Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. I should have
made it clear, however, that I will not be cooking the dinner in the
PNW, but rather, in Fresno, California, where my mother lives.
Although I love the creme brulee idea, I am trying to encourage my
mother to enjoy fruit for dessert (she has type II diabetes which is
pretty well controlled *so far* through nutrition and exercise). I
realize that this is not the optimal time for pears, but hey, they're
in the market, and they taste OK to me :-) The 'girls' also will
likely not drink much, if at all, so wine wouldn't be appropriate
although as I said, I will have sparkling wine -- more for me than for
them! They'll be hitting the sparkling water con limone with wild
abandon tho <g>.

As for the saltimboca, I do think I will go for that. I would
encourage anyone making it to not bother with dried sage, it just
doesn't cut it! I planted an herb garden for my mother a few years
ago which she maintains so that her loving daughter can cook for her
(and back then, my father too) with fresh herbs straight from the back
garden. And although she doesn't use them much herself, their
presence has encouraged her on occasion to add a snippet of this and
that to her cookery.

Thanks again, you are a very generous crowd.

Jo Venus, soon to be off to the wilds of Fresno