Exceptional Dinner Party Vignettes An Invitation to Dinner, RSVP by Terry Broxson Artwork by meg119 at FanArtReview.com

Life comes at you fast. You have to be prepared. There are a few recipes, so choose wisely. Zoe deemed herself a gourmet cook. No one argued with her. She learned by taking classes in Italy and Mexico and considered those her specialties. Cooking for her started early and ended late, an event, a process, a time to shine, and a party. She would say, "There are no mixes used. Everything is from scratch!" Cooking by Zoe, while tasting great, did leave a mess in the kitchen. For fifteen years, the mess was stacked in the tiny kitchen of our townhouse. And then we built the "Dream House" with a big kitchen, large dining room, and butler's pantry, sans the butler.  Zoe would say, "I love this kitchen!" I would say (as quietly as possible), "Gives you more room to make a mess!"   DINNER PARTIES AND A QUESTION The meals were always outstanding. Zoe insisted on an elegant table setting. No paper here. Cloth napkins, napkin holders, water glasses, wine glasses, big plates, little plates, bowls, big forks, little forks, funny-looking knives, She wanted everything to look as lovely as possible. Of course, somebody did have to wash and clean all those things. As far as I know, no one taught clean-up in the cooking classes. If the fundamentals of cleaning were considered, Zoe must have dozed off.  Our dinner parties usually had ten to twelve people; I would pose a question to the group near the end of each dinner. This gave everyone a chance to speak. The answers were usually fun and revealing. At one party, I asked, "What was your first car?"  Then one of our guests, Kenny, added, "Did you have sex in it?"  At your next dinner party, try those two questions on your guests. You will be surprised! DINNER AND FISHING My long-time friend Carl and his wife Jaynne met Zoe and me on South Padre Island for a week's beach vacation. It is beautiful there. Carl and I booked a charter fishing trip. The night before the fishing trip, Zoe and Jaynne had a few margaritas and nachos at a beach bar. We went to Scampi's for dinner. Their specialty is great shrimp dishes. The wine for the ladies did flow. Our wives insisted they wanted to go fishing with us the following morning. At seven AM, we arrived at the boat dock. It is fair to say that Zoe and Jaynne had been over-served the night before. On previous trips, Carl and I had been on our chartered boat "The Master Plan" with Bryan, our Captain. We would go out in the Gulf of Mexico and fish for five hours. Carl and I knew from experience it was not good to be over-served the previous evening.  Captain Bryan's method of fishing used chum. Chum is cut-up fish parts thrown in the water to attract fish, and our lures are dragged through the chum. Chum smells awful. When Bryan's deck hand began throwing the chum over the boat, the rocking of the boat and the waffling smells of chum reached Zoe and Jaynne. Quickly they leaned over the back of the boat and added their chum! In only a minute or two, the fish started to hit. Carl and I started hauling in King Mackerel about thirty pounds each. At the two-hour mark of fishing, we told Bryan we had plenty of fish and were too tired to continue. Carl and I congratulated our wives on their contribution to our fishing success. They were lying on the boat's deck, paying no attention to us. Both ladies recovered. That night they presided over a great fish cookout. We served a lot of fish. Several other folks joined us. The guests took home copious amounts of leftovers. Zoe and Jaynne took credit for the cooking of the meal and the success of the fishing. ZOE AND TERRY'S TWENTY-FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY On August 3, 1999, we welcomed a dinner party of forty. Dinner was served outside under the trees, a clear Texas night, a sky full of stars, a balmy 103, about three degrees cooler than our wedding. I asked a friend to give some after-dinner remarks. Robert Fielder owned a consulting company for physicians. He offered that he sometimes learned more from his clients than they did from him. He said being paid for that experience amazed him, and such was the life for the out-of-town expert. Robert recalled a meeting with one of his long-time clients where the president of a large medical practice schooled a newly hired young physician. The president of this group had been a doctor for thirty-eight years. His advice was considered "Golden." The old doctor smiled at the youngster, offering these words of wisdom.  "There are three rules to a successful life as a doctor. First, whatever you do, stay married. Second, never live in a house only a doctor can afford. Third, only borrow half the money a bank will loan you." *** There would be nineteen more anniversaries until the dinner parties, the questions, and the speakers stopped.    Recognized

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