Dinner with Friends

Hi! I'm Sophie Bauer Winston. I live in Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, in a historic house with enough bedrooms to put up loads of family and friends when they visit. I'm an event planner, but I also write an advice column about cooking, decorating, holidays and things domestic. There's nothing I love more than dinner with friends and family gathered near a blazing fireplace. Or, in this weather, a barbecue around the fire pit in my backyard.




I have a wonderful, curious and rambunctious Ocicat named Mochie, and I share custody of Daisy, a hound mix, with my ex-husband, Mars. Fortunately, he's a pretty decent guy for an ex-husband. My best friend, Nina Reid Norwood, lives across the street from me. She's always fostering a homeless animal of some sort. She has a lot of moxie, so she has dragged me into awkward situations, but I love her anyway.




Last night Nina and Mars stopped by with Bernie, our British friend, and Humphrey (he's an undertaker) for bourbon barbecued ribs, fresh corn on the cob with basil butter, tomato mozzarella salad with balsamic dressing, spicy baked beans, and a pitcher of icy watermelon margaritas. We barely had room left for the tart sugar-dusted lemon bars Bernie brought from
the restaurant he manages.


Sorry I'm late. I'm Natasha. Just the one name, please. Like Cher, or more appropriately, Martha.

Excuse me. Krista said I was supposed to post first.

Don't be silly. It's the Domestic Diva Mysteries, and it's quite clear that *I'm* the domestic diva.

Maybe we should ask Krista.

Haven't you heard? Blogger suspended her account! So it's just us. You're my best friend, so I know you won't mind sharing the blog with me. Did you just say Mars ate dinner at your house last night? He told me he had a meeting.

Mars and Natasha live together. In a huge house at the end of my block.

I thought you were seeing Wolf. Was Wolf there?

Wolf is my current beau. He's a police detective, so his hours are a little bit odd, but then, as an event planner, I'm usually busy at night, so it works out for us. There is that uncomfortable issue of his wife disappearing, but in spite of rumors to the contrary, I'm confident that a man who regularly donates food to the animal shelter couldn't possibly have murdered his wife.

I just don't understand why Mars keeps coming over here. You do have the better house, but ours is decorated tastefully and there isn't fur everywhere.

I come from a long line of snoops. Sadly, that trait has already emerged in my eleven-year-old niece, Jen. Even my parents aren't beneath eavesdropping. I figure I come by my nosy genes naturally.

Did you tell them that I have my own domestic diva TV show? Tomorrow's episode is about carving watermelons and cantaloupes to use as lanterns for summer parties. You can hang the cantaloupes on wires in the trees! Well, it's been lovely to blog, but I have to run. I scored fresh eel for dinner. I'm making quinoa, and a jicama and watercress salad, mounding the eel over it, and topping it with crispy deep-fried leek.

Sheesh. I have a feeling I'll be seeing Mars again tonight!

~ Sophie