Remember a few weeks ago, I was saying about having the family over? The whole family. Or, at least my mom's side of it. (No? Here.) I've done family dinner before, but only for Tim's family. That's a total of 6 people including the two of us. While it can be some work, it's a little easier than a group of 16. That requires counting knives and forks.
The initial question is what to make. Being a potluck, I only had to make a couple of things, clean the house, and provide the plates etc. The dolmadakia turned out to be fairly easy (although a little fiddly) and tasted great. I'll put that recipe at the end. The rest of the food was AWESOME. Sushi, frikadeller, pad thai, bombolini, citronfromage, ribs, spring rolls... a pretty eclectic meal.
As good as the food was, it was great being able to have my family over and have the space to have dinner, coffee, mingle, and chat. Simple things like making coffee, sitting down to eat, knowing that I could contribute. My aunt, mother, and grandmother have all had turns at hosting birthday dinners, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc. It was nice to know that they didn't have to do much and could relax for a change. It takes some effort to make 16 people comfortable.
Bringing up tables so that 16 people can sit comfortably together, borrowing a few plates and tablecloths. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves - they seemed to. There are a few things I know to do for next time though.
1. Multiple smaller serving dishes down the table. A table as long as we had for 16 makes it hard to pass the potatoes.
2. Get more salt shakers. And butter dishes and ketchup bottles and...
3. Shorten the table - the best part of dinner with family is the conversation. The friendly ribbings, the funny stories. The tables we put together meant that we had a lot of room, but it also meant we weren't able to talk as easily.
4. Potluck for 16 means that you only need to cook for 8-10. There is always more food than you need.
5. Keep what you want and package up the rest in little take home bags. I did that and a lot of those went home for dinner the next day with my aunt, cousins, etc. This means that people get some of the goodies, they only have to take the ones they want without being obligated to politely decline. Then they get the same benefit that you've gotten by hosting.
The clean up afterward takes a while, but it's worth it to have family around and see them enjoying themselves.
Dolmadakia
1 jar vine leaves (about 3 dozen)
3/4 cup raw rice
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 bunch green onions or scallion, finely chopped
1 cup ground pork, browned
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
2 lemons
1 can beef stock + 1 cup
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Remove vine leaves from jar, scald with hot water and drain. Cut off stems, pat dry and lay out on paper towels, shiny side down. Saute onions and parsley in 2 tbsp hot olive oil. Add rice, dill, pine nuts, pork and water. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. When mixture is cooled, place 1 teaspoon of rice mixture in the centre of each leaf. Fold bottom of leaf over rice mixture, then fold both up sides and roll over carefully until a small cylinder is formed. Arrange in layer in pot; sprinkle each layer with lemon juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. Pour boullion, 1 cup water, and remaining olive oil over all the leaves. Place a plate on top to weight them all down. Simmer over low heat for 40-50 minutes. Remove, drain, and cool before serving. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve on platter.
I personally found the olive oil made it VERY oily, so I would decrease that. If you have an oil spritzer, I would use that to spray the layers. If you have to increase the boullion and water to cover the rolls, do so keeping the 1:1 ratio.
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