 😀Some of the best dinner parties are the ones that go slightly awry but where kinship is discovered! A delectable feast … and as a vegetarian it would have been perfect for me! 😀❤️
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So, I cannot help but wonder how close to real-life this was for you… Just curious! Because I’m pretty darn sure it’s more or less happened to me sometime in the past! Ha… Wonderful!
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To be truthful, this is ALL true. The only difference in “real life” was that I served yams, not steamed rice, but the rice helped more in the rhyming. 🙂 Gosh, I hope you’ve had a similar experience; otherwise, I’d be really embarrassed to show my cooking ineptitude.
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Hahahaha… Yeah, I once told a new neighbor of mine that I’d grill them a “Drunken Chicken” on their gas grill (I use charcoal), only to burn the living, you know what, out of it. However, after peeling the burnt, black skin away it turned out perfect. So, yes, it has happened and if I think I’m sure I can find many other incidences… :-)))
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I wouldn’t be wincing so hard if this didn’t sound so familiar!
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LOL! So glad I am not the only one who has had dinner party oopsies. Especially when it is the first time with someone you barely know.
I LOVE having people over and entertaining. I am in my element, especially when it is friends and wine is involved LOL! 😉 But when it is someone new I get very nervous. This is what happened to me last Easter. It started out with friends at a restaurant but then morphed into being at our house because unexpected guests came in from out of town and we couldn’t change the reservations. I have to admit, I freaked just a little bit. I won’t go into all of the details but I was OCD about how my table looked, how clean the house was and decorated. I didn’t know these people AT ALL.. had no clue what they were like, what they ate, or what they would think of us. But it turned out great! Whew… Isn’t making new friends the best??? ❤
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