Another month, another fun dinner party featuring a recipe from my monthly issue of Bon Appétit magazine! My younger brother Jack’s birthday is in March, so he and his lovely friend Molly were the guests of honor this time around. The title of the issue this month was “Taco Nation” and the magazine featured lots of mexican specialties, so I was excited to give Pork Volcánes al Pastor a try!

At first I was a little bit intimidated because the recipe included several ingredients that I had never heard of before, including guajillo and morita chiles and achiote paste, but I ended up ordering everything on amazon without any difficulty. After that, the recipe was much easier than I expected and actually really fun to make! The best part was that lots of steps can be done ahead of time including marinating and cooking the pork. I was even able to assemble the volcánes ahead of time and keep them hot in the oven while we had cocktails and guacamole. I served homemade pineapple salsa and a grapefruit and fennel salad by Alison Roman alongside.

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For dessert, I had my little brother look through all of my cook books with me and help pick out something he would love. We decided on a Dark Chocolate Terrine with Orange Sauce by Ina Garten which was AMAZING and very fun to make. It was so elegant, even though I served slices that were way, way too big. In fact, we discussed how I could easily have cut each slice into three or four pieces to serve quite a crowd with a really elegant dessert. We had such a fun time talking for several hours after the meal and I was proud of myself for making it to month three of my “challenge”!

On a more serious note, this meal was one of the last times we were able to be together for a celebration like this. Shortly after this meal, we learned that due to the overwhelming spread of Covid-19, we needed to start practicing safe social distancing immediately. It was right after we were informed that schools were shut down and I wouldn’t be going to work. At the time, we thought it was only going to be four weeks. It was the last time I was able to go to the grocery store without a face mask and gloves. It was the last time I had guests in my home for what seems like the foreseeable future.

I am very fortunate to be in quarantine with my mom, dad and little brother. I decided early on, before the state of Michigan initiated it’s stay-at-home order, that I just couldn’t be completely alone during this time. So we have all been together for five weeks. We have been watching lots of movies, reading a ton, walking, cooking and watching my mom get out, and put away many, many puzzles. We are all so lucky that we are able to stay at home and spend so much time together, but we are missing my other siblings terribly. We, like everyone else cannot wait until the world is healthy and we can be together again- but we are happy and willing to do what we can and STAY HOME.

This all means that my next “Menu of the Month” dinner will take place at my parents house! I think I know what I am going to make and I certainly have a willing (and bored!) audience ready for a special meal…