She weighs one hundred pounds even, and rides a Harley on the weekends
Last week, on Wednesday I threw a tiny party. Number of guests: one.
And that single guest was my friend Marsha.
Marsha is the receptionist at my dentist's office.
We became friends over the past three or four years, in just the few minutes we had to chat when I would arrive for an appointment, and later in the few minutes before I left.
There were red grapes, strawberries, and a birthday present
A few months ago I said to her: You need to come over for lunch one day! She agreed.
(I live about two miles from my dentist's office. Marsha gets an hour for lunch, so that would give us fifty minutes to eat and talk.)
Which we should have known was not nearly enough.
Nevertheless, we decided on the day and I began to make preparations.
I used a few things left over from Henry's birthday party
I kept it simple: The main dish was homemade chicken salad.
I used canned chicken and added hardboiled eggs, red grape halves, celery, Granny Smith apple chunks, julienned carrots, sweet pickle relish, kosher salt, coarse-ground pepper, a dash of yellow mustard, and a dollop of Duke's mayonnaise.
For Marsha's sandwiches, there were soft white Pepperidge Farm Hawaiian slider rolls.
Funny story: TG had taken me to the store the night before, to buy the things I needed for the lunch.
I hung out the birthday banner
I asked him to pick out some slider rolls while I looked for other items. Get something Marsha will like, I said. (I don't eat bread. At least not that kind.)
TG loves Hawaiian bread and since he figured correctly that there would be lots of rolls left over and they would fall to him, I knew he'd choose wisely.
Moments later I said, Sweetie please go pick out some chips. They're for Marsha (I don't eat chips).
A short while later, as TG piled several bags of Lay's Lightly Salted chips (his favorite, and they were on special) into the buggy, he said: Who's Marsha?
Star of the show was homemade small-batch chicken salad
Haaahaha. TG does not go to my dentist and I guess I had not talked much about Marsha or the plan to treat her to lunch at our house. Or else I did, and he did not listen. Which do you think it is?
(Because he knew I was having a guest, otherwise I would not have needed to go to the store.)
Anyway.
Besides the chicken salad I had chunked up some tomatoes, cucumber, and onion, and dressed them with a homemade vinaigrette of light-tasting olive oil, red wine vinegar, a dot of mustard, the aforementioned kosher salt and coarse-ground pepper, and a dash of powdered stevia.
These PF Hawaiian slider rolls were tasty ... but I didn't taste them
The chips rounded out the meal, along with small dishes of red grapes, fresh strawberries, and Wickles.
There was an assortment of soft drinks in the fridge, plus sweet tea (Marsha ended up choosing a Pepsi).
Since Marsha had had a birthday the previous Saturday, August thirteenth, I bought her an oversized red velvet cupcake for her dessert.
On the day, it was raining and cool. Seriously! In South Carolina, in August! The temperature topped out at about seventy-five degrees, and the rain continued throughout the daylight hours.
TG is partial to Lay's Lightly Salted chips
Marsha brought me a small hostess gift: a fall decoration, just in time for that happy season.
Of course I had bought her a birthday gift, and I had baked six miniature loaves of banana-nut bread: one for Marsha and four for her to take back to the office for the dentist, his assistant, and the two hygienists.
(I consider them all my friends, and if I could have had the whole group to lunch, I would have.)
There was one tiny loaf left over for TG.
Wickles kick everything up a notch or two
The whole thing was wonderful. I had my autumn candles burning and the smell of mulled cider (arguably my favorite fall candle fragrance) permeated the house.
Marsha arrived slightly late, having been led astray by her phone and missing the turn onto my street.
Fifty minutes to talk and eat became forty-five.
Marsha brought me a wooden leaf fall decoration
It may as well have been five, as quickly as it dissolved into thin air.
I talked more than I ate (I'll thank you not to sneer), and Marsha got a few words in too, and she was so entranced by my picture table that she spent as much time as she could walking around it and commenting on the photos, and before we knew it, she had to hurry back to her desk.
I could eat this tomato cucumber onion salad every day
We decided that she should return on an evening after she gets off work, so that we have time to sit and relax and talk to our hearts' content.
Audrey and Dagny use the same dentist as me, and they love Marsha and she loves them -- they're all so lovable -- and so they will be invited too.
We look forward to that.
But what a lovely occasion it was! A short visit, but sweet.
I don't have a huge number of friends, but the ones I have, are quality
I am grateful for sincere friendships, wherever I find them. Also I love to feed people.
So when you come here, come hungry.
And that is all for now except to ask, what have you been up to?
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Happy Tuesday
