An Early Fall Dinner Party + the CRISPIEST Rosemary Potatoes

Happy Monday!  If you’re here for the new Crispiest Rosemary Roasted Potatoes recipe, that is the bonus content this week for paid subscribers (thank you!)  The rest of the newsletter is free!

I had a small dinner party recently and it was a nice transition to fall. Since I receive an incredible amount of feedback asking me HOW to entertain at home with ease, I like to share details here.  I was joking with a friend recently who has shared that she gets a little overwhelmed when she entertains at home.  I quickly enlightened her that she always does a beautiful job but she makes DOUBLE the food that I make.  Friends, I know I sound like a broken record, but nobody cares what you make and you should only do what you can.  I obviously feel comfortable in the kitchen and can make whatever I want and come up with a schedule to get it all done, but I don’t WANT to cook for days for a dinner party.  So far, my friends haven’t asked for their money back and they keep accepting invites to my house!

I usually invite people for 6:30 pm and I start with drinks and light bites.  We sit down to dinner at 7:30 pm and I serve dessert whenever it feels right.

Always get your serving pieces out ahead of time.

MENU for 7 people

Pre-Dinner Drinks and Snacks 

2 pizzas (Nerano and White with Lemon - recipes below) made outside in our little Ooni Pizza Oven

Crudites (fennel, radish, cucumber, carrots) and white bean dip (recipe is attached to this chopped salad recipe)

Branzino with salmoriglio garnished with herbs and microgreens (I broil the branzino filets skin side up for 4 minutes - recipe in Quicker Than Quick)

Crispy rosemary potatoes (recipe for paid subscribers)

Roasted and grilled veggies (fennel, artichoke, eggplant, zucchini) with basil-jalapeno sauce (recipe from June 2024 online class)

Little Gem salad with caramelized onion dressing + radicchio, dates, hazelnuts and edible flowers

Dessert  

Frozen Chocolate Hazelnut Pie (recipe I am testing) with whipped cream and berries

Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies (Wildgrain frozen cookie dough - it’s insane.  My link and discount code PAMELAS *might* still work.)

Decor and Serving Pieces

I had had a dinner party a week before, so I kept all the same pieces out and decorated the table exactly the same.

Acrylic cocktail napkin holder 

Vietri Papersoft Cocktail Napkins

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

I served the pizzas on a huge Boos Block.

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 and Leather napkin rings

Matte gold flatware from Design within Reach 

Wine glasses

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

Salt cellars from Serax that I bought at Merci in Paris + Mother of Pearl Spoons (technically for caviar)

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

Salad in this Be Home Large Madras Salad Bowl

White ceramic platter for fish with these Joseph Brody walnut serving utensils

Potatoes in a bowl very similar to this one

Cookies on this cake stand

Frozen Chocolate Pie this ceramic pie plate

Schedule (you need to write out a schedule!)

FRIDAY

Set Table

Flowers

Bar - Hubs

Eataly for dough, ricotta

Zucchini sauce

Prep crudites (fennel, cucumber, carrot, Little Gems, radish)

Wash salad greens

Make white bean dip

Make salad dressing

Prep vegetables for grilling and roasting

Prep baking sheets with parchment paper

SATURDAY

Play Pickleball :)

Buy Fish

Whip cream

Berries

Basil-jalapeno dressing

Salmoriglio

Fry zucchini slices

Prep fish (rinse, pat dry and check for bones) and refrigerate

5:00 pm grill and roast vegetables

Prep pizza ingredients and the set up

5:30 preheat pizza oven and pull doughs out

5:45 Par-boil potatoes then add to baking sheet with other ingredients

Preheat all ovens (big oven for potatoes/small oven to reheat veg)

6:20 Prep crudites and serve over ice

6:30 add prepped potatoes in oven

7:15 reheat vegetables

Assemble salad

7:25 Broil fish 

7:30 remove potatoes and serve

Transfer frozen chocolate pie from freezer to fridge

Keep oven on to bake cookies

Before clearing dishes, put cookies in oven for 20 minutes

Nerano Pizza (our favorite pizza of the moment)

Heat 2 TBS olive oil in a medium skillet. Saute 1/2 onion, diced and 1 medium zucchini, sliced, until just tender. Add salt to taste, 1 medium clove garlic, finely chopped and a few leaves of fresh basil (about 1 TBS), sliced. Saute until just fragrant. Allow to cool slightly and puree in a blender.

Sauté a few (5) baby zucchini (or 1 medium zucchini), sliced, in oil. Typically the zucchini slices are deep fried, but that’s fine. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Roll 1 pizza dough to desired thinness. I usually do this on a wood pizza peel dusted with flour.

Spread the zucchini sauce on the pizza and add shredded or thinly sliced mozzarella. Just wing it with the amount of cheese but don’t overdo it. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted. If you want to add more fresh basil as garnish, add after the pizza is out of the oven. Top with the fried zucchini and serve!

White Pizza with Lemon (not so much a recipe as a concept/guidelines; mind-blowingly simple!)

On the dough, dollop ricotta (not a super wet ricotta) and alternate with slices of fresh mozzarella.

Sprinkle with dried oregano.  Don’t overdo it.  Cook pizza.

When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle with zest of one lemon.  Drizzle with olive oil or a chili-infused olive oil.  Serve with fresh lemon wedges on the side.

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 the best crispy rosemary potatoes.  We could not stop eating them!