Today I got a pleasant visit from Dennis. Dennis is one of my best friends, he's in his late 50s, long since retired and spends most of his time traveling. "Done any traveling lately?" is what he'd always say. Dennis also has a wife in her mid 30s; an Albanian with steel gray eyes. Have you ever seen a woman with gray eyes?

He sat at the kitchen table and watched me prepare a salad of heritage beetroots with fresh sheeps ricotta, quince and pine nuts. I used a recipe I found in an old cookbook I bought strictly because it had this nostalgic image on the cover that reminded me of my home economics (cooking) classes in high school. The beetroots however are called borscht and one is advised to use fresh, not picked beets, pine not hazelnuts and has you drain a tablespoon of capers in brine.

After much chop chop I wasn't even sure I was going to get the desired result but I was really surprised. A demanding luncheon experience but a rewarding one too. My home economics teacher Mrs. Guest would be proud.