Indoor Picnic Dinner

A friend's uncle passed away yesterday so we went over to be with his dad. To cheer him up, I decided to go for a home cooked dinner. Pops always loves to be my lab rat. :)

Last weekend's episode of Everyday Italian was stuck in my head. Giada's "Picnic Planner" looked yummy and super easy I wanted to make everything. But I didn't have a chance during the week.

• Penne with Beef and Arugula - serves up well at room temperature as well as cold.
  
• Parmesan Popovers
• Almond Blueberry Cookies
• Iced Tea with Grenadine <-- I didn't make this one.

I was in the kitchen most of the afternoon as I baked the cookies first then made the batter for the popovers and started the pasta and steak at about the same time. (If you don't make cookies, this could count as a quick fix meal.) I did follow the instructions on all of them this time...except for the Herbes de Provence part . You know the history. I used Penzey's Parisien Bon Herbes plus lavender instead.

The penne and steak makes a LOT of pasta salad, folks. The portion I served today, we would've fed six. So, tomorrow Brandon is going to take 2 tubs of this on his trip to DC, one for him and one for his coworker, and I will eat one for lunch.

Also, one tip on the popovers that Giada mentioned on the show. Don't peak at the popovers while they cook or you'll end up with deflated ones. Hey, they were still tasty. Just didn't look too pretty.

We showed up at Pops' door with the picnic pack. We ate and talked. We talked about his brother and his life, boxing, tennis, politics. We talked about his day at work. We just talked. Or more like letting Pops talk. While sitting there listening to Pops and Brandon, I just realized this would be the first time I cook for a sad occasion.

I am humbled and amazed at the power of food to bring people together.