Dinner Saturday was nice, but a bit formal. It's been a while since I've been to a "formal" dinner.  This wasn't technically a formal dinner - it just felt that way for some reason.  Maybe it's just me because Mrs. Fly didn't feel that way.  We have people over a lot and go over to people's houses a lot, but it's almost always casual.  Either a larger gathering where people stand/sit and eat while mingling or some outdoor dining with friends.  You know - the comfortable and fun ways to eat.  So I'm sitting there in the dining room and for some reason, I start feeling really self-conscious about the way I'm holding my knife and fork, because it's been so long since I actually paid attention to how I ate.

Having basically raised myself since the age of 10, I'm of the school of thought that if you can efficiently cut your food into bite-size pieces and get yourself fed without making a spectacle of yourself, it's all good.  Mrs. Fly, who was taught "formal" table manners when she was a child, tells me my table manners could use a little help. So I'm feeling a bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman where they all go to a fancy restaurant to eat.  I'm not a complete doofus about how to eat - I just felt a little out of "practice" because I basically avoid all formal dining situations whenever possible.  It basically looked like everyone was using the European system of eating (where you don't switch knife hands).  So I just went with that.  For the legions of normal people who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is a primer on how to eat.  It's pretty ridiculous that grown adults have to concern themselves with crap like this.  Slippery suckers.

I liked the hostess as soon as I saw three kinds of dead animal - beef, lamb and chicken.  All over roasted and served with a dry curry rice, asparagus and a tomato and mozzarella salad.  She also made a nice melon & prosciutto appetizer.  Mrs. Fly's spoiled me for eating at other people's houses, but I appreciated that the hostess went thru a lot of effort to have us over and make all the food from scratch.

Sunday's dinner was a lot more casual.  It's always nice to have friends who go through the trouble of making you a good multi-course meal.  For starters, the wife made these awesome mini lobster rolls. The real deal on hot dog buns, filled to capacity with sweet, lumpy lobster meat. For dinner, the grilled flank steak was really tender, and the most memorable taste were the strawberries and blueberries with mint and a light sugar syrup. This was our first time over, but we'll see them regularly going forward.  I found out the husband is a fellow smoker, so we'll probably try and get some good ribs and brisket going later in the summer.