Appetizer
Bruschetta with Olives
Entrée
Herb Parmesan Crumb Crusted Chicken Breast
Glazed with Orange Rosemary Sauce
Orange Raisin Rice Pilaf
Salad Mixed Greens
Dressed with Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sherry Vinegar
Mariana Vineyard 2008 Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands
Dessert
Bill’s Best Strawberry Ice Cream
Our menu will be heavy hors d’oeuvres that will help everyone feel as if they’ve enjoyed dinner.
I like to use the dinner planning rules from my high school freshman home ec class; Have something from each food category which to me means a meat, fowl, fish, along then vegetables, fruit, and maybe something sweet. So here’s what I’ve planned so far. There may be changes as I head to the stores to see what’ s available and finalize the guest count.
accompanied by dinner rolls and chutney
with pastry shells
served with assorted crackers
This was an very challenging week at home and at work, but the bright spot was having my friend Amy over for dinner on Thursday Night. With only one guest and much of my preparation done before hand, I was not scrambling at the end like I usually do. Also, having someone over for dinner gave my week a weird sense of normalcy. It was great to actually catch up in depth with Amy, which is what D4D is all about. We chatted for so long that it was too late for dessert so I made a to-go version for her to take home.
Starter
Main Course
Dessert
Posted in Dinner, Food, Food and conversation, Menus | 
Tags: Dinner, Dress 4 Dinner, menu, preparation | 
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You remember the experience when you were a kid…after an afternoon/evening of trick or treating, you race back home and first thing you dump out your largess to see what you got. Then the swapping begins, as you try to trick your friends/siblings into trading some of your less desirable treats for their more delectable ones.
Well, for our two guests Kristen and Brian, their plastic pumpkin contained a wild array of twisted Halloween treats:
Posted in Menus |
Tags: Dinner, Dress 4 Dinner, Food, halloween candy, halloween dinner, inspiration, menu, planning, preparation, Theme |
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served atop mixed salad greens, garnished with crumbled goat cheese, brown sugared caramelized pecans
Mariana Vineyard 2008 Sauvignon Blanc
thin slices of Fillet Mignon seared, Dijon mustard, shallots, mushrooms, flambé
thinly sliced sweet potatoes, Dijon mustard, cream
buttered, steamed green beans tossed with roasted almond slivers
Talmage T Cellars 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
flamed table-side
McKenna 2008 Trilogy
Our British guests were treated to a wide range of Lowcountry delicacies during their stay, including BBQ, mac’n'cheese, various coleslaws, Frogmore Stew, and lots of shrimp. For our D4D we decided to round out their southern experience with a menu of the bits and bobs that they hadn’t yet sampled:
Dinner went well last night in Chestertown, Maryland. It was a really pretty night and good day to be with family. There weren’t too many glitches in our preparation, but a few and some improvising. Everyone helped out and my brother Matthew even made an appearance. It was very hardy fare and we all woke up feeling still full this morning.
Posted in Menus |
Tags: Family Dinner, Food, hors d'oeuvres, menu, planning, preparation |
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On the whole, our menu for the Mystery Dinner turned out far better than any of us hoped. We ended up with a group of tasty delights.
Citrus Sangria
sauvignon blanc, sliced oranges, lemons, limes, topped with a spritz of lemon-lime soda
Andra’s Bruschetta
toasted baguette, lavished with EV olive oil, mounded with seeded grape tomatoes, oil cured black olives, garlic, chiffonade of basil
Bollini, 2008 Pinot Grigio, Trentino
Onion Tart
sliced Palmetto Sweet onions, bound with custard enriched with sour cream, cottage and cheddar cheese, flavored with mixed herbs and studded with bacon nuggets
Blossoming “Zucchini Dogs”
local zucchini cored and stuffed with herbed bread crumbs, oil-cured olives and pine nuts, sautéed in a saffron cream sauce and garnished with squash blossoms
Bollini, 2008 Pinot Grigio, Trentino
Grand vin de Bordeaux, Château d’Arveyres, 2008 Graves de Vayres, Appelation Graves de Vayres Contrôlée, Cuvée Prestige
Double Chocolate Cake
dark chocolate cake with raspberry jam filling and deep chocolate frosting garnished with slivered almonds
Espresso
Made & served Italian-style, with a twist
In preparing this menu, we all realized that we were finicky eaters as kids. We had a lot more detested foods to choose from than we thought we would. After much back and forth, we narrowed our menu down to a manageable size, and we tried to include things that would go together.
Grape tomato, mozzarella and basil
(Andra hated tomato)
Oil cured black olive, pine nut and oregano popper
(Michael hated nuts)
Bacon wrapped potato and cheddar
(Cayleigh hates potato)
Sourdough Toast Points
(Okay, we all liked bread)
Chilled Cantaloupe Soup
(Michael and Andra both thought cold soup meant it had sat too long)
Salmon Cake with Zucchini and Cap’n Crunch
(Andra hated salmon croquette; Michael hated how his mom hid zucchini in everything…even chocolate cake!)
Grilled Okra
(Alice hated okra; Michael never heard of it when he was a kid)
Wild Mushrooms in Sage Cream Sauce on Grits
(Michael hated mushrooms, and only had instant grits, and so hated them as well)
Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
(Gordon hated strawberries)
Temperature 81 degrees 49% Humidity
I think it is interesting that you start with all of these ideas about the dinner and then the execution takes on a life of its own. My Dress 4 Dinner went well and was fun. I definitely hit some snags this time but navigated through them either improvising or sometimes with the steady help of my guests (specifically bad peaches, an out of business liquor store, stubborn ice cream) Most of the recipes on the menu were new to me and much to my surprise the food wasn’t as hot as my apartment was. I wanted dinner to be less formal so the food was served buffet style- make your own tacos. Dinner conversation subjects ran from immigration laws to Halloween costumes (yes, they are some smart and witty friends!). I made an attempt at a small music playlist, since I usually bail on that (Bueno Vista Social Club with some Tom Waits thrown in) but also got some help from Ken, who made an additional list for me. Mostly, I was glad to spend some time with Jenn, Ben, Teresa and Ken and that they let me try out my cooking experiments on them.
MENU
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Roasted Tomato Salsa
Guacamole with Chips and Cucumbers
Spicy Pickled Carrots
Margaritas and Beers
Green Chile Chicken Tacos
Chipotle Beef Tacos with Caramelized Onions
Mexican Corn Salad
Watermelon Salad
“Toasted Almond” Ice Cream with Brown Sugar Blueberry Sauce (w/ some peaches)
Posted in Dinner, Dress 4 Dinner, Food, Food and conversation, Menus |
Tags: Brooklyn, Dinner, Dress 4 Dinner, Food, Food and conversation, friends, music for dinner parties |
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February 8th, 2011 | 
Author: 
