Free write

Food and Friends

About two years ago some close friends of mine decided to have a revolving Sunday night dinner. Theses dinners provided us an avenue for us to stay connected when our lives were slowly moving in different directions.
Of all of us Sandra was by far the most apt in culinary skill, when it was her turn everyone looked forward to it. My birthday happened to fall really close to one of Sandra’s dinners, so I asked Sandra if she would make me a birthday desert. She agreed, and I requested a Key Lime cheesecake.
The Sunday came and we all converged on Sandra’s very small apartment. I had purchased a bottle of Argentinean wine to go with dinner; I intended to have a great birthday dinner. As I look back the only thing I really remember about the dinner was the wine and the dessert. The key lime cheesecake was phenomenal. It contained the perfect consistency, not to light but not too heavy and she sliced mangos on top of it, the two flavors merged perfectly.
These dinners consisted of about 17 people in total, not everyone could make it every week but we all did our best to show. It started as a way for us to showcase our favorite childhood dishes to our friends, and enjoy a home cooked meal at least once a week. As time passed it became this arena for us to spend some time together and talk, we didn’t usually get to talk much because most of our social excursions were to loud bars and house parties. These Sundays became something I looked forward to more as a place where stress did not exist, than a place where the food was bountiful; but the food was bountiful. In the past two years people have started graduating and moving away. Since I left, the dinners slow became few and far between, and are now no longer in existence.
Since that birthday there are few deserts that I enjoy as much as key lime cheesecake. It reminds me of the friendship and camaraderie I received on those Sunday evenings.