Finally! A new post - and this time it's all about FOOD!

Taking a queue from my brother Pete, I've decided to dedicate this blog entry to food and the wonder that it is. That's right, FOOD! We all love to enjoy food with a mouth watering effect and one that lingers with our taste buds until the next time we indulge in said food, so here's to Diana, the provider of such meals for this past week (or so).

The Walsh's were kind enough to remember the Smith's this Christmas and entreated upon us a delightful basket with seasonings and meal ideas worth a week of good eating.

Our first adventure (Taco Tuesday) in the Diana Dinners was my personal favorite and that was TACOS! I've recently decided that if I were on death row and was to be brought a last meal, tacos would be my choice. The spices blended within the ground beef was precisely the balance needed to satisfy myself along with 4 other salivating Smith's. Very nicely done.

The next night (Wednesday) we broke out the grill (despite the snow) and smothered a couple of pork roasts with some of Diana's “patented” meat rub. I have to admit that the meat was cooked perfectly (much thanks to my grilling expertise), but the rub made it taste delicious. Not only did we have some left over for another night (which was a success in and of itself), we were excited to still have some of the rub left for another future meal. The fresh green beans (seeing it is winter, we had them specially imported from Mexico for this meal) were tender and the mashed potatoes were a delightful compliment.

Thursday was Chicken with the breading that was prepared by Diana with special herbs and spices (maybe the Colonel would like to get his hands on some). This meal was coupled with some butter-cooked potato slices that went well with corn (my favorite of the veggies...it's not a second starch in my book, it's a veggie). Having the chicken breaded with Diana's breading, upped the standard for all future breading events in the Smith house (a third starch in one meal?).

While it was against my choice, I had to wait until the following week for the final Diana Dinner: A Moroccan sausage with couscous. If Ryan could vote for his favorite of the Diana Dinners, he would have chosen this! A little culture goes a long way when it comes to food and my children have learned the diversity of enjoying food from many different varieties (thanks Hamiltopia).

One additional special treat that we had for our final Diana Dinner was the homemade tiramisu (one of the most popular of the Italian cakes) that she created from scratch. She was kind enough to take time to spend a day with Jess and a few others who celebrate birthdays around Jessica's; the tiramisu was left over from that.

Now that I've bored you with my pseudo "Cooking with Julia" style post, thanks for bearing through this blog about food you didn't get to enjoy, but rest assure in knowing that it was thoroughly enjoyed by all Smiths!