I am dedicating this post to my dear friend and college roommate Nancy. We were both English majors at a small private girl's school near Buffalo. What a time we had. I still sometimes outright belly laugh or shed a tear at the roller coaster life we experienced as college students. We literally grew up together. We both left before graduation. I stayed with the English regimen, but Nancy was smart and went into business. She was co-owner of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que® until last year.

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I teach English at the local community college, and every year there is a children's costume party on campus in the student center. Last year I brought my granddaughter Claudia Paige and her BFF Caroline. The children enjoyed a variety of Halloween games and contests, candies, goodie bags, etc. The highlight was the Halloween dinner. This was the menu that everyone enjoyed. My personal favorite was the ripe olives stuffed with cheese. The black and orange made for a festive Halloween dish.

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When I was teaching English to high school seniors, I always did a unit on historical literature. We read many accounts of the sinking of the the RMS Titanic including A Night to Remember by Walter Lord. Since I love cookbooks, I had a copy of Last Dinner on the Titanic. The book lists the menus and recipes for the last dinners prepared in each of the ship's dining rooms. We decided to reenact the last dinner, and the classes selected one item from each of the 12 courses served that night.

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When I lived in Ireland, my Irish friends always made me feel part of their family. My best friend Teri would invite Erin, Eli, and me to Sunday dinner. She usually made a large roast, potato, fresh veggies, bread, dessert, and coffee. It was a wonderful part of the week, and I have so many fond memories of those simple meals amongst such caring and generous people. It was wonderful to be part of something so special. To repay them in some small way, I planned an 11-course French dinner.

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