We don't entertain often enough. Sometimes it seems so daunting - all of the cleaning, shopping, preparing, and the clean-up afterwards, but you know what? It's totally worth it, and each time I do it, I am reminded of how much I love having my house full of friends, having fun and enjoying our cooking, whether it's fancy or casual. It's so easy to get caught up in the details, but it really doesn't matter if all of the plates match, or if you have cloth napkins, or even if there are enough chairs. You make it work and you have a good time.
Last night, we had about 9 people over for a casual dinner. We didn't even start planning the menu until the afternoon, but it was a nice excuse to tidy up some of the accumulating piles on the dining room table and put flowers in the vases. I always have to use my good china and silver, since I have more place settings, but it still feels pretty low key. Plus, I believe that stuff should be used only once a year and then kept in a drawer the rest of the time. I don't bother polishing the silver unless it's a major holiday - just stick it in the dishwasher and put it out for people to help themselves. The trick to a big dinner party for me is to do it pot-luck style, otherwise you just spend all night serving everyone.
My husband and I have had the same routine for years - I am in charge of the appetizers and side dishes, and he handles the proteins. I am usually in charge of dessert as well, but as I was already behind, I called upon one of my friends to bring something - and she surprised us with a homemade coconut cream pie!
For appetizers, I made a cheese board, some roasted spiced nuts (which I made in the morning and let cool), and crab/artichoke dip on cucumber slices. For the extra-special appetizer, I made Medjool Dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon, which I popped into the oven to get crispy-good. There was actually silence in the room when they came out - the power of bacon!
The crab dip was supposed to be beautifully piped onto the cucumber, just like I had seen in my Martha Stewart appetizer book, but for the life of me I could not get it out in any sort of recognizable shape. Oh well, it's one of those moments where you curse Martha Stewart and her staff of many, and grab a spoon and finish the job.
For dinner, my husband made a bone-in pork roast which he brined a few hours before people arrived. Normally I don't think about serving pork to company, but it was absolutely delicious - fork-tender, moist, and very flavorful. With that, I roasted some sweet potatoes, made a warm green bean salad, and a mache/arugula salad with pomegranate seeds, toasted walnuts, and blue cheese. I made the mistake of using the Gin Dressing from a few days ago - the women loved it, and the men hated it! It's nice when your friends are comfortable enough to say what they do and don't like - one of the guys exact words were "That recipe should stay in the 70s". We had a laugh about it and went on with our evening. For the non-meat eaters, my husband made a marinated seared Ahi tuna, which was also wonderful, and remarkable considering the fact that he hates fish and has only cooked it a handful of times.
All in all, I think it turned out to be a very nice fall meal, and as everyone left at about 1:00am, full and tired from laughing so much, I was struck with a renewed sense of home and tenderness for my San Francisco family.
