menu frenzy

February will be a busy month. Well, the middle part will be busy. After I go to Paris I have two days to prepare for my aunt and uncle to come visit from London. My Aunt Tine (Tante Tine) is my mom's closest sister and my closest aunt. She's goofy like my mom, but even more so, with a British accent. Peter is a former bobby and then was in security for the Royal Family. Sorry, though, he will tell me no good gossip. So don't ask!

Anyhow, right now I am trying to plan menus and such for their visit. When we went there for Christmas, they fed us so well that I really want to return the favor. I know I won't be able to do it up quite as much as they did, prices for food being what they are here, but I think I am coming up with a fairly good balance of French, Texas and American cooking to keep them happy.

The deal is, and I can say this with all honesty, I LOVE to cook. I love to cook when I have lots of folks to feed and a feeling that I am being creative. I am one of those non-measuring kinds of cooks, you know, the ones who aren't quite sure how to replicate a recipe a second time because they aren't sure how they did it the first? That's me.

So for their visit, one night will be a Frenchy night (they adore French cooking) when I will make coq au vin. German style, though, using my romertopf clay cooking pot.
The next night will be a Tex Mex fiesta, to which I am thinking I might invite some friends to share and meet the family. I'll start with tortilla soup and then do fajitas. (And margaritas, of course!) My tortilla soup is pretty good, if I do say so myself. My brother craves it and asks me to make it when he sees me.
The third night, chili, of course. With corn bread. For dessert this amazing bread pudding with Jack Daniels' Whisky sauce from Tom Perini's cook book. When I first had that sauce at an event where he cooked (from a chuckwagon!) I literally licked the plate. It was a chuckwagon cook out anyhow, so who cares. Taste something that good, you gotta go whole hog. Manners be damned. It is FABULOUS. If you ever want good Texas cookin', get Tom Perini's "Texas Cowboy Cooking". It's great. Better yet, though, try to eat at his place in Buffalo Gap Texas. Or be lucky enough to eat at an event he is catering. Yummylicious!

Now to just make up a shopping list and hope I can find all the ingredients I need!