Rachel had Laura and I over for a dinner party tonight along with Val, Robyn, Christy and Brandon.

She had this strange appetizer which was a black olive spread on bread or crackers. I’d never tried it before but it was surprisingly good - especially when we brought out the cream cheese to put down as a base under it.

I helped a bit with making the dinner. Really, I just helped stir the polenta - a cornmeal-based mush that is sort of like mashed potatoes… but not quite. It required lots of stirring so it didn’t get lumpy but it keeps getting thicker so it’s pretty tiring.

Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out all that well and it sort of reminded us of Gak (that Nickelodeon slime stuff).

Once it hardened on some people’s plates, it sort of looked like dried out scrambled eggs.

It’s too bad, too. After helping her with it, I know how difficult it was to make the stuff (stirring it as it gets increasingly stiff all the while making sure it isn’t lumpy) and how hard she worked on it.

The rest of the meal was good though and also really filling. the chicken was delicious. I had seconds.

Totally unrelated to the meal was the laundry room. Absolutely full of clothes everywhere - I couldn’t resist…

Dessert was Jell-o with Cool Whip. Simple but so delicious.

Once we were done eating, we just sat around the table and talked for a few hours. Christy and Brandon even gave us a ride home, which saved us 30-40 minutes of walking here.

[More pictures from the night can be found here]