Texas in Chicago: Liz’s Family Visits

Tonight Liz had some family visiting from out of town, and we were hosting a small dinner party to celebrate. Liz’s Aunt Jenny (who’s in Chicago) came over with Aunt Debbie, Aunt Nancy and Liz’s cousin Ali.

I met everyone for the first time when Liz and I visited Texas a year ago, last Thanksgiving. We had such a warm welcome and a great stay, it felt nice to be able to return the hospitality.

Here’s the table, all set up and ready to go (flowers courtesy of the Logan Square Farmers Market).

Food and wine all set up. Unfortunately, I was too busy cooking in the kitchen to take a lot of food shots. For dinner we had breaded turkey cutlets, baked tomatoes, quinoa, and spaghetti squash. Lots of our favorites in one big meal.

Everything we served up was South Beach friendly, which was a nice plus. Well… everything during the main meal was South Beach friendly, let’s put it that way.

Prior to the meal being officially served, Liz prepared the dessert – blueberry crumble (though we didn’t grill it this time).

Though the fruit is delicious, the crumble topping is really what makes this thing. Here it is, about to go into the oven.

And here it is, cooked and being served up over two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

L to R it’s Aunt Jenny, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Debbie, me, Liz and Ali. Though it was a bit hectic at the start with the cooking, the night was really relaxing and enjoyable. Lots of good food and conversations, memories and stories. After having us in their homes, it felt nice to be able to return the favor, and to have folks in our home this time around.