Filipino Mothering Complex...

Whenever someone comes to visit, I love to pull out all of the stops and make at least one phenomenal spread they won't soon forget!  I think it's part of a condition I have called, Filipino Mothering Complex.  Firstly, one must make abundances of food and proceed by force-feeding their guests.  "Eat!  Eat!  You're too skinny!"  Or, "You look hungry!  Eat!  Eat!"  As a host, one must always dip one to two more scoops of food than the guest actually wants.  So, when they say, "OH!  That's enough!"  That's the signal to quickly dip one to two more scoops.  This must be carefully gaged so as to not waste any food.  

Bonus points are earned by making the area as warm and cozy as possible.  I like to jazz up my space with lots of candles.

Another symptom of Filipino Mothering Complex is insulting the above spread in some way after everything is served out.  "This is not as good as I usually make it."  Or, "I hope you don't mind that this isn't fancy; it's just simple food.  Nothing special."  Or, "I thought this would be better."  (It is encouraged that the guest then praise the virtues of the above dishes and atmosphere, but not too much so to sound disingenuous.)  It's not so much fishing for compliments as it is fulfilling some strange customary tradition engrained in my blood.

Hayden had mentioned that she had wanted spaghetti and meatballs.  So, I decided to whip some up.  While I was making the meatballs, I was reminded of the children's book, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett.

To go with the meatballs and pasta, I made a hearty chicken and mushroom with barley soup.

Above and to the left is a shot of the spread.  Also pictured is some of the leftover blood orange and cara cara sangria.  I used white wine instead of red for a variation of the regular recipe.  When I was making the meatballs, I wanted a lot more than normal.  I usually feel that people skimp on the meatballs in pasta.  I usually end up sitting there poking at noodles, craving another tasty meatball bite.  So, for my recipe, I increased the ratio.

In addition to the soup and pasta, I served up three cheeses (a Spanish's milk cheese that's been soaked in wine called Drunken Goat, garlic and fine herbs Boursin, and a semi-soft Port Salut), a beautiful thick crusty focccia, and crostini.  The cheese knife that Beki sent has made quick and easy work of slicing up the cheese.