A Summer-to-Fall Dinner Party and a New Panzanella Recipe!

Happy Monday! If you’re here for the new Panzanella recipe, that is the bonus content for paid subscribers this week.  The rest of the newsletter is free!

Substack has given us a place for fleeting content (e.g. IG stories) to live.  It is searchable too.  When I receive an email or DM asking me about the platter or recipe from a dinner party two months ago, I can say “check the newsletter!”

You guys know I love entertaining at home, but I do it my way - not fancy, not stressful, not trying to prove anything.  The goal is to have an enjoyable time connecting with friends and I will feed them too.  I have given loads of tips on entertaining at home and I have even taught a 4-hour Entertaining with Ease course!  Here I break down the whole dinner so you can get an idea on timing, doing things ahead, etc.  Normally, I do little things here and there over the week so I’m not doing everything the day of.  This time around, I was out of town until very late Thursday night and I was out of the house most of Friday AND I had a houseguest Friday night! So, I employed Hubs to pitch in and I did something that I highly recommend: I gave myself permission to NOT do something if I didn’t have time.  For example, I wanted to serve crudites and homemade white bean dip.  If I ran out of time, I told myself to forget the dip and just serve olive oil mixed with good balsamic and a pinch of salt.  Another example, for dessert I wanted to serve an Apple Cider-Pumpkin Bundt Cake with sauteed apples and vanilla ice cream.  If I ran out of time, one of those things could get dropped. It takes a lot of pressure off!

Menu (this is a great end of summer/beginning of fall menu)

Hatch Chile Spinach Dip served with Tortilla Chips (I love Chicas chips)

Crudites (raw fennel, carrots, cucumbers, watermelon radish) over ice with White Bean Dip (made a smaller amount and garnished with Jennifer Fisher Spicy Salt)

Lemon-Sumac Chicken and Roasted Potatoes (these get roasted with the chicken)

Panzanella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette (recipe at the bottom for paid subscribers)

Mixed Vegetables (roasted fennel, cauliflower and artichoke hearts; grilled zucchini) with Romesco Sauce (I put the Romesco sauce on the bottom of the platter and arrange the vegetables on top.)

Rosemary Sourdough bread (Wildgrain)

Apple Cider-Pumpkin Bundt Cake 

Warm Sautéed apples (recipe below)

Vanilla ice cream (My favorites are Alec’s and McConnell’s)

Decor

Acrylic cocktail napkin holder 

Pacific Placemats by Libeco. The color is ’flax’, although I bought them on Smallable and the color there is Khaki.

I used my everyday plates from Heath Ceramics

Linen napkins from a trip to Estonia but these are similar to the Sur La Table Chambray Napkins.

Matte gold flatware from Design within Reach 

Glassware is a discontinued design from Crate&Barrel.  These are similar from CB2. 

Salt cellars from Serax that I bought at Merci in Paris

Glass bud vases (I have three different styles) from Jamali Gardens

Hatch chile dip served in this Staub ceramic plate

I am loving this Staub cast iron artichoke cocotte!  I filled it with ice and crudites.  So chic!

Chicken in this platter from Hudson-Grace

I served the potatoes separately in this gratin dish

Panzanella in an old bowl from Victoria Morris

Veggies and Romesco in this shallow bowl from Hudson-Grace

Bundt cake on this cake stand

Sauteed apples in this cast iron braiser (heat and serve)

And last but not least, what everyone is asking about - I’ve actually posted about these several times, the ice cream pint containers!!!

Schedule

Guests arrive Saturday at 6:30 pm, serve dinner at 7:30 pm

Friday

Grocery shop

Flowers

Hubs sets up bar

Cut crudites

Assemble Hatch dip and refrigerate

Salt and marinate chicken

Cucumbers for salad

Make croutons

Cut vegetables for roasting: zucchini, eggplant, fennel

Make romesco

Saturday

Bake cake

Ice onions for panzanella

Make white bean hummus

Basil vinaigrette, if there’s time

Bake bread

Cut potatoes

5:30 Roast veggies and then set aside at room temp to reheat later

Pull chicken from fridge

Make sauteed apples, if there’s time

6:00 bake dip 375 20-25 minutes

Remove bean dip from fridge  and set up crudites

Cut tomatoes 

Light Candle in bathroom

6:15 Roast chicken and potatoes

7:20 Reheat veggies at 350 for 10 minutes

Toss salad

Serve dinner

When clearing dinner dishes, reheat apples on the stove and serve warm.

Sauteed Apples

1 cup apple juice or apple cider

2 teaspoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground allspice

⅛ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1 ½ to 1 ¾ pounds apples, (i don’t peel), cored and sliced ¼-inch thick, about 4 apples

1 Tablespoon maple syrup or more if you like it sweeter

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tablespoons of the juice and the arrowroot.  Set aside.

Pour the rest of the juice in a large skillet and whisk in the spices and salt.  Add the apples and stir to coat.  Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.  Cover and lower heat to low. Mixture should be simmering though. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until just tender.  Uncover and pour in maple syrup. Toss to coat.

Re-whisk juice and arrowroot and add to apples.  The juice in the skillet should be simmering.  Stir the mixture and simmer until thickened slightly.  You can make these in advance and let sit at room temp for up to two hours and then reheat on the stove.  Delicious for a brunch too with yogurt or oatmeal or French toast etc.

I have dozens of tips in my course, but if I can repeat myself - no one cares about your cooking, what you make, and if your table is magazine-worthy.  People really enjoy being invited over and spending quality time together.  That’s it.  Do a potluck or a just appetizers and drinks or brunch if you want to start with something easier than a whole dinner party!

Even More Musings is an extension of my weekly newsletter, Monday Musings. My newsletter is a sponsor-free zone and is fully supported by readers like you. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to get Even More Musings! Each week, I share my tips and tricks along with a new recipe. For only $5/month or $50/year (less than $1 a newsletter), you'll also gain access to the entire archive, featuring favorites like My New Hyper-fixation High-Protein Fluffy Breakfast Bowl  and the Hillstone Copycat Emerald Kale Salad.  This week I am sharing a new twist on Panzanella.  It’s the best version I have ever made! Take advantage while we still have tomatoes in season.