Thanks for your sweet comments! Punk, the vase is a family treasure. It was my paternal great-grandmother's and then my grandmother's, then my mom's and now ours. It has so much sentimental value. It was on the table for ALL the holiday meals throughout my childhood and on into adulthood. My mom gave it to me a few days before she died. I mean she really made a point of saying how special it was to her and how she wanted me to keep the tradition going (I'm an only child so much of our discussions right before she died were of a very different nature, because she knew I'd take good care of all her precious possessions.) So, it has LOTS of meaning for me! The flowers are Knockout roses and Blackeyed Susans, which are doing well, despite the drought here in Boston this summer. It's been very hot for us and we're simply not used to it! The job! Where to start? I'm teaching in a career institute (dental assisting program) that just opened what is expected to be their flagship campus in MA. It's lots of fun. I have my own office for the first time in my career and have had fun decorating it with plants, picture of the family, the animals, etc. I'm meeting with perspective students and getting the curriculum set up. There is never a dull moment and I'm loving it! It's much closer to home than the last school I taught in, which is a big plus. It's about a 20 minute drive vs. 1 1/4 hours on public transportation into Boston. I do miss my coworkers in Boston and do miss the excitement of the city, being a city girl at heart. I went to college in Boston and will always have a soft spot for the city! Getting into teaching is something that has been such a great lift for me at this point in my life, with my children almost completely "launched". It was a fluke and just happened by chance, but was the best thing that could have ever happened. I'm now planning on getting a Masters in Ed, which will help me in my new career. In addition to that, I took a job in private practice (I'm a dental hygienist), working with 2 dear friends, at an office that's exactly 4 miles from my new school. I will initially work 4 hours/week and then it will go down to 3 hours/week, which is just about all I want. It's good to keep a hand (no pun intended) in the real world vs. teaching only. So I'll be working 4-8 at first and then after 3 weeks, it will change to 4-7 (3 patients). I'm looking forward to it. That money will go into my "fun money" fund (napkins, placemats, etc....)! Hmmmm....really should be working more on the wedding fund, given that we have 3 DD's.

Where to start? Figuring amounts....I go by what seems like a serving for one and multiply it out. For example for a pasta with a tomato meat sauce...I figure 7 servings per pound of meat. That's a little over 2 oz per person. Then I think about the pasta and figure a cup of cooked pasta per person....depending on the kind of pasta this is about 2 oz for fusilli. Add 2/3 cup of tomato sauce and2 oz of grated cheese and you have a good meal. As with all things, the more you make from scratch, the cheaper your meal will be. I never buy salad dressing...I make my own and everyone loves it. Never buy things like ham salad or sliced ham. Always buy bone in chicken, poach it and remove it from the bone and I have chicken broth and cooked chicken. No canned soups, I make sauce using the chicken broth, onions, flour, milk and a little cream cheese. I watch for things on sale. and when I know I need to "do" a meal, I plan around whatever meat is on special....chicken breasts, ground beef, ham, turkey etc. Green salads are made from ice-berg lettuce, bags of spinach, and some grated carrot and shredded red cabbage, with my dressing. I buy day old French bread and slice it in thick slices and serve it with real butter. The salad dressing is made with Extra Virgin olive oil and dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar....and it's about 20% of the cost of a bottled dressing and 100% better. If I am making sandwiches, I use day old French bread and slice it myself with an electric knife. I grate cheese....mostly except when pregrated is cheaper, buy fresh veggies and fruits. If you want specific recipes and meal plans complete with costs, email me, I have a file. And for the record, I used Growlies for Groups when I began doing this....it's pretty well worthless as far as estimates of amounts are concerned....they way over estimate. But there are a lot of "group friendly" recipes. Good luck! Linda C

We were visiting my wife's family in Vermont which ends up being a large group, with most of her brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids, and this year even several girlfriends of the kids. All told we were about thirty. Meals were split up with one or two people volunteering for each meal. New Year's Eve was my night. I was stumped at first as far as what to make, but the co-volunteer Eric (a foodie BIL) came up with the suggestion of top-your-own tacos. We actually went with tostadas, and made black beans, three different meat toppings, and about a dozen other topping options, with side dishes of Mexican-spiced rice, and homemade cole slaw. Logistically the meal worked well, although some people didn't realize that they were supposed to be able to pick up the tostada after they made it, and instead they buried it beneath a 2-inch deep mound of toppings. Also we forgot to put out the guacamole until after half the people had served themselves. Food wise, some parts of the meal worked better than others. The shredded chicken verde was good but would have been better with more of the tomatillo salsa, however the co-op closed early, and the normal grocery store had no green salsa. The beef/chorizo was good but could have used a bit more of something, Eric and I couldn't decide what it needed. The shrimp was a big hit, the only problem with it was it disappeared so fast, the recipe (as well as I remember it) for the shrimp is below. Chili-Lime Shrimp 2 lbs peeled uncooked shrimp (31-40 count -- cut into thirds) 10 cloves garlic (minced) 1 4oz can diced green chilies 2 limes chili powder canola oil Liberally cover raw shrimp with chili powder and the juice of 1 half of a lime, and let rest for 10 minutes. In small pan, heat oil over medium heat, add garlic and green chilies, until garlic is softened and fragrant. remove from heat. In large pan, heat oil over high heat, until it is smoking hot, add shrimp stirring occasionally to make sure all the shrimp are getting cooked, and none are burning, after about 2-3 minutes the shrimp should all be cooked, add the garlic and green chilies that you set aside, and the rest of the juice of the limes. Stir for about 1 more minute, and place in large bowl to serve. Overall the meal received rave reviews.

I love dinner parties, too, but if I got an invitation to one from someone I didn't know, just dropped in the mailbox, there is no way I'd attend that party. Inviting people to dinner is probably not the best first step in making new friends. It's a bit too much, too soon. The way to meet your neighbors is to get out of your house when they are also outside. Smile and say "hi" to people you meet on walks. Go over to next door and ask them a question--could they recommend a plumber? a good pizza place? somewhere to buy a ladder? Get to know people first, then invite them over. You could have a dinner party where you invite three of your newly-met neighbors and ask them all to bring one new person to the party. I did one time realize that all the tenants in my three-family house and the two houses next door were all single women. So I arranged a summer afternoon get-together with all of us, just so we could meet and know who our neighbors were--and who we could call on if we needed some help. Tea, lemonade, cookies and some fruit, and about two hours of fun conversation. It was easy for people to come and go, and not feel locked into staying for hours, as they would with a dinner party. I don't fault you for wanting to make new friends, but I just think a formal dinner party is not the way to go.