I am glad you and your DD had fun doing the cooking for the men otherwise, it might not have seemed so wonderful that they got to taste wine while you "slaved" for them! LOL! How lucky they were to come home to such a terrific meal and tablesetting after their day out, hope they appreciated it. Your tablescape, though casual, is lovely with the addition of sunflowers - my favourite! DD

Awwwwww, thanks for your kind words! As for the roses, I'd bought them the day before at my grocery store and by Saturday evening they were looking fantastic (they still are!). And, on Fridays, they're always only $6.99/dozen. Thank goodness for sales . . . and good timing ;^D Betty, here are some pics of my dishes for you. I did a Cinco de Mayo table and took these pics then, although I use this set a couple times every week. Lynn

BUT....the OP already said they are back and forth for dinner with bottles of wine....so this takes it out of the "hostess gift" realm. I suspect he wanted to taste the 2 wines side by side or liked the wine he brought better. Or maybe he didn't like the wine he brought at all and wanted to be sure you didn't return it to his house the next time you came. LOL! Did you ask why he wanted to open the wine? If they are good friends, I sure would ignore it. sometimes people make too much of a small action and feelings get hurt. Perhaps he went home and asked his wife " didn't you think it was odd they they didn't want to open the wine we brought? I mean after all....one bottle of wine for 4 people? That's only enough for one glass each".....and that would be my line of thinking. One bottle of wine...750 ml, is not enough for 4 people. Linda C

Sounds like it will be a great evening. I'm sure the chef will be thrilled! This is very nice and can be made ahead of time as well. The Tannery’s Crab Crème Brûlée with Pickled Cucumber and Melba Toast adapted from Paul Flynn via The Afternoon Show and Paul Flynn: Irish Food Serves 4 as a starter “Any time you have something creamy, you need something sharp to offset it. This is why we serve pickled cucumber with this dish. You need something to cut through the cream, and the pickled ginger is the starting point of that,” says Paul Flynn. One of the keys to this dish is its lovely creamy consistency, so keep an eye on your oven temperature: “You put it into a low oven because you don’t want the eggs to soufflé, you want them to gently set, like a custard.” 400 ml (1 3/4 cups) cream 1 egg 2 egg yolks 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped (or grate it directly into the custard mixture with a Microplane grater) 2 tablespoons pickled ginger, drained and finely chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper 150 g (1 cup) picked white crab meat, finely chopped 50 g (1/2 cup) freshly grated Parmesan pickled cucumber, to serve (see recipe below) Melba toast, to serve (see recipe below) lemon wedges, to serve Place the cream in a bowl with the eggs, garlic, pickled ginger and some salt and pepper and mix well. Add in the crab meat, ensuring there is no shell, and mix well again. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge to allow the flavours to infuse for at least 30 minutes, but ideally up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Ladle or pour the mixture into the ramekins, making sure you get an even amount of crab in every ramekin, as the crab tends to fall to the bottom. Place the ramekins in a roasting tray. Fill the tray with warm water until the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place this bain marie in the oven and cook for 45 to 60 minutes (check after 40 minutes). When cooked through, the mixture should be set but still have a slightly wobbly consistency. Remove the ramekins from the bain marie and allow to cool ��" the crab crème brûlée should be served at room temperature. When ready to serve, sprinkle a very thin layer of Parmesan on top of each ramekin and brown under the grill. Serve with pickled cucumber, really thin Melba toast (“sort of a retro addition that you don’t see very often”) and a lemon wedge. “So there you have it,” says Paul. “The Tannery crab crème brûlée ��" my classic.” Pickled Cucumber 1 cucumber pinch of salt 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar 50 ml (1/4 cup) white wine vinegar 1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce Slice the cucumber as thinly as you can (a mandolin or food processor’s slicing attachment is perfect for this job). Place the sliced cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle with a little salt. Set aside. Bring the sugar, vinegar and chilli sauce to the boil and reduce for 30 seconds. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely. Once it’s cool, pour the liquid over the cucumbers and stir gently to coat them all. This will keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days ��" any more and the cucumber loses its colour. Melba Toast Toast slices of white bread and remove the crusts. Slice the bread laterally to make two slices that are half the original thickness of the bread. Rub off excess bread from the untoasted side, then cut diagonally into triangles. Place the untoasted side under the grill until the edges curl. The Tannery Restaurant