First Timer: The Diary of an Untrained Cook: Night Three: An Italian Feast

Today was my third night serving dinner for my family. My wonderful grandparents came over and brought their adorable dog Ebony. I made soup from scratch for the first time tonight, and it was delicious and extremely fresh.

For Dinner I made 4 dishes:

1)Avocado and Corn Summer Salad
I made the same salad from last night, due to its success with my guests. I added some sliced red onion and a squeeze of lemon to change up the salad a little bit. The salad was completely gone by the time dinner was over, and my grandma stole the recipe for my amazing dressing!

2) Chicken Piccata
This chicken recipe is a family favorite. Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, the pounded chicken is light and lemony. My Grandpa told me that it was the best chicken he has ever had (I don't believe him.) I love breading the chicken and lightly frying it on each side with some oil. Its really satisfying to flip the chicken and watch it cook! I also made a delicious butter and lemon sauce to pour over the chicken. I think that this sauce would be great over most meats and even salad!

3) Tomato Soup with Cilantro Crème
I was really nervous to make this soup from scratch. Interestingly, the recipe said to roast they tomatoes before pureeing them into the soup. Roasting the tomatoes with some herbs and garlic made them soft and salty. The chilled cilantro crème added a nice creamy touch to the soup. My grandma loved the soup because it wasn't too creamy and had a nice smokey flavor.

4) Chocolate Chip brownies with Powdered Sugar
My brownies were a bit of a cop out. I used a box recipe but added some extra chocolate chips and vanilla extract. The brownies were gooey and easy to bake. They photographed great and everyone in my family decided to have seconds!

After dinner I asked each guest what their favorite dish was, this is what they said:
Jesse (my brother) - "My favorite dish was the chicken. It was cooked to perfection and went perfectly with the salad!"
Bubie (my grandma) - "My favorite dish was the salad. It was light and interesting with great flavor. The dressing was spectacular. I also loved the salty and yummy soup. Everything was perfect!"
Zadie (my grandpa) - "My favorite dish was the chicken. It was perfectly bounded flat and breaded. The sauce was beautiful. I would eat 5 more pieces!"
Mom- "I also loved the chicken. I usually don't like white meat because it's dry, but this was moist and flavorful. The crust on the chicken was a nice crispy contrast with the lemon."
Dad- "My favorite was the soup. I was so impressed with the different flavors. The roasted tomato made it really unique and complex."

The best part of the night was not the food, but the incredible company of my family. This has already been such a great way to learn about the people I love and spend more time with them. I am grateful for the memories that we create at every meal.