Eat Your Heart Out

Light posting lately -- the press of work, family and life (at least I don't need to be told to "get a life").

In the life department, last night was the "Eat Your Heart Out" fundraising dinner for West Mt. Airy Neighbors, the community association for the West Mt. Airy neighborhood we live in. The event is described as:

A modified progressive dinner, Eat Your Heart Out! begins at one sensational Mt. Airy home, where guests enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Then, participants fan out to sixteen beautiful Mt. Airy homes where they enjoy delicious meals created by some of the most talented chefs in the community.

We were one of the homes that hosted a dinner. I've mentioned before that we live in the West Mount Airy section of Philly, with lots of big old homes. Ours is big, but not McMansion-sized. Stone house, built circa 189o. I ran into a friend at a party over the holidays who is on the Board of WMAN and is the Chair of the Dinner Committee. We chatted a bit & somehow I agreed to host one of the dinners.

Despite my last minute moans & groans (of the "I've got to be out of my mind to be doing this" variety), the event turned out to be an extremely enjoyable evening. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about having 12 or so strangers come to my house for dinner, but it was fun. Everyone was interesting and entertaining -- the kind of people I could see myself being friends with.

The evening started with cocktails at a home located at the edge of Fairmont Park, two blocks away on my street. Although I'm not sure home is the right term -- mansion? castle? might better to describe this fabulous place. We stopped by briefly, then headed back to our house to wait for our guests.

Our chef was Herb Scott of Herb Scott's Catering and I can't say enough nice things about him. Good food from a good guy. He was extremely pleasant and professional, so everything was seamless from start to finish. He made verything so easy that I felt more like a guest myself than the host. We served what was billed as "Upscale BBQ," featuring dishes such as Mozzarella S'mores atop a salad, and a sampling of Char-Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Three Herb Chimichurri and Grilled Pork Kebabs with Ginger Molasses Barbecue Sauce. We ended with yummy looking -- and tasting -- Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Chocolate Ganache. Dinner was delicious!

It was a delightful evening and we certainly ate our hearts out.