After a long and involved process the Limoncello was finally sampled on Saturday.  Beforehand though I spent hours in the kitchen prepping dinner.   Unfortunately several glasses of wine into the evening it completely slipped my mind to take any actual shots of the cooked food.  No doubt, a common hazard of the “job.”

In reality I served a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (specifically Portobello Mushrooms, Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Spinach) with spicy Turkey Sausage, Baked Artichokes with Gorgonzola and Herbs, and a Strawberry and Marscapone Granita.

I should warn you that even though Giada said you can eat the artichoke leaves, I thought they were really too chewy.  So I cut up cubes of Seeduction Bread (I know…I know…I’m obsessed) and served the artichokes as a sort of mini personalized fondue.   The fact that those leaves were so gross really annoyed me because it took 20 minutes to snip off the tips of six artichokes and those ends didn’t just fall gracefully to the counter in a neat pile, they flew all over my kitchen with an audible ping.  Zoom!

As for the Limoncello…well…I sort of had a hunch that I wouldn’t like it.  I haven’t been a fan of lemony cocktails in years ever since an unfortunate incident with some Bacardi Limon in college.   But my other guests didn’t seem to mind it.  CK actually liked it!  He drank his in the form of a modified Gin and Tonic.  My friend Melissa had the best response of all:

Anyway, I have two full wine bottles of the stuff left so if anyone has any good ideas on what I can do with it (besides drink it) I’d be forever grateful.

I love throwing dinner parties! In fact, next weekend, I’m having a special “unveiling” party for the Limoncello we’ve been making. I have no idea what to make to complement all of that lemony goodness but I’ll figure it out. Thankfully my parties don’t involve the intensely brutal awkwardness that last night’s fabulous episode of The Office berated us with. It’s been so long since seeing a new episode that I think my body and mind forgot how completely uncomfortable it can be to watch. I squirmed and squeeled and covered my eyes in mortification throughout the entire 30 minutes. But I loved every last second of it! What did you guys think? I loved the last scene when Angela smashed her ice cream all over the side of Andy’s car, and of course the fact that Jan made Osso Buco which had to be braised for 3 hours! Ahhh! The torture! It was classic.