favorite summer dinner

With summer now in our rearview mirror, I thought I’d pop in and write real quick about one of my favorite dinners from the summer of 2026.

It went way too quickly; the summer, the dinner, the wedding, the after the wedding, all of it, yet here I am.

Sarah and Connor were married by Ethan in our side yard. The cocktail and dinner reception were carried through to our backyard, it was sublime. The dinner was good because our family was there, and our friends were there. What put it at favorite was that my sister, her husband, and their two kids were there, along with my mom. I can probably count on one hand, maybe two, the times we have all been together to dine, and that is hard. We were not at the same table; that is hard. You can’t go back. We’re not young. Any given day can be precious; this was a precious day.

Sarah and Connor wanted their wedding celebration to feel like an intimate family meal, with the food being the focus. Good food, prepared and served well.

Chef Paolo and his team cooked and served a beautiful wedding dinner. The food was everything we had wanted. That was grand. We ate, drank, danced, and celebrated.

Sarah and Connor were married on Saturday, July 18th. Sixteen days later, my mom quietly and elegantly left. In our last conversation, she said over and over how happy she was that Sarah was so happy. My mom loved Sarah and Connor, and loved them together. She loved their wedding. She loved the dinner. She loved the cake. She told me she had two pieces of the cake. I love that. Wedding cake for the win.