Dinner Party

This week’s dinner party was a pretty casual affair. I made a simple Moroccan-style menu using many of the same staple ingredients purchased for last week’s Turkish party. I had a light cold, so it was nice to take it easy. Menu Appetizer: Imported dolmas  Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives Mograbieh (a type…

Turkish was the theme of our weekly dinner party last night, and a great excuse to do lots of layering: both with fresh bright ingredients and lots of different table linens. Menu Appetizer: “Meze” platter with imported Turkish dolmas, black olives and persian cucumbers topped with lemon and paprika.  Amuse-bouche: Tomatoes stuffed with kisir (tabbouleh…

This week’s dinner party was a pretty informal, impromptu affair. The guests were a former colleague of mine, Lauren, and my good friends Jackie and Pierre who just moved back from Atlanta to California. Menu:  Purple Haze goat cheese with crackers, nuts and dried fruit to start Wild caught coho salmon baked with champagne and…

Last week’s dinner party didn’t go according to plan. Instead of spending the day buying fresh oysters and preparing to roast a chicken Zuni-style…Rob and I sat with a friend in the hospital emergency room for six hours. Shoot. I did manage to throw together a cheese plate with the last of the manchego, red…

This week’s dinner party is happening on Saturday night with Rob’s out-of-town coworkers. They want to see the inside of an “authentic” San Francisco victorian apartment. I’m going to serve Hog Island oysters to start and it’s-it ice cream sandwiches to finish…but what to serve for the main course? Cioppino is a classic, but that’s…

This week’s dinner party is a bit different than our standard affair. With the whole family in Pacific Grove at the beach, I took on making a spread of cold salads for dinner. There’s a lot of tradition here: we used to visit a gourmet deli called Tutti’s in Montecito and each pick out a…

Thanks to reader Cari’s suggestion, I tackled an entirely new theme for this week’s party: rustic Italian. I don’t know if my menu meets authenticity standards; it’s mostly the rustic Italian of my imagination. I was excited to try two things I’d never cooked before: polenta and whole trout. Menu Appetizer of seeded bread and…

Here’s the great thing about throwing a dinner parties: once you start inviting people over, they start inviting you back!  We’re not even to our second event in the Weekly Dinner Party Challenge and had our first invitation out. Last night, Rob and I walked two doors down to have dinner with a friend from…

Gorgeous food, easily prepared. Great conversation with friends. Meeting new people. Last night’s dinner party was everything I love about hosting!  Here’s the play-by-play guide: Spanish-inspired Menu Appetizer of Spanish cheeses Mussels in a chorizo, chickpea, tomato broth Fresh tomatoes with kale pesto dressing Roasted cauliflower Warm crusty baguette Dessert of grapes and spanish dark…

Everything is ready for tonight’s dinner party. I stocked up on cheese and chocolate at the Spanish market, Nosa Ria, down the street, made a centerpiece out of dark red dahlias and prepped a chorizo-chickpea broth for the mussels. Now, just to get dressed for tonight’s dinner party! Skirt – A full volume, high waisted…