colorful dinner party
January 30, 2014
It's nice to receive an invitation to a mid-week dinner party. It seems a bit like a bonus, something fun to do and it's not even the weekend. My friend Norma invited 8 for dinner last night. The reason was to meet their friends visiting from out of town. But she had forgotten she was also going to the city that day so every thing, I mean every single thing had to be done in advance. When we arrived 10 minutes late, she pulled me aside and said she had just arrived herself, only 10 minutes before, just seconds before the first guests arrived! Sooo, house is clean, table is set, wine is chilled and the food is prepared and just needs to be reheated! Light the fire and pour the wine, it's time for a dinner party! Here was her lovely do ahead menu with recipe links:
Cheese Platter with Crackers and Dried Fruit
Winter Root Vegetable Soup with Honey Crisped Pecans (recipe below)
Beef Bourguignon
Norma always sets a beautiful table by mixing colors and patterns
and what she achieves is always stunning!
An interesting tidbit, the green tinted water glasses with the square base
were purchased from the estate of the late actor, Ronald Colman.
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| Beef Bourguignon for the main course. |
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| On their refrigerator is a melange of family photos; 4 children and 9 grandchildren! |
While my friends are old hands at pulling off parties, I hope this post inspires you to be brave and have a dinner party! Be it the finest china or paper plates, roasted quail or pizza! It's all good and it's really about gathering people together. It was fun to meet their friends visiting from China. They will be back again in spring and we have already set a date to meet for dinner. It's nice to make new friends. Thank you Norma and Geoff for the nice evening.
Norma just emailed this morning with the recipe for her Honey Crisped Pecans: 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, 1 cup pecan halves and pieces, 3 tablespoons honey, fine salt. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small baking dish with butter. Add walnuts to pan and drizzle with honey and bake until golden (about 14 mins). Cool and season with salt. These were a delicious surprise on the soup!
Norma just emailed this morning with the recipe for her Honey Crisped Pecans: 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, 1 cup pecan halves and pieces, 3 tablespoons honey, fine salt. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small baking dish with butter. Add walnuts to pan and drizzle with honey and bake until golden (about 14 mins). Cool and season with salt. These were a delicious surprise on the soup!
11 Comments
What a woman! I love her style! Totally unflustered...that's the way to go!!!
ReplyDeleteNorma has wonderful taste in dishes!!! I am really diggin' the chargers in that super bright color. I can also appreciate that wonderful mix of patterns. Very contemporary!
I just had a dinner party a couple of weeks ago, and I'm planning another for very soon. It's fun, it's fashionable, and it's a great way to just have a good time without the hassle of snooty waiters, watered down drinks, obnoxious patrons, and rude motorists who you could swear think parking spots have their name on them!!!
Norma is TOTALLY unflustered. I have seen her smile through the inevitable disasters that are bound to happen from time to time!
DeleteI am so very envious of Norma......she has a beautiful, eclectic style and Ronald Colman's glasses!!! I am such a fan. And she has a great knack of putting together a gorgeous and seemingly stress-free table. What a treat this table has been!
ReplyDeleteI will let her know how much everyone appreciated her talent. She does have an eye for beauty.
DeleteBeautiful...those colorful plates are superb! Great table.
ReplyDeleteVery festive looking! And I don't even dare make those pecans. I have enough trouble with dark chocolate. lol
ReplyDeleteLOVE that sheep painting on your wall!!!
haha! True with me too. I make my husband hide the chocolate from me and dole it out. I have no self control otherwise.
DeleteLove your bright eclectic table, but I especially loved the dog portrait, fabulous!
ReplyDeleteJenna
Every time I visit their home and stop and say hi to him! He's looks like he'd be a great dog!
DeleteThose honey crisped pecans sound amazing! And what a daring approach to entertaining, I should try this myself!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gracious table! So beautiful, of course. Well done, Norma. And thank you, Kristen, for sharing this with your readers. Looks like a lovely evening. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteYou make my day when you make a comment!