Friday Night Dinner

Tonight Chels and I had our friends Nick and Ann Marie over for dinner. This is the first visit to our new place for them--we've been friends for a few years and used to be "neighbors", both living in the Sand Point area north of the University District. Our dinner dates usually go back and forth between our two places and with both of us couples having moved multiple times in the past few years, it turns out to be a dinner and tour of the newest "new" place almost every other time! Last month we went to their new apartment and got to meet Nick and Ann Marie's new Australian Shepard puppy Gus. Very cute! :) Kitten was the furry friend representative at our place tonight and she actually sat in their laps, which is very brave for her. Candace was the chef this evening and made a Minnesotan classic, the cheesy potato casserole. Mom's recipe, of course (though it may actually be her younger brother's original genius, not too sure). We had asparagus as the side, with fresh bread and white wine (root beer for Chelsea). I made a relatively easy chocolate cake for dinner called "melt-in-your-mouth" cake with a brownie-like consistency. Very tasty! And I whipped cream for the first time to top the cake, with some pointers from Ann Marie. Fresh strawberries and raspberries (and vanilla ice-cream, of course!) accompanied the cake for a very delicious dessert, if I do say so myself! Before you think I'm the next Julia Child, however, it was not all smooth sailing: I tried to flip the cake out of the pan and only half the cake decided to come out! Hence the need for the whipped cream topping to add not only a delicious dressing, but a more presentable dessert :) Any tips on getting the cake to release easier from the pan? All in all, a very nice and fun dinner--good friends and good food!