Why the hell not?

El Burrito var. Beanitus Chilinense

Before a dinner party, we all slave over a hot stove, worrying about splattering sauce anglaise on our dinner-party clothes. Will the guests come early? Will the souffle fall? So why not undertake the construction of a dinner-party-worthy meal just for me? No stress; I'll just eat whenever it's finished, and microwave some potstickers if it sucks. Hence was born the Beanito Burrito: homemade refried beans, homemade Spanish rice, homemade guacamole and homemade salsa (both featuring homepicked hot peppers!). On a Trader Joe's tortilla. Sometime soon I'm going to make tortillas too. And the Fat Weasel Ale, also from TJ's, is reasonably tasty (for a beer from TJ's)-- rich but not too heavy, malty with a little bit of a tang.*

Really, if I lived Zen and the art of Cooking, dinner parties would always be like this: Just plan and cook the food as best you can, because whatever happens, happens. If it all comes out beautifully, brag away. But if something goes awry, you make do, and hope your friends like the wine. A lot. And don't notice that the lentils are a little too crunchy.

And then, while browsing Manybooks.net (free books! [Edit: Yeah, e-books. Sometimes I enjoy being nonspecific.]) after dinner, I found this in the Cooking section: The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate, by Eliza Poor Donner Houghton. (Should it be poor Eliza Donner Houghton?)

*So I'm upset about how hard it is to find a good beer at TJ's. I think they have a lot of drinkable wines, but I also want cheap, rich, well-balanced ale. And maybe a good stout too. Everything they have is a lager, or an ale that is way too heavy on something, and without enough of anything else.