Dinner Party |

Dining Room Tables & Kitchen Tables?

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Amy

One thing we did shortly after moving in our house was switch our dining room table with our kitchen table.

Our switch was more of an experiment, but I liked it so much we’ve kept it that way ever since. Recently I have spoken to several people who have done the same thing so I no longer think it was that strange of a thing to do!

Here is the same table {above it is in our dining room} shortly after we moved in still in our kitchen {below}.

Not only had our family of five outgrown our round, designed-for- four kitchen table, but anytime we had company we had to eat in the dining room. Sometimes that seemed too formal and just too much trouble for a casual meal. Since we have more casual meals then formal meals these days this seemed like a good solution.

Even New Year’s Eve –the best picture I can find of our dining room table actually in the dining room– with six adults here we had to camp out in the dining room rather then hanging out in the kitchen, which was a little strange because at every good party, don’t you always wind up in the kitchen?

By the way, yes that’s Christy and our friend Robyn {we covered her stairs HERE} and they are drinking {THESE} if you are interested!

So, this switch meant saying goodbye for now to formal sit-down dinners. I loved the spacious dining room in our old house, it held a ton of people and while we lived there, we definitely put it to good use.

{This is our former dining room, same table, in our old house, set for a dinner party, the post is HERE}

So far this change has been a good solution. In fact, we haven’t missed having a formal dining room at all. If we weren’t planning on moving, I had envisioned this room becoming more of a library anyway. I even started adding books into my former china cabinet after I moved all my china to my Butler’s Pantry.

So, I am curious. Anyone else feel like they could repurpose their dining room? Anyone else already made the move? Tell us your thoughts…

XO,

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Kitchens, Real Spaces | Tagged butlers pantry, dining table, dinner party, entertaining, hospitality, kitchen, kitchen table | 6 Comments

Raspberry Martini Recipe

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Amy

Here it is! As promised, and served at my recent Dinner Party. These drinks are yummy, but first I must tell you:

Here is what you will need:

A martini shaker

Ice (preferably crushed)

Raspberry Vodka

Razz-ma-tazz or other raspberry liquor

Sour Mix (not “sweet & sour” mix)

Squeeze of fresh lemon

Ice cold Martini glasses (I recommend storing them in your freezer)

My bartender husband uses a ratio of 1:1:1 which makes for a very strong drink. I make them with extra sour mix and sometimes add some lemonade or other juice to “lighten” them. But you basically fill your shaker about halfway up with crushed ice, then add equal amounts (use a measuring cup or other pouring device like a shot glass) of the vodka, raspberry liquor and the sour mix. Shake well. (Bartender husband advice: shake really well– till your hand is too cold to shake any longer!). Then, using the strainer that comes with your martini shaker, strain the drink into a cold martini glass. ENJOY!

He garnished this with lemon, but fresh raspberries would be very nice too.

We make them for the Holidays too.

And, if you think these look delicious, wait till you see what I just had the other day at the hairdresser (yes my hairdresser is very cool). A very yummy Carrot Cake Martini…recipe on that one coming soon!

Posted in Cooking/Recipes, Entertaining, Events | Tagged dinner party, drink, entertaining, holiday drink, martini, raspberry vodka | 1 Comment

{How to} Cook for a Dinner Party

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Amy

I always envisioned using my dining room chalkboard for a dinner party menu...

As promised I am back with more details on the menu I served for my recent Dinner Party.

Here is the menu~

APPETIZERS

Brown Sugar Dijon Brie

Cheese & Cracker Plate

MAIN COURSE

Shrimp Scampi (from Barefoot Contessa)

Feta Salad (brought by my friend Tracey)

Foccacia Bread

Asparagus Vegetable Dish (brought by my co-Blogger Terry)

DESSERT

Profiteroles with Ice Cream

(not chocolate mousse as the chalkboard said–oops!)

As I mentioned in my “recap” of the Dinner Party Post, I did most of the prep ahead of time.

I set and had the table ready the day before, so Saturday morning I woke up and made the focaccia bread and the profiteroles. Both are extremely easy to do. The Foccacia does take several hours of rising so I started with that. (Foccacia recipe will follow soon)

Then I took a break, spent time with my daughter and cleaned out my closet (my list of things to do to move is SO long I had to squeeze in something productive that day!). In the mid-afternoon I prepped everything for the Scampi. You can find the Recipe HERE (from Food Network) or in this cookbook.

One of my many "Go To Cookbooks" for Entertaining

{Just a side note, if you are nervous about entertaining, Ina Garten’s recipes are almost always a great way to go. I own almost all her books, and use them all the time.}

Anyway for this recipe, I doubled it as I didn’t want to run out of food and I had 8 guests. I modified it slightly, using 3 lbs of shrimp– next time I would buy peeled, the least fun part of the prep was peeling all that shrimp! The doubled recipe called for a shocking 18 cloves of garlic. (Wow)

Thank goodness for a mini-food chopper for all that garlic!

And I chopped A lOT of parsley-2/3 a cup

Here are all the prepped ingredients so that when I was ready to cook, I just had to throw it all together.

Once the pasta water boiled, I quickly made the scampi part (it took about 10 minutes), then everything was ready at once. I had everything else ready and on the table so I could serve the pasta hot. We quickly heated up the vegetable side dish in the microwave, and the salad and bread were on the table so there wasn’t a lot of last minute scrambling around. Dinner was served!

I served a Brie appetizer that is one of my favorite-super easy-recipes to make. I just realized I didn’t take a picture of it so you will have to trust me that its delicious and crazy/easy! Its a Pampered Chef Recipe from “Season’s Best Fall 2007″.

Brown Sugar Dijon Brie

You need:

1 round or triangle of Brie

Cut it open and layer on:

A thin layer of Dijon Mustard

Sprinkle on Brown Sugar (to taste, but not TOO much)

And sliced almonds

Put the top back on, and repeat the same layers–covering up the brie completely. Cook in an oven safe dish (or on stoneware) for about 10 minutes till the sugar melts and the brie is soft. Serve w/ toasted baguette slices.

This is quick and elegant, and nobody would ever guess that it only has 3 (rather interesting, huh?) ingredients.

For dessert I served profiteroles, which is about the only dessert I make as I am totally not a “baker”. I almost bought dessert to make my life easier but these are so quick and easy–and good with ice cream–that I whipped them up in about 5 minutes.

Yum! Profiteroles...

Profiteroles

(recipe from Southern Living June 2010)

3/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 t sugar

1/3 c butter

3 large eggs, beaten

parchment paper (i didn’t use)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together flour and sugar in a bowl.

Bring butter and 3/4 c water to a boil in a 3 qt. saucepan over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in flour mixture all at once. Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and leaves the sides of the pan, forming a ball. Gradually add in eggs, beating until mixture is smooth and glossy.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheet (I lightly greased mine instead with shortening just in case). Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool about 20 min on baking sheet. (Recipe also says to pierce each with a fork on one side to allow steam to escape–I have never bothered to do that!)

I split these open and serve these with small scoops of assorted gourmet ice creams in the center (we offered coffee, dulce de leche and vanilla ice creams) and then I cover them with a jarred (warmed) hot fudge sauce. They have yet to disappoint!

So, if you have questions or I left anything out about this menu please leave them in the comments. I also promise I will follow-up with the foccacia bread recipe and will get the wonderful recipe posted here with the Asparagus and Green bean side dish Terry brought that was delicious.

BUT…who are we kidding here…I know that the recipe everyone wants is my husband’s Raspberry Martini recipe…

Raspberry Martini

So, STAY TUNED…I promise to post it NEXT!

(In case wordpress doesn’t link up the appropriate posts, you can see more about the party planning and recap of the evening HERE)

{Linking up to~}

Posted in Cooking/Recipes, Events, General & About Us | Tagged appetizer, Cooking, dessert, Dinner, dinner party, entertaining, martini, recipes | 6 Comments

Oh What a Night! {Dinner Party time!}

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Amy

The table, ready for dinner...

Wow…if you were wondering, the Dinner Party I had on Saturday was a great time! I am so glad I did it. I plan to do a follow-up post on just the food as I think my menu worked out perfectly and so I will share it in case anyone wants to replicate parts or all of it.

(View my post on planning the party and download a free printable HERE and view more on my tablescape HERE)

We all had a great time, and it was a ton of fun. I think we finally got up from the table at midnight! So obviously we can claim we “sat around for hours and talked and laughed over our wineglasses” (Just like those “Thirty-Somethings”!). The best part was that we all agreed to make it a regular thing–and have already picked our hosts for next month. We may have to come in from our new home in another city but that would be worth it.

Anyway, its easy to get stressed out when entertaining, even good friends, so I did a few things that made my night so much easier and more fun for me. I had all my ingredients for dinner out and ready to go.

Getting Ready for Barefoot Contessa's Shrimp Scampi

The recipe at hand

During the Party everything was close at hand so I could quickly cook up the main course

We set up a self-service Bar, though my husband took care of most of the custom drink mixing (its kind of his “thing”).

A bar was available (with a picture of some of the guests above) and a drink menu on the side

And, most importantly! (ha ha) …I was able to relax for a few minutes before the guests arrived and have a taste of the special raspberry martini’s my husband concocted for the evening. They were delicious! (and I promise I will post the recipe with the food recipes)

Don't I look relaxed?

It did get a tiny bit hectic cooking–which took all of about 5 minutes–and only because I had to figure out how to serve everyone enough and not run out and get the food on the table while it was still hot. Luckily for me Terry’s husband took some food shots for me just as it hit the table. (Wasn’t that nice of him?)

Shrimp Scampi

Raspberry Martini

Guests "Laughing and Talking" over Wine Glasses

All in all, it was a very fun night. In retrospect, I did the party (with guests contributing salad and a vegetable side and some wine) for less $ then a night at a fancy restaurant (with a babysitter) would have cost my husband and I. And, I enjoyed getting ready and definitely had a great time the night of. The only drawback of the evening…

Waking up to the Dishes!

Posted in Cooking/Recipes, Events, General & About Us | Tagged Cooking, dinner party, entertaining, Events, martinis, tablescape | 6 Comments

Its almost Party Time…

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Amy

Yes, I have a lot to do for my Party tonight..starting with making myself pretty and peeling many pounds of shrimp for the shrimp scampi, but here is a sneak peak of my tablescape. Check back monday for my follow-up post!

Posted in Events, General & About Us, Uncategorized | Tagged Cooking, dinner party, entertaining, tablescape | 1 Comment

Planning a Dinner Party {& Printable}

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Amy

The Party Dress

I love to plan parties. Anyone who knows me knows that. In fact, I enjoy the planning, staging and getting ready for the party as much as actually being at one. { So, its probably no surprise that a portion of my business revolves around event design?}

So, my parties have fallen off a bit in recent years…with children, work and other issues I haven’t done nearly the entertaining I used to. I decided this week I was going to change that. And, so I am planning a “Dinner Party” this weekend with some of our closest friends.

While our time with our friends here in this area is short (as we are moving, I may have mentioned it about 100 times?) and so I want to savor what time we have left here with them. And, OK, my two boys are going on a trip with their Grandparents this weekend so with only one child to worry about (how easy is that?) its the perfect time to have some “quality” adult time. I also admit to being inspired by this post at At The Picket Fence that Heather wrote about the TV show Thirty Something.

In describing the premise of the “30-Somethings” on the show she wrote..

“You know cool people.

Hip people.

Grown ups with complex lives and secret relationships.

People who have cocktail parties and couple’s dinners where they all sit around for hours and laugh and talk over their wine glasses.”

Photo AMC

So right then and there I decided it was time to get us all together and have a dinner where we could all sit around for hours and laugh and talk over {our} wineglasses.

So, the party is about 48 hours away, and I have yet to figure out much of what I am doing. I typically plan everything I can out ahead of time. I am too busy to make multiple trips to the store, and I have learned that if I organize I can enjoy the event more. I also promised myself my husband I was going to keep it as simple as possible and not get stressed out.

Since I still need to plan, I made up a little printable to help organize this party, and really any party. I usually jot everything down in a journal type notebook but this sheet will keep everything on one page, including a shopping list. Feel free to download it to use {PLEASE become a Follower if you do, we like to know who is enjoying our stuff! } Also, feel free to leave in the comments section any suggestions that would be helpful and I can modify this form.

{Click Below to Download this Printable}

Party Plan Printable

So, I am off to work on my “spring” tablescape and double check my recipes so I can finish my shopping list. But, check back Monday– I will be sure to post about the night. I am sure it will be a fun evening!

{Note: just in case a “dinner party” sounds really boring to everyone who is not yet “30-something” I am very lucky that my husband did some bartending in his past and therefore things don’t usually stay boring at our parties for long!} LINKING UP AT: