Cooking Night with Micah and Veronica

I love Chinese food, but I can't cook it (to tell the truth, I've never really tried, since eating out is quite cheap here).  So, when I cook, it's American or Italian food.  I'm still in the process of readjusting to cooking in China and taking stock of the available ingredients, but I already know several favorites that work just fine here.  However, I rarely want to bother with a big meal just for myself; I'll just eat peanut butter and crackers alone. So, Micah and I have cooked together twice now--the first time, we invited our friends, the Myers, to eat pasta and garlic bread with us; this time, we invited our waiban (the person from the foreign affairs office in charge of us foreign teachers--she's the one we call when things go wrong), Veronica.  

Not all Chinese people really like American food, but Veronica loves it.  It's fun to cook for someone for whom nearly anything you cook will be a novelty; there are several western restaurants here, but most are expensive and besides they are all either a pizza place or a steak place, which leaves plenty of things out.  I made meatloaf and glazed carrots, and Micah made broccoli with a lemon sauce and deviled eggs (he makes them differently from the usual recipe--I usually don't care for them, but these were really good).  We found some french bread at Carrefour the day before, and that turned out to be authentically good. 

Overall, it was one of the best meals I've had recently; I'm looking forward to the leftovers after I buy more ketchup for the meatloaf (it's good, but would be so much better with just a bit more...).  I really do enjoy entertaining in my home; good thing, as I'm doing a lot of it these days.