Preparing for the Poker Party

This week I'm hosting our poker game. When I sent out a reminder message to find out how many were coming, almost everyone said "yes". I suspect it's because I also told them that Bill was cooking.

He called me from the office today to talk about the menu. He had a bunch of ideas. He loves talking about food as much as cooking and eating it.



This is Bill at a delectable storefront in Rome. Bill
gets excited when he sees good olives and cheeses 



He was anxious to get to Guercio's (a lovely green-grocer on the West side) to pick up the ingredients for the antipasto. Next stop, Premier Wines to stock up on some wine. When I told him there were 11 for dinner, he said "well... 12 including me". I'm not sure if I should tell him that there is a pretty stiff rule that no men are allowed at the dinner table or at the poker table. But, after cooking dinner, I don't think I'll have the heart to set a place for one in the kitchen.

Tonight we ate dinner together in the kitchen amongst piles of tax information. I started to assemble all the data today so we can attack the forms tomorrow. I didn't want  to spread out in the dining room since I've got to set the table for eleven (or twelve) for Thursday's poker night.

I don't think Bill even noticed. He entertained me with the ingredients for the marinade he was going to develop and the giant red olives he had found at Premier.

Now that Bill has the dinner in hand, all I have to do is make sure the bathrooms are clean, the table is set and the wine is chilled. Since he's taken all the pressure off, maybe I'll win a few hands.