Good news dinner

- Make Marcella Hazan's roasted eggplant with garlic and parsley, except use basil instead of parsley; let the eggplants cool and then coarsely chop them

- Quarter a pint of cherry tomatoes

- Slice the kernels off of 3 ears of corn

- Crumble about a half cup of feta

- Mix some pesto with lemon juice and olive oil til it is of dressing consistency

- Mandoline some red onions and let sit in a brine of vinegar and water for an hour or so

Get someone less clumsy than you to toss the eggplant, tomato, corn, and feta together. Put servings into bowls, top with onions and dressing to taste. Eat with crispy cornbread (same recipe as earlier.)

For dessert, take some of the peaches from a few nights ago. Make lemon-lime basil shortbread cookies. Let your guest chop up the mango she brought over and assemble peach halves, a couple of cookies, mango pieces, and a scoop of Brocato's cantaloupe sorbet (another guest-gift, and it's a good thing she left it behind, b/c violence would otherwise have ensued.)

Eat. Talk.

Be grateful and happy and gather strength for the challenges ahead.