John and Caroline throw a Dinner Party

Man, this is one of those times when Phoenix is way too far from Chicago, as I found out when I read this email from John recently:

Caroline (Frenchy) is making her famous Boeuf Bourguignon, and here is a pic of the Chocolate Pave Cake that I made. We are having a few folks over tonite and wish you were here.

She said she simmered the beef for 7 hours, and to tell you her accomps were endive and walnut salad w/raspberry vinagrette, and snow peas teased in butter /boiled potatoes w/ butter basil

What a terrific menu, lots of great combinations of flavors, and nice simple side dishes that do what they're supposed to do- accompany the entreé without adding conflicting flavors.

For those who may not know, a pavé cake is ususally a layered cake with buttercream and frosting. It's called a pavé because it resembles a paving stone, rectangular and not too high.

Y'know John, with a little notice I can probably make your next bash. Kudos to you and Caroline for a great job!