Once again, I took a risk and invited friends over for a dinner experiment. The planned meal was from Tyler's Ultimate - my gift from Lynnie - and so far, it has not led me astray. The meal was to be Ultimate Beef Stew, Pureed Potatoes (not to be confused with my Deceptively Delicious undertakings), yeast rolls (recipe from the back of the yeast packet!) and Ultimate Chocolate Mousse for dessert. This is one of those meals that required me to buy a big hunk of meat, yet again something out of my comfort zone. But the picture in the cookbook looked so yummy I felt it was worth the try.

I was supposed to buy 3 pounds of beef shoulder, and this time I just got everything from Kroger. More kids, fewer separate stops. And I'm still timid around the meat people, so rather than ask for beef shoulder, I settled for 3 pounds of pot roast. Which worked just as well, as far as I can tell.

I realized around 1:30 this afternoon that I was supposed to have marinated the beef in wine, carrots, thyme, crushed garlic and a few other odds and ends overnight or at least for 4 hours. Hm. That would have been handy to know YESTERDAY! Instead, it got an hour and a half of marinating, then I had to write out a little schedule of cooking events: marinate beef, brown beef, cook for 20 minutes, simmer for 2 hours, add veggies and simmer for another 30 minutes. Interspersed in there were also things like make bread, knead for 10 minutes, let bread rise, start making chocolate mousse...Ok, so some of this got condensed down. For instance, the veggies got thrown in after an hour and a half of simmering and I didn't simmer for the last 30 minutes it called for. But everything seemed to work out ok. The meat was so tender it was falling apart...the veggies were good...the juices very tasty.

While all that was transpiring, I was trying to get Brooklyn down for a nap/simultaneously preparing for Wednesday night's Bible study, feed August and ultimately guiding Kyle through the process of making chocolate mousse for me. (Praise the Lord for my multi-tasking skills). Kyle was amazingly helpful. As I nursed August, he followed my instructions for putting the chocolate mousse components together and browned the beef for me. And I think he had fun beating egg whites into foam, then watching cream being whipped into stiff peaks. It was a learning experience! And he did great!

And the best part of the day was the friends we invited over: Toby, Charla (one of my best friends since high school) and their kids, Kennedy and Colson. They arrived at 6 and everyone went to the park while I finished up dinner. When they walked back in the door at 7, dinner was on the table and ready to eat. And it was really really good, if I do say so myself! The chocolate mousse turned out perfectly and I served it in my good iced tea goblets with a dollop of home-made chocolate whipped cream. Easy-peasy. Whip up some whipping cream, throw in some brown sugar and a little cocoa and keep whipping. A subtle sweetness and chocolate flavor. A good complement to great conversation with dear friends. Once again, as the doors closed behind our guests at the end of the evening, Kyle and I just smiled and thanked the Lord for such wonderful friends. We are truly truly blessed. And with full tummies to boot!