Friday, September 18, 2009

Dinner Party Planning

When I was engaged I had all these dreams of holding fancy-schmancy dinner parties at our condo complete with Hostess with the Mostess-style center pieces and "the good china."

Flash forward one year, and I think we've had about two dinner parties with two couples. Not to say we haven't had people over. We do poolside burgers & BBQs, football watching parties, dessert parties, and copious booze fests with friends at our home; just not real dinner parties. Why not so many dinner parties? Because I'm not exaccctttlly the next barefoot contessa (see here), but I think I may be getting better.

Well tomorrow night the Mr's old boss and his wife are coming over for dinner and I figured, "what the heck, let's give this dinner party cooking thing another go."

So I dusted off my Williams-Sonoma "Bride and Groom" cookbook



And tomorrow night we'll be serving...
- Appetizer: Veggie platter
- Soup: Gazpacho
- Main Course: Steak with garlic butter over a bed of arugula with crisp rosemary potatoes
- Dessert: Chocolate Pots de Creme

The Mr. is doing the steak and I can premake the gazpacho, veggie platter, and chocolate pots. So I don't think I'm setting myself up for complete failure. I promise I'll post on how it goes next week! Be prepared for some hilarity.

Do you have any tips for successful dinner party hostessing?

15 comments:

LWLH said...

That sounds delish, good luck!

Rachel said...

Ooo! I love dinner parties! Good luck :) Can't wait to hear how it all goes!

Erin Helgerson said...

That sounds amazing! Good luck! I'm sure you're going to be fabulous! The most important thing is to have fun! And I can't wait to hear all about it!

Ashley said...

Planning ahead and prepping the food is the number one thing!! And, it sounds like you are, so you should be all set! Have fun, and I hope it all goes well!

Meagan said...

Good luck! The key is planning ahead...which I never do! ha ha. I guess I work well under pressure!! You will do great! I love the cookbook! I have a Bride & Groom cookbook too!

Sarah said...

Have you been to the blog Blushing Hostess? Shes got all kinds of tips!

Brittany Ann said...

Yum yum yum! You're going to be a great Hostess with the Mostess!

I love serving tea with the rest of the drinks at dinner parties. Something about a warm cup of tea (in your cute turquoise pot) makes people feel welcome!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Hope it goes really well!

Sarah Rosemary said...

I hope your party goes well! I try to prepare as much stuff in advance as possible, so I can actually talk to my guests. Check out Barefoot Contessa - she has lots of good ideas.

Also, I nominated you for an award. See my blog and follow along :)

Happiness Is... said...

Good luck! If the table is set pretty, and if your house is really clean, and if you have fresh flowers and candles....people always think the food tastes good :)

Shoshanah said...

Your menu sounds pretty delicious! Good luck!

Katie said...

I hope it went well!!

Sweet Simplicity said...

I have that cookbook. I'd say you are on the right track. Anything you can prepare ahead of time is the best way. {not that I have hosted a ton of dinner parties. :)}

Katie said...

i had many dreams of dinner parties too. We just haven't found the right occasion...it seems silly to have a fancy dinner party with friends, when all they expect is a burger and bonfire. I'm inspired by your motivation to do it though! Thanks.

Nicole-Lynn said...

Very fun! I love to entertain! Can't wait when were married and I can entertain with our friends/other couples! :)

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