You are a generous host! Beautiful food, the crab and fish look especially wonderful.
Planning the menu was super easy. The dishes were picked from the pictures I took in Rome last month, and tried to recreate the stuff we enjoyed the most. The eats may not have been EXACTLY as we had in Italy, but surprisingly good for a first effort (on the oxtail and tripe).
Thank you GOOGLE!! 
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Looks fantastic!
If you’re interested in a “riff” on a Negroni, I’d recommend subbing out the Campari for Gran Classico.
The end result is noticeably different, but it’s a variation worth trying out.
Cheers!
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Sembra tutto molto Bello.
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Where in Rome did you eat coda alla vaccinara?
At Ai Balestrari Di Campo De Fiori. We enjoyed our meal so much that we returned for an encore a few nights later. Food was generous and delicious, and very affordable.
Coda alla Vaccinara.
Trippa alla Romana.
Dined with Ms. Loren on our second visit. 
La Coratella con Cipolle: Offal (lamb) with onions
Needed a rare steak after a week of great Roman food. Hit the spot.
Absinthe, cognac, decaf espresso and tiramisu. Perfetto!!!
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For a party I made a Costco-special variation on arroz con pollo with d’Artagnan duck confit and Kiolbassa beef sausage. I got some Spanish bomba rice, directions said 3:1 water to rice, which seemed like too much, but I figure they ought to know. When the rice was done, it was very soupy, so I thought, OK, I’ll call it gumbo. Stuck the pot in an insulated bag and went to the party. When I took the lid off a couple of hours later, the rice had absorbed all the liquid.
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Our Raley’s (NorCal and NV) had these B/S chicken breasts stuffed with Cheddar cheese and wrapped with bacon; cooked at 350 for under 30 minutes. With Bob’s sauteed mushrooms. And all leftovers baked potato, roasted acorn squash that had been previously filled with leeks, celery and Granny Smith apple. Dinner for two was about $6.
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Really? In a good way?
A 3:1 ratio is huge!
Yeah, it was good.
Per the Spanish Table, “Bomba rice is a low-yield rice that requires more liquid and time to cook than Valencian rice. Named Bomba because of the considerable size it grows to when cooked. In paella theory, the more your rice tastes like each individual ingredient in the paella, the better. Bomba has a greater absorbency than Valencian and, therefore, is considered a superior rice.”
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Oh nice!
No shit.
Good info.
Did you cook the original on the grill? Looks like it had some good char stripes.
Yep. Bob’s my grill master. I taught him everything I knew and he’s got even better When we lived at Tahoe we grilled with the snow coming down so we don’t know what ‘grilling season’ is And despite what others may argue I can reheat rare steak in the MW and keep it rare. As little as 7 or 8 seconds and turn and repeat as needed.
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I have a question.
I grew up eating a lot of Tofu. This was of course after Mom’s suburban housewife phase of Cube Steaks, Stouffer’s & Spacefood Sticks. 
Joking, mom was a great cook when she got busy with it. Anyway, in our house Tofu was mostly sautéed with broccoli and soy sauce or fried squares with lemon pepper, nothing exciting. I would like to do better and get a couple dishes under my belt - ones that aren’t just an obligatory “for the vegetarians” kind of dish.
So, my questions are: How do you like to prepare Tofu? All types of cultural flavors & recipes or new inventions are welcome. What brands do you like? Looking for the least processed or genetically modified soy (if possible).
I found this pretty looking recipe for Mushroom Fricassee and thought to put it on Polenta Squares, but now I’m thinking Tofu.
No rush answering! Thanks!
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I was thinking the same thing, that it looked like it kept its rareness on the second run.
I’m not big on tofu, but I like a spread we learned from some Berlin hippies where you whip it in a blender or food processor with a shitload of sambal oelek.
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Okay, spreads & dips are a very good idea.
I’m liking housemade tofu but in general not a big fan either. My sister is a vegetarian - she can take or leave tofu. Our youngest is a vegetarian - he misses meat texture and likes the meatless, meat products.
I know people who absolutely turn up their noses but it works for me. Oh, and I have it on a small wood cutting board so that slows it down I suppose.