This past weekend, my friends and I had one of my roommate’s grandparents over for dinner. As soon as we knew that they were coming, we scoured our Pinterest boards to find some easy recipes to make. After much deliberation, we decided on an appetizer of baked brie, a pear, walnut and blue cheese spinach salad, the Pioneer Woman’s bruschetta chicken, mashed sweet potatoes and garlic bread. My friends and I had a great time grocery shopping, setting the table and preparing dinner. We were excited to be entertaining for the first time out of our parents’ houses and being responsible for all the preparing, cooking and cleaning up. While we lacked the nice decorations and matching settings we were used to at home, we made due with what we had – the mismatched glasses, silverware and plates so typical of a college house. We managed to prepare the food on time with no major catastrophes – a victory considering the size of our kitchen – and were able to enjoy our evening with our roommate’s grandparents.
I want to share some thoughts from my reflections on the evening. Sharing food has always been a way for me to create connections with other people in my life. From family dinners to cookies made for friends, food enables me to reach out to people and show that I have an interest in their lives. While I did not know my roommate’s grandparents before this dinner, helping to prepare a meal for them was a way in which I could reach out to them and invite them to create a relationship with me. By offering them food, I invited them to tell me their life stories, which they willingly did. My roommate’s grandparents entertained us with stories from days growing up on the farm, including their sweet love story, as well as stories from their lives now. After dinner, they even entertained us with singing and guitar playing.
This dinner with my roommates was just the beginning of many evenings I hope to have where I am able to create meaningful connections with new friends and to strengthen connections with old friends. I hope the same for you as well and want to give you a recipe that will enable you to start some connections of your own through food. The baked brie my friends and I made as an appetizer was truly delicious and really easy to make. The brie was wrapped in puff pastry, topped with cranberries, pecans and brown sugar and baked until golden brown and melted.
All you need is:
- 1 round of brie
- 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (2 if you are using the 2 lb round of brie)
- A handful of dried cranberries and pecans (use however much looks good to you)
- 1 cup or so of brown sugar (use more or less depending on your tastes)
- Thaw the puff pastry by bringing to room temperature for about 20 minutes.
- Place the puff pastry in a baking dish and place the brie on top.
- Put the cranberries, pecans and brown sugar on top of the brie and enclose with the remaining puff pastry.
- Bake at 375 for around 40 minutes, or until brie is bubbly.
– If you want to get extra fancy, sauté the pecans in a saucepan until golden brown with butter and cinnamon.