Dining in when friends visit from out of town

I had a good friend stay with me from Florida this summer for three days. I can truly say all we did was
eat. She was tired from all of her work travels and really didn't want to be "out on the town" so to say.
So I decided to cook and cook I did!  So for two days in preparation for her short visit I cooked up a big storm.
The first nights' meal was a great summer dinner, fancy yet light. I made fresh houmous and pita for an appetizer, chicken grape pecan salad served

on cantaloupe boats, along side a mixed green watermelon feta kalamata olive salad and spinach corn couscous cakes with yogurt dill garlic sauce. Yummy! Who needs to go out. With a little patience and
following simple recipes you can keep your family home or keep your friends coming back.
Needless to say the dinner was was a hit and we sat all nite and just ate slowly and luxuriously.Then for dessert we ate out on the balcony with the flowers and night patio lights. I had made
 a fresh carrot  pineapple cake with lemon cream cheese frosting for dessert, of which I could eat the entire thing myself over the course of 3 days, gaining five pounds would follow immediately though. Fortunately my darling friend saved my from myself and shared much of it with me. She was taking pictures
of all the food as if she was a food reporter and sending them off to friends and family!!! Of course I was
tickled pink about this.  She also said it was better than her mother's carrot cake but don't tell her mother.
The next day we both went to work and we were going to go out to dinner but my friend was so impressed with the food, she was dreaming about it at work she admitted later to me. She wanted to go home and eat the leftovers!!! She said she had dreams about eating the carrot cake all during the night! Imagine that dreaming about cake instead of our men!!! Boy have we come a long way! Well we feasted again and it took all night, but the best part about cooking at home for friends and family is making them happy. The smiles and the "oh this is so good" make all the work worthwhile. We had a great time doing nothing expect eating and talking.
The last day of her visit we once again opted to stay home and I was delighted to cook a favorite dish
of hers, lamb and rice stuffed cabbage rolls. This dinner is not only easy to make but you have leftovers
that tast great. We sat at the table for so long languishing over all the food and talking about the last
time she was in town for a visit and I actually made the cabbage rolls that time as well. There is nothing better than sitting at the table long after the meal is done, without feeling you have to leave the restaurant for the
next set of customers to sit down.  We both laughed at how much carrot cake we both ate and how much we could eat, possibly the entire cake! Such a sinfully rich indulgence .

 Relaxing at home can be great and it can be learned, you can cook

  

 to keep them dining in instead of dining out.