A Winter Dinner Party Deconstructed
Happy Monday! I know you guys love when I break down how to entertain at home and keep it easy and fun. I just had a dinner party for 8 people and it was so enjoyable and very doable. I will give you every detail I can think of! And, you’ll be proud of me because a few days before the dinner, my husband’s family wanted to get together for dinner the night before and I had to cook a little for that. Soooooo, I took my friends up on their offers to bring something! I will give you the menu with links to the recipes. One recipe is on my March 2024 class menu, so that’s not ready for you. The salmon recipe is exclusive to paid subscribers (thank you!)
Then I’ll give you my schedule for how I did it all.
Before I get into the nitty gritty, here are my most important pieces of advice for entertaining at home:
Commit to a menu ASAP and pick out recipes that are doable for you. NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU MAKE. A dinner party is NOT about the food. Crazy, I know. It’s about spending time with people and having fun.
Do whatever you can in advance.
Have the right attitude. “I get to have my friends over.” “I am looking forward to spending time with my friends.”
If you have a spouse or partner, enlist their help ahead of time. I have trained Hubs to deal with the bar and drinks, fireplace, music and washing dishes after guests leave.
MENU
Bar enhanced with fresh grapefruit juice and fresh lime juice; mint in a jar and orange peels in a jar.
Hors D’oeuvres
Spinach artichoke dip with chips
Stuffed mushrooms (made by my friend)
Dinner (I had to make two proteins because of dietary preferences)
Baked Chicken with Tomatoes (I omitted the olives since the salmon had olives and I used cherry tomatoes)
Salmon with with olive and roasted lemon relish
Cauliflower mashed potatoes with crispy onions
Roasted carrots, asparagus and radishes over whipped feta (recipe coming soon)
Butter lettuce salad with edible flowers, microgreens, chives and avocado and citrus/pomegranate (I used this dressing)
Dessert
Almond cake (made by my friend)
Fresh Berries
Below is a detailed schedule to how I prepared a few days before the dinner party:
Wednesday
Wash 2 heads butter lettuce
Make vinaigrette x2 (this can technically be frozen if you want to make very far in advance)
Wash mint
Thursday
Set table and buy flowers
Grocery shop
Salt chicken
Make roasted lemon relish
Squeeze juices
Make food to bring to family dinner Friday night
Friday
DIY color (I am still loving Madison Reed DIY Root Touch-up)
Wash and style hair
Prep veggies including cauliflower
Prep dip (Do not bake, just assemble, cover and refrigerate)
Wash berries
Whipped feta
Chill water
Segment oranges and do orange peels (these are for drinks like a Negroni)
5:00 leave for family dinner
Saturday
Pickleball
Buy fish
Chop chives (salad)
Chop parsley (chicken)
Halftime - shower and get dressed (yes, I was able to watch the football game with friends coming over for dinner!)
Peel potatoes and place in pot covered with water
4:50 start chicken
5:15 chicken in oven, covered
5:20 Make cauliflower mashed potatoes and keep warm over simmering water (crispy onions are from a container from Whole Foods - add right before serving)
6:05 chicken out of oven to rest
Pre-roast vegetables
Bake dip
6:20 carve chicken
6:25 Put chicken in slow cooker (I ended up putting back in the cast iron skillet, covered, in 200 degree oven)
Slice avocado - cover
Set bar, turn on music, and light candle in powder room - Hubs
Remove whipped feta, relish, and dressing from fridge
Remove fish from fridge and have ready to go on a sheet pan
6:30 Friend arrive! Serve dip
7:00 Slow roast salmon
Saute asparagus and add pre-roasted veggies
Toss salad add oranges/pomegranate, avocado, flower petals and micro greens
7:30 serve dinner (I do buffet) light candles, put out water (have someone help you if you need)
DECOR
Flowers from Costco
White ceramic floral containers
Linen Placemats mine is a darker linen: Libeco Pacific Placemat
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 old discontinued design from Crate&Barrel. These are similar from CB2
Salt dishes (bought in Paris) with mini bamboo spoons
Continued below: recipe for salmon with olive and roasted lemon relish, all my serving pieces, my tip for footwear when I entertain, Hubs’s music choices.
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