Spring Break Belgian Style

This past week I took a Spring break to spend time with one of my “best friends in the whole wide world” – and I can say that silly phrase because he traveled from Belgium to visit. I met my friend, Piet, many years ago in Greensboro when we were both living downtown and spending our waking (and what should have been sleeping) hours out on the town partying. I look back wondering how we functioned after those late late nights. These days we seem to spend more time enjoying the good life at a slower pace.

While Piet was in the US, we split our time between Greensboro and Charleston. Before we left for a Charleston (which I will report this week), we had to spend an evening on Mendenhall enjoying good food with old friends. We enjoyed the evening with our friends George and Tara who I met through Piet. He introduced us far before I lived on Mendenhall, had a blog and a dog – and they had TWO KIDS. My how times change! We enjoyed the meal in my backyard and drank lots of wine while catching up and chasing children.

There are no recipes to this meal – just quality ingredients – which were mostly in season. We seasoned the steaks, asparagus and mushrooms with just salt and pepper. The Caesar Salad was homemade with romaine lettuce and a dressing of garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon, salt, pepper, egg yolk and olive oil. With a beautiful Spring night, it felt just like old times while noting that friendships just get better with age.

Spring Break Belgian Style Dinner