Not long ago I heard a quote about how lonely Facebook is making all of us. And there seems to be a fair amount of conversation going on about how the world-wide-web is making communication so much easier and assessable yet we seem to have so little time face to face. Ironically, this blog has actually leveraged and cultivated new friends for me. Particularly my new “sister blogger” Hayley.

Hayley emailed me over six months ago after finding my blog through a reader. She introduced herself as a fellow food lover and writer and suggested that we keep in touch to exchange recipes. It turned out that we actually had several mutual friends and we ran into each other at Simple Kneads Bakery not long after. And through these connections decided that we should host a dinner party together.

After many emails and a couple of meetings we planned a menu, made a long grocery list and headed to Harris Teeter on Saturday at noon. This trip to Harris Teeter may have been the most unusual grocery shopping trip in a long time (and I once was cursed at in the water aisle).  It started with a Super Mart Sweep quest to find polenta – including both of us, a spiky haired manager and an anonymous shopper (it’s by the rice). And, the trip ended with Chris, our cashier. Chris first asked us if we were sisters. We responded “no.” Then he asked if we were best friends. We responded “no, we actually don’t know each other very well”  (in retrospect, we should have said “we met online.” ) With this response he went into a very long tangent about friendship including some spoken word and a bit of improv dancing. We walked away promising that we would break bread together that night and toast to friendship in honor of him before dinner. We did exactly that.

We ventured to Mendenhall to spend nearly five hours in the kitchen preparing a very ambitious menu for eight friends. We were grateful to have Masha making table arrangements and Mark bringing wine (which will be posted tomorrow). And while the cooking may have worn us completely out, we learned a great deal about cooking, entertaining and each other. So maybe Chris, the Harris Teeter cashier, was right. We might just be blogging sisters now.

Here is our menu. I’ll post the recipes the next few weeks.

Hayley and Cecelia’s Fall Soiree Menu

• Whiskey Sours
• Devils on Horseback
• Crispy Polenta Rounds with Tomato and Mushroom Ragout
• Mache and Radish Salad with Rosemary and Thyme Candied Pecans
• Sara Foster’s Braised Salmon over Lentils with Crispy Bacon
• Apple Fritters and Bourbon Ice Cream