[speaker001:] well what would you have at a dinner party
[speaker002:] well uh lately since I have children I've cut down on having dinner parties but when I do I try to keep it pretty simple on things that I can prepare ahead of time
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh I have one recipe for uh a really good um type of a meatball it's called burgundy meatballs and it's made with red red wine and um it's it's really good and you can make it ahead of time and then um make the sauce when you're ready to um to serve it that's one of my favorite things to to serve
[speaker001:] oh gosh that sounds great uh-huh well um I think it would probably depend on whether this was a formal or informal dinner party but if it was informal my first choice would be crawfish
[speaker002:] sure oh really well I guess being from that part of the country
[speaker001:] because I mean crawfish everybody over here likes crawfish but you know I I wouldn't have to worry about satisfying my
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] guest but if it was a formal uh dinner party I would probably think of something else like um shrip shrimp fettucini is real easy
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] to um make and everything and it's usually well liked by people I guess I'm just a seafood fan so I think on the lines
[speaker002:] well how do you make how do you you cook crawfish I in fact I just came back from the grocery store and being in Texas we don't have too many you know people that that eat crawfish but they had live crawfish on sale
[speaker001:] oh yeah um you're not supposed to I mean you're not supposed to eat them dead I mean well you eat them dead but right because if if they're dead for too long you can always tell whenever they're cooked if they've been dead for a long time because their tail straightens out and you're not supposed to eat those because they're the bad for you
[speaker002:] um-hum don't buy them that way uh-huh okay well I'll remember that
[speaker001:] yeah so if you ever go in a restaurant and order crawfish I mean every once in a while you'll see one I mean it doesn't happen very often because it's just an accident but if the tail is straight on it then yeah don't eat it but um you just put some cajun well
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] lots of pepper and you just boil them and they're absolutely wonderful but there's uh they're a pain to peel for some people once you get used to it they're real easy but um you know if you have nails or anything you can
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] plan on those being shot
[speaker002:] when you were um when when you serve it do you shell them and then serve them to
[speaker001:] I think for a dinner party I I don't know it depends like if like
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] my age if there was a bunch of college kids coming over for a dinner party no I they would shell their own you know we'd just have crawfish and beer or something but um if it was more formal like if I was you know working environment then I would probably um shell
[speaker002:] sure
[speaker001:] shell them or at least disconnect them from the head but there's a there's a big thing over here that everybody sucks the head so um
[speaker002:] so they don't have see that ooh
[speaker001:] it it would just depend that's the best part of the crawfish sucking the head but um I don't know it just it it just depended on what type it was I guess but you can buy uh the crawfish tails already peeled and everything and usually you use those like for frying or to put in salads or to um
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] you know make a sauce with or something like that but you can go ahead and buy them cooked and shelled and they're more expensive of course but
[speaker002:] does it taste a lot like shrimp
[speaker001:] um yeah it really does I like shrimp better
[speaker002:] uh-huh yeah
[speaker001:] just um but crawfish I mean it just has a taste of its own it also depends on who's cooking it and how much seasoning they use and stuff like that but um
[speaker002:] sure
[speaker001:] I think that and also to get totally off crawfish the subject of crawfish lots of vegetables and hors d'oeuvres and stuff like that for a dinner party I think that that really helps
[speaker002:] yeah we have a a friend another couple where the husband is the one who cooks
[speaker001:] that's what I need
[speaker002:] all the time and yeah that's what I wish I had but in our family I'm the one who who cooks and I I really enjoy it it's gotten a little more difficult with kids but I really do enjoy cooking and we um we have them over for dinner back and forth quite a lot and before I had my second child we sort of had a contest going where you know he would
[speaker001:] uh-huh oh
[speaker002:] cook and then the next time it would be my turn and I'd try to outdo him and then he'd try to outdo me and we we was really a lot of fun and
[speaker001:] I bet that that got pretty competitive you know as far as who could come up with the best recipe
[speaker002:] yeah it did and we we tried to be fancier or more courses than the other or uh it was a lot of fun you know it something unique you know and then we got into different um themes you know um whether it would be
[speaker001:] that would be fun
[speaker002:] ethnic food or um sometimes it would be um oh oh I don't know maybe an outdoor theme or uh uh elegant theme or you know it was a lot of fun
[speaker001:] uh huh sometimes it might be the candlelight and sometimes it might be the picnic out back or something well that's you know that's fun
[speaker002:] that's right it was fun and and we threatened to make the other two uh make us dinner one time uh just to even it out since we seemed to be unfairly doing all the cooking and they were doing all the enjoying I'm
[speaker001:] uh huh  that sounds right I would I'd take him up on that
[speaker002:] it does except that knowing them they would probably do something ridiculous and terrible just just to uh make sure that they didn't have to do it again make hot dogs or some potato chips or
[speaker001:] um-hum maybe I that's about how much I can cook you know I'm I'm doing a lot more cooking now then I used to but that's only because my mom just started working so she's tired when she comes home in the afternoon so I try to have things cooked for her but
[speaker002:] uh-huh oh that's nice
[speaker001:] uh um I usually try to stay out of kitchen I don't know not one of my favorite hobbies but
[speaker002:] it can it can be fun I if you have the time but you know a lot of times it's too it's too much of a rush really be able to enjoy it
[speaker001:] well um my grandma speaking of those meatballs again she um every Christmas and and Easter whenever we have at the big get-together over at her house she makes this meat ball sauce and it has I don't know they are just kind of like quarter size meatballs and they are absolutely delicious I don't know what she calls them and I don't I'm sure she puts wine in it because um she cooks everything with alcohol but
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] I don't know I would I would be interested in getting that recipe for you if you have it around
[speaker002:] yeah it's um it's in the other room I don't know if we have enough time for it it's real easy one of the unique things in this like a pound of ground beef some bread crumbs um an egg um
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] um what ever seasoning usually just light seasonings like salt and pepper um and chopped up water chestnuts
[speaker001:] yeah oh that would be wonderful
[speaker002:] which is something different um makes them a little bit crunchy you need to chop them up real fine but um it makes them crunchy and that adds something new to it
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] and then the sauce is just made with um bouillon cubes water burgundy wine and um cornstarch instead of flour
[speaker001:] um-hum oh
[speaker002:] so it's not a it's not a thick rich type of a sauce it's more of a when you use corn starch in in gravy like you know when you have um Chinese food
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] the kind of a gravy or a sauce that comes with a lot of that they use corn starch instead of flour in all of their sauces and gravies and it gives it a bit of a different consistency
[speaker001:] well um how long do you cook the meatballs
[speaker002:] the meatballs you just um after you form them fry them in a pan until they're
[speaker001:] uh huh
[speaker002:] uh browned on all all sides and then drain off all the grease uh then what I usually do is I freeze them and then when you're ready to serve them
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] then you cook the sauce and then put the meatballs into the sauce and heat it probably you have to heat it up for a good oh if they're frozen you know it may take a half hour for them to thaw out but then heat them thoroughly in the sauce itself let them simmer in the sauce itself
[speaker001:] hum that sounds great especially I mean the fact that you can prepare the meatballs so so far in advance I mean like if if you are having a dinner party on Wednesday night you could do it on a weekend that would be great
[speaker002:] that's real good right and then freeze them sure
[speaker001:] I going to have to keep that in mind for my future because I hope to have lots of dinner parties because I like to I mean I'm
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] I'm sure that I'll be involved in a big company and I know that my future husband will be you know he's going to be working for Chevron in Houston so he's going to be um
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] you know I'm sure that dinner parties will come in handy
[speaker002:] yeah you'll meet friends invite invite the boss over and and the friends at work
[speaker001:] oh yeah I have to impress the boss and clients because um I'm in I'm in public relations in school so I'm going to have you know my whole job's going to be based on my clients and stuff like that so
[speaker002:] uh-huh sure
[speaker001:] I'm gonna have lots of dinner parties and have to take them out to eat and right now I am taking a class on etiquettcy and all the little bitty things that I didn't even know I mean I thought for sure I'd been raised properly but I'd been doing a lot of things wrong I didn't know about
[speaker002:] oh really  but um so
[speaker001:] is there anything else
[speaker002:] well I I think we've we've covered the subject I've got some interesting information about crawfish I was in fact I was it's good cause I was curious about that today when I saw those for sale
[speaker001:] oh yes you need to try them oh they're wonderful
[speaker002:] oh I will I'm sure my husband will be surprised because we were talking about them the other day even before