an october dinner

We were six for dinner last evening. The table was festive with flowers and candlelight, and the mood was convivial and sometimes hilarious. We started out with a black bean,walnut and basil pate on toasted slices of a slender ciabatta and a choice of red or white wine - or vodka. Then, at table, a salad of homegrown bibb lettucer,belgian endive, pear slices and goat cheese dressed with one of my favorite vinaigrettes, enriched with fig preserves. Our main course was roasted chicken thighs on a bed of slightly stale peasant bread slices painted with mustard and then drizzled generously with olive oil. Fresh lemon thyme from the garden, a couple of bay leaves and a head of garlic separated into cloves were strewn over the chicken. The scents wafting through the first floor were too wonderful. A pan of roasted cauliflower and broccoli and another of baby new potatoes baked with rosemary completed the main course. The appropriately autumnal dessert was a four-layer pumpkin cake with a cream cheese frosting embellished with a croquant of caramelized pecan,pumpkin seeds and candied ginger.Divine. We ate, we talked and laughed -great friend were the true icing on the cake.