What an amazing world we live in. I’ve taken Twitter to new levels today (thanks to a nifty new sidebar) and felt more connected to my online buddies than ever before. And two nights ago, we were gifted with a visit from Ana Maria, Mayra’s mother, from Guatemala. Talk about a shrinking globe.

As I wrote in last year’s post on Thanks Giving, Guatemala has been a special place with a magical pull for us for nearly a decade now. The connection started out as an extended visit. Then it morphed into sponsorship of—and friendship with—our Godson Rene Antonio and his family. Which eventually indirectly led us to helping a bright young woman, Mayra, attend college. That soulful connection to Guatemala ultimately resulted in us bringing home our daughter, Noemi.

So it was emotional, to put it mildly, to have Ana Maria sitting in full Mayan regalia at our dinner table. She spoke joyfully about the generosity of spirit she felt in America, and how grateful she was for where it has led—to her daughter receiving a college education, to her visiting Sonoma County thanks to Slow Food. Christopher and I spoke joyfully about the generosity of spirit we felt in Guatemala, and in the Guatemalan people. And all we had to do was point at Noemi’s bedroom door as proof of how much fruit it has borne for us.

For the dinner, I wanted to give Ana Maria a taste of our home, of the wonderful bounty of early autumn, of the soulful comfort imbued from the foods of our area. And I’ve got to say . . . I think I freakin nailed it. We started out with arancini made from butternut squash and pancetta (not Pat’s, but from Santi, a local restaurant) risotto with Hector’s honey (a local man whom Ana Maria met when Slow Food sent them—among many others—a few years ago to the big Slow Food event in Italy). Then a salad of winter greens, some arugula from the garden, shaved persimmons, pomegranate seeds, a slice of blue and toasted hazelnuts with a pomegranate vinaigrette. The main course was a result of me coming up with about a thousand side dishes I wanted to serve with slow-roasted pork, and then finally deciding to throw them all together and spread some breadcrumbs on top (see a very loose recipe below). And for the finale, I made my first-ever clafoutis with caramelized pears and local prunes soaked in late harvest Riesling.

To see Ana Maria enjoying the food I’d made for her, sipping wine that was pressed from grapes grown within a few miles of here . . . let’s just say it exemplified everything a meal should be.

{  Lia’s Mishmosh Faux Cassoulet  }

Someday, I may actually write out recipes for each of these steps. But you’ll do just fine without.

1) First, I cut up a butternut squash into medium-sized cubes and tossed it with a chopped onion, olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted it at 400 until nice and tender and brown, but not mushy.

2) Then, I seasoned a pork shoulder with a mixture of minced rosemary, sage, garlic and sorrel (I’ve got tons of sorrel in the garden that I’m trying to use) with a generous amount of kosher salt and pepper and roasted it, covered, in my Le Creuset at 275 for about 4 hours. Mmmmm. I shredded it with a fork when it was done (sneaking the crusty brown bits for myself).

3) Then I made some homemade breadcrumbs and combined them with minced parsley, sorrel (see above), garlic, grated parm and salt and pepper

4) Then I sauted some minced pancetta and garlic in a large pan, added about 3 cups of cooked flageolet beans, and stirred in about two bunches of chopped kale.

5) Then I mixed together the bean mixture, the squash and about 4 cups and scooped it into a large, not-too-deep casserole dish, and poured enough juice from the pork and cooking water from the beans to just cover the mixture. Then I baked it at 350 for about 1/2 hour.

6) Last step . . . I packed the breadcrumb mixture on top and continued baking for about another 45 minutes.

Serves . . . a lot of people