Food, Love, and Impeccable Timing

Sometimes, the universe conspires so perfectly to create a weekend of such magnitude and blessings, that it is nothing short of breathtaking.  Sometimes, the love, passion, and joy of six people is so great that a seventh one decides she has to join the party.  That was the case this weekend, when I went up to Petoskey, on the far Northern tip of Michigan, to visit my very pregnant friend B, her husband, and his father and brothers that also happened to be in town.

Being that we're a group of people for whom food shortages are not an option (and because I couldn't sleep at 6am that morning), I brought up a peach-cardamom coffee cake, based essentially on this Cook's Illustrated recipe from The New Best Recipe cookbook.

I should have known I had no need for such worries as a lack of baked goods, however, as B married into an amazing family of very accomplished bakers and cooks, and for dinner that first night they 'threw' together a meal of homemade focaccia, ratatouille, and Gorgonzola pasta. It was an outstanding way to start a long weekend and was only the beginning of three days of non-stop eating.

You Can Never Have Enough Pie

My dear friend, three weeks shy of her due date, felt inspired to make a peach pie for dessert, and then figured that we should probably have a coconut cream pie from the local bakery, just in case. (There were four grown men in the house after all, one of whom had just finished a cross-country bike trip, and two others had just biked up the coast of Michigan.) 

Good Campaigning

The coconut pie came from Jesperson's, and the baker is aparently running for mayor...clearly he is smart enough to know that every pie is a possible vote. Both pies were delicious...B's peach pie was full of sweet, locally grown peaches in a buttery crust, and the coconut cream was a fluffy, creamy decadence that had me licking the plate.  (I wish I was kidding about that last part.)

The bulk of the weekend then passed in a lazy series of coffee (or wine, depending on the time of day) drinking, porch sitting, reading, catching up, and farmer's market shopping. To try to balance it out, I joined the boys on a twenty mile bike ride around Little Traverse Bay, with a pit stop for bloody Mary's halfway through. (One must stay hydrated, you know.)

Sunday rolled around and the house full of chefs/bakers began prepping for an end-of-the-weekend feast.  Shortly before B and I were about to bottle two cases of a home brewed pale ale, however, she and her husband ran to the hospital for what they relayed to us was a minor issue.  Her parting words were "I'm sure we'll be back in a little bit." Mildly concerned, but not too worried, the remaining gentlemen and I bottled the beer (she'd be so pleased to come home and find it done!) and set to work prepping dinner.

Italian Pillow Bread (or was it Feather Bread?)

D baked a beautiful Italian bread to accompany our dinner of a (giant) roasted pork loin with onions and apples.  And then, just because it's what he does, he made several dozen oatmeal-cherry cookies.

Almond-Apricot Tart

His brother, J, took care of the pork, and made not one, but two desserts: an almond-apricot tart from 1,000 Italian Recipes and roasted peaches with amaretti cookies. I threw together a panzanella salad, we all drank several glassed of wine, and waited to hear from our hosts.                                                    

Amaretti Peaches

And then we got the call.  It seemed that the newest member of the family would be joining us that evening, as an unscheduled and rather early arrival. Dinner, while incredibly delicious, was eaten in a hurry, then we cleaned up the kitchen and booked it to the hospital.  Food is the centerpiece of every culture's celebrations the world over, and that night we were no different.  We showed up in B's room with the tart, peaches, and leftovers for the new dad, welcoming the tiny, beautiful M just a few short hours after her birth with dessert, hugs, and a few tears.

While  it's obviously scary that B had to go in for emergency surgery to bring her daughter into the world, I'd like to think that sweet, little M decided that she had heard enough of the fun going on around her all weekend and made an executive decision to join the party.  Like her parents, she clearly appreciates a good gathering of friends and food, and realized that with a couple of uncles, a grandfather, and a good friend in town, she might as well make an appearance.  We are so incredibly glad that she did.

And so, M, welcome to our world: you have an wonderful and loving of family and group of friends who are thrilled that you joined us ahead of schedule. I look forward to getting to know you, can't wait to watch you grow up and am excited to share some quality kitchen time with you. See you soon!