Party Recipe: Rack of Lamb

This was probably the best and the easiest dinner I’ve ever cooked – a nice combination!

Appetizers: A trio of cheeses – havarti dill, tomme de savoie and cambazola – with seeded crackers. Small bowls of dried apricots, cranberries and raw almonds.

Guests: Nine altogether – requiring a borrowed chair. Two pregnant women, three engineers, a statistician, Margaret (who defies classification), an executive, me and an adorable kid who just learned to walk.

Dinner: Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, kale with balsamic vinegar, fresh apple mint sauce, six gorgeous racks of lamb (rubbed with light seasoning and roasted at 500 degrees for 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads about 125 and left to sit for a few minutes before carving) and the best bread from Acme.

Decorations: I honestly tried to “dress down” the table, but it’s just not in me. Peonies from Trader Joe’s, silverware, laguiole knives, a blue and white tablecloth, blue napkins, butter in japanese dishes, vintage silver salt shakers, small envelopes as place cards containing inapropriate sheep jokes.

Dessert: A delicious German strawberry tart brought by Yvonne paired with homemade vanilla ice cream and a bottle of ice wine from Niagara Falls. Decaf coffee.