eggplant dip: roasted eggplant, purple sage (from our garden), garlic,
olive oil, orange zest, and orange juice.

homemade focaccia topped with coarse salt and onions

scampi: shrimp, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and cayenne

sungold tomatoes from our garden seared along with padrón chiles and
topped with a chopped mixture of mint and cilantro


We had premium extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping
the bread; Lin used them but I didn't. We drank iced tea with peach purée.

A few comments:

1. The recipe for the dip comes from _The Eggplant Cookbook_,
http://www.amazon.com/The-Eggplant-C.../dp/0785808965

2. I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe for scampi. The trick (if you
want to call it that) is to cook at a fairly low temperature. The online
recipe is only available to premium members; it's from a 1999 issue of
the magazine.

3. True to their reputation, the chiles were unpredictable in whether
they'd be hot or not. About two-thirds of them were spicy. The
tomato-chile mixture went very well both with the scampi and with the
eggplant dip.

Bob