Casual winter dinner party

We had a dinner party for 12 last week. I wanted it to be inexpensive and casual. So everyone served themselves and found a place to sit.

For an appetizer I served
Spinach artichoke dip with crudités

For dinner we had
This salad but with mixed greens instead of chopped lettuce
16 bean soup

And my friend Natalie brought homemade herbed bread

And for dessert we had a berry crumble

To drink we had
Red wine
And
Spiked Arnold Palmers

The dinner table looked like this.

Southern-style Winter Dinner Party

This week we finally had our staff Christmas dinner party.  This is a tradition that Shane and Jean started and since we were sick and others were traveling we were unable to do it before Christmas.  So we finally got together this week.  We missed having Shane and Jean, but since we got together on Jean's birthday, I made a dinner inspired by the Christmas dinners that Jean has made in the past.  Here's the menu:

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Lemon-Butter dipping sauce
Roquefort Salad
Boursin Potatoes
Roasted Green Beans
1 2 1/2 pound brisket (I bought a Sadler's brisket from Sam's...already cooked and delicious)

and

Grown-up S'mores for dessert.

A Southern White Christmas

On December 16th, we hosted Michael's 3rd Annual 35th Birthday Party.  The party is a fun new tradtion and it is basically a grown-ups-only Christmas Open House.  I changed up the menu a bit this year and decided on the theme of A Southern White Christmas.  My intention was for all the food and drinks to basically be white or golden...as you'll see, it didn't always work out quite that way, but the food was all delicious!

Before we had the opening between our kitchen and dining room expanded, we had a kids table in the kitchen.  It was nice because whenever I was hosting a dinner party, I could set my dining room table in advance and the kids would eat at their table in the kitchen.  Well, now we always eat at the dining room table, so that made things a challenge this time around.  So what I did instead was I set the table with all my serving pieces a couple of days in advance. Then I took this picture so I could remember where I was going to place everything for the party, and I could think through all the serving pieces needed.

Here's the table right before the party.

The Appetizers

Spiral-sliced ham and warm rolls, served with mayonnaise and mustard

Assorted cheeses

Kahlua Brie

Marinated Shrimp on Crackers

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Savory Palmiers

The Beverages

Champagne

White wine

Red wine

Mississippi-Bourbon Punch

Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade

The Birthday Cakes

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake

Lone Star State Cheesecake

Halloween Dinner

Tonight we had our small group over for a little Halloween Dinner party.  Here was the spooky menu:

Worm soup or better know as French onion soup
Autumn Chopped Salad
and
Death by Chocolate Cupcakes (I made the new Duncan Hines Triple Chocoate box mix and made my own ganache with 1 cup of chocoate chips, 1/2 c heavy cream and 1 t instant coffee and decorated with sprinkles and Halloween cupcake toppers)

For the kids I made
Mummy dogs

Carrot fingers

and Eyeballs...grapes!

4th of July Barbecue

Yesterday we hosted a casual 4th of July Barbecue. I had great visions of a hot evening with the kids playing in the kiddie pool and the sprinker, fun music in the background, an ambience with tiki torches and twinkle lights, but alas, it poured down rain. What are the odds that it would rain on the 4th of July in Greeley, Colorado? But it did. Maybe I need to go to Vegas.

We had a great dinner and a great time anyway with our indoor picnic. Here was the menu...

Bourbon-spiked Arnold Palmers
Tortilla chips and store-bought salsa and guacamole
Potato chips and sour cream and chive dip
Ribs
Corn on the cob
Baked beans
Watermelon
Flag Cake
Ice Cream Sundaes

Bridal shower tea party

Today I hosted a Bridal Shower for my friend Kirsten. I had hoped to have a brunch with mimosas and yummy breakfast items, but Kirsten works on Saturday mornings, so alas, to accomodate the bride, I changed the plans. I decided to do an afternoon tea at 4:00.

For the decor, I went all white. The shower was for her to get to know the women in our church. Not many of them will be at her wedding. So I decided that it wouldn't make sense to use her bridal colors. Since she didn't know many of the women well, I didn't want to center the shower on any theme and restrict people to having to buy certain items or focus on certain themes. So I wanted something simple and elegant with a bit of whimsy. I found a cute little sign at Target that said, "And they lived happily ever after...." I thought it would be a cute addition to my gift to her and I could use it on the table at the shower. I made it my centerpiece. I then bought white lilies and tulips and put them in my hurricanes on either side. And for the drama, I made tissue pom-poms.

Now a word on the poms. When looking for decor ideas, I googled "bridal shower decor." And I found a blog with instructions on how to make these poms. Then I discovered that my college roommate had just used some similar poms at her daughters birthday party. They are so much fun. Add so much drama. And were the talking point of the shower. I think they'll be seen in all kinds of sizes and colors at my future parties.

Finally, the menu...

For beverages, I offered both hot tea and iced tea. As expected, the Bourbon-Spiked Arnold Palmer turned out to be the big hit. I also offered lemonade, water, and unsweet iced tea.

For food, I went with tea time treats. My chocolate chip scones have now become my signature treat and they seem to taste better each time...but don't think they're any slight bit healthy. I converted my Fontina-Prosciutto Cheeseball by omitting the pine nuts and spreading the mixture on white bread for tea sandwiches. And we had Wimbledon-style Strawberries 'n' Cream.

Michael had taken the camera on the Men's fishing trip, so I couldn't take pictures. So to get documentation of this even, I had to take a video.

Spring Dinner Party

We had a dinner party for 8 a couple of weeks ago. We had our first breath of spring weather, and I was inspired to make something a little fresh and springy without making it seem summery. I decided that just a touch of fresh vegetables would offer that. So here was our menu...
Kahlua Brie
Chicken Bundles with Cheese Sauce
Roasted Asparagus
Roasted Carrots
and
Amaretto Cheesecake

Again everything was prepared in advance and the only thing I had to do was pop things in the oven and then plate the food. So easy.

A French dinner party

Saturday night we had two couples over for a French dinner. I love cooking French food and introducing people to it. Of course, people find out why it is the gastronomical capital of the world.

When I have people over for a meal like this, they often ask me, how in the world I do it. Well, first of all, I LOVE to cook when it means I'm making a full menu and meal like this...and well, that kind of cooking is almost therapeutic to me. But secondly, I try to make it easy on myself. I don't know that Julia Child would be all that impressed with my French cooking...or Julie for that matter. But with a little help from Ina, it usually comes out tasting pretty much the way I remember from France. So I try to make as much as I can in advance, and I make as much as I can that pops in the oven and demands little hands-on when the guest arrive. So here's what I did this time.

On Friday, I spiffed up the house (I do most of my cleaning on Mondays). So I vacuumed and mopped and dusted the dining room table, cleaned the bathroom sink and put in a fresh hand towel. I then set the table for Saturdays dinner, and got out any serving pieces and dishes that I might need for the dinner.

Friday night, I made the appetizer and dessert. On Saturday afternoon, I prepped the main course and the salad, washing and chopping vegetables, dicing bacon, etc. I put butter and salt and pepper on the table (for all the Americans), filled up the water pitcher and refrigerated it, picked out the bottles of wine, and shopped for fresh French bread. Then in the late afternoon, I started the main course. While that was cooking, I plated the salads (except for the eggs), and while the main dish was in the oven, I freshened myself up and lit the candles, picked up any stray toys, turned on the lights on the mantle, turned on the music, filled the water glasses with ice water, and opened the wine. Then just 5 minutes before guests were to arrive, I reheat the appetizer and then popped them on a serving plate with some cocktail napkins and got the champagne and liqueur ready to make cocktails. I kept it all in the kitchen because that's where everyone was going to be anyway. So when the guests arrived, the appetizers were hot and ready, I poured cocktails, and we chatted while I poached eggs for our salads. We then sat down, ready to go. The coq au vin was out of the oven and on the stove keeping warm and while folks finished up their salads I put the chicken on a serving platter and brought it out. The cheese and desserts were ready to go without any prep. Everything went smoothly and I was never stressed, and we all had a great time.

Le menu
Kir Royale and les gougeres
Salade Lyonnaise
Coq au vin
Cheese Tray
Pots de creme au chocolat (chocolate custard)

Some other thoughts...

Usually the French serve coffee (usually espresso) AFTER dessert. We didn't make it to coffee...everyone was ready to roll into bed. We served a full-bodied red wine with dinner. Coq au vin is a specialty from Burgundy...so a pinot noir would be appropriate. I served two cheeses...one mild, one stronger (Americans are pretty skeptical of stinky cheeses). I served cheese on new plates, with a new knife for everyone and with more French bread. I was impressed, however, with my crowd. They all seemed very experienced with the French cheese scene.

Michael's 35th Birthday Party

Last Thursday I threw a cocktail/hors d'oeuvres party for Michael's birthday. I did most of the cooking on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then got out the serving pieces and finished cleaning on Thursday. Thursday evening I had babysitters come from 6-8 to entertain the boys while Michael enjoyed time out with the guys, and I did the finishing touches.

For decor...simple...it's Christmastime. The only thing I added was votive candles on the front and side porches.

In my tiny little house I put the food on the dining room table and moved most of the dining chairs out of the room. The drinks were set out in the kitchen.

The menu...

Drinks...

Crimsontinis (a holiday cosmopolitan)
Champagne and Kir Royale
Red and white wines
Cranberry non-alcoholic holiday punch
Hot apple cider
coffee and hot water for tea or hot chocolate

Hors d'oeuvres...

Cheese straws
Marinated shrimp
Chicken empanadas
Michelle's goat cheese and sundried tomato torte
Cranberry and carmelized onion baked brie
Assorted cheeses and grapes





and for dessert...

Peppermint black & white angel food cake
Raspberry topped cheesecake

Recipes to be posted soon.

An election party

Tonight we had an election returns party. We had McHurricains (aka Hurricanes), Obamapolitans (aka Cosmopolitans), Sarah Palins (aka Shirley Temples) and Joe Biden Six-Pack (aka Beer). We had red state/blue state sugar cookies and other patriotic desserts and snacks.








I'll post beverage recipes soon.

A quiet steak dinner

Tuesday night we had a new couple from our church over for dinner. With a small crowd, steaks were affordable...and a nice treat.

While the steaks cooked, we munched on Kahlua Brie.

For dinner,
we had grilled steaks, prepared with lemon pepper, garlic salt and Worchestershire sauce
sauteed zucchini
rosemary potato wedges
savory cheese bread

and for dessert, les vacherins.

Summer Conversation Dinner

A few weeks ago, I agreed to host our first "Summer Conversation" for the church. In lieu of small groups, we're having these low-key discussions on interesting topics...tonight Deborah is leading one on "The Theology of U2." When I agreed, I didn't think much about it. Well, apparently Michael planned on feeding the crowd (and not with loaves and fishes) and having the children come and hang out in the basement. I've managed to control my stress level regarding the food by creating the following menu, but the children, we shall see how that goes.

I decided we'd have a Southern (sans frying) Summer themed dinner...

Front Porch Tea
Chicken Salad on French Rolls
Fresh Corn
Baked Beans
Spinach Salad
and Pound Cake for dessert

A summertime dinner

Last night we had our pastor and his family over for dinner. I was cooking for an interesting crowd--four adults and eight kids ranging from ages 1 to 16. So I wanted something that would at least interest the kids but be more interesting than barbecuing burgers for the grown-ups. So the following recipes are from last night's dinner. For the appetizer I made Michelle's sun-dried tomato cheese ball, but I'm sworn to secrecy on the recipe, so you'll just have to imagine the most delicious thing you could put on a a cracker.

A French Christmas Dinner

Last night we invited our neighbors and one of Michael's professors and his wife over for dinner. I made a somewhat traditional French Christmas dinner. I made this similar dinner for dinner parties before so it was not nearly as complicated this time. For aperitifs, we had Raspberry Kir Royale, that is, champagne with a little Raspberry liqueur and although this recipe is in Barefoot in Paris as well, we have been making these since we lived in France, so Ina doesn't get the credit for this one.

Of course, I got busy with serving dinner and forgot to take pictures, but here is the table before.