Valentines Dinner

Dear Alisha,

I am having a group of people ....around 8 couples over for a Valentine party..do you have any great..or fabulous (preferred) ideas for food and fun. We will be serving dinner due to the fact that it will be from 5-8 pm.

Sincerely,
Romantically Inclined


Dear Romantic,

Oh I love that you're already thinking about Valentines Day! I've been thinking of it all through the dreary month of January. Not wanting to rush it and wear out it's welcome, I've made myself wait till now to really dive in.

Okay, let's talk about your dinner. I've been dreaming of a dinner party, adults only, the Saturday before Valentines! Is that what you're doing? Or a more family oriented dinner on the actual day of? Either way, here's what you need: hearts, a sickening amount, and anything red and pink. It can't be avoided. And why should it be?

Almost any meal can be made to look romantic and sweet when presented properly. [Exceptions: ribs and corn, burritos, corn dogs, sausages, sour kraut..;] Almost. A few ideas I like:

Start with a salad with beet shaped hearts. It doesn't matter if you like beets or not, that's not the point. Just imagine your guests delight when they find little red hearts in their salad. Martha says to boil the beets yourself and cut them with a pairing knife, but really all you need to do is buy a can of sliced beets and cut them out with a cheap little cookie cutter. Much faster. Beets taste good in a basic salad too.



For the main course, I would pick one of two different directions. Hunk of meat or Italian food. Let's start with the first and make it sound more elegant:

Grilled Steak with reduction sauce (if you like to grill, it's hard to go wrong)
or
Roasted pork loin with reduction sauce
Brown buttered asparagus
Potatoes (mashed, baked, or scalloped, it doesn't matter: everyone likes potatoes)

Fresh bread on the side

As you can see, I don't want you to over work yourself, we're keeping things simple. But please, please, dress up your steak by giving your guests the option of a sauce. Here are a few to choose from:

Steak Sauce Recipe
Bearnaise Sauce (you can use any type of vinegar)
Reduction Sauce, always good

Otherwise, Italian food always seems romantic. Even just really good spaghetti and meatballs, especially with two sharing a plate Lady-and-the-Tramp-style, can seem romantic.
Martha, as in the photo pictured above, has several ideas with recipes listed on her sample Valentines menu found here: Martha's dinner menu ideas. (Just remember to make 4 times as much.)

What your guests are going to really remember is the dessert.

All of the following images from marthastewartliving.com. Look, the site has great photos.

You're going to end with good hot chocolate, as seen above. If cutting hearts out of marshmallows seems like too much work, sigh, they now make marshmallows already heart shaped and pink.

This looks wonderful..
Coeurs a la Creme, recipe from Martha Stewart.

But I wouldn't turn down a little of this..

Heart-Shaped Strawberry Parfaits, again, recipe from Martha Stewart.

or this:


Chocolate and Raspberry Heart Napoleons, recipe from Martha Stewart. What I really want you to notice is the raspberry garnish. So simple yet look how it dresses up ice cream sandwiches.

But what I really crave around Valentines is chocolate.

I love Chocolate Pots de Creme, but the photo wasn't anything special. You would need to dress them up with the raspberry garnish pictured above.

Even if you're not much of a baker, anyone can make a Triple chocolate cheesecake. Bonus if it's in a heart shaped pan:

(Ignore the white star stuff.) Garnish, again, with raspberries. They're red.

Now about the table. This is what decides whether you pull this whole night off or not. It needs to read Valentines. Even if you have all white linens and plates, it's easy to mix in a little pink and red.

A few options, to-do list style:

-rose petals scattered down the table (it only takes the petals from a couple of roses, much cheaper than a giant rose bouquet, )
-a giant rose bouquet, (How obvious, you say. It still looks nice. Keep it low.)
-a rose or other pink/red flower tucked into the napkin ring of the linen napkin for each guest. If you don't have napkin rings, use a tie of ribbon or make ones out of paper.
-lots of candles, preferably tall tapered, and light them!
-use, what else, Valentines as place card holders. I know. How adorable.
-little boxes of (heart shaped) chocolates as place card holders
-mix in whatever pink or red linens you can find. A little color, or a lot, will really stand out.
-consider purchasing Valentines salad plates like these:


gosh I love these plates from Potterybarnkids! I'll be looking for them on February 15th, if you know what I mean.

..or no need to wait for a sale at Target. They sell all these individually in store, I'd like to draw your attention simply to the smaller salad plate, not the tacky white tumbler. The plates are only $2.40 a piece and would mix easily with white china.

Wait just a second.. (rumage, rumage,) here's a start to what I mean:


Ignore the contrived day time setting and the misplaced heart-bullseye in the background. Maybe this isn't the best photo to sell you on the scheme, but you see how pink and red really jazz it up? And how special Jana feels with her vintage Valentine?

Good luck! Tell us how it goes.

Is anyone else nearly this excited?

Hoping to Impress

all images from marthastewart.com

Dear Alisha,

My mother-in-law will be in town this weekend, she is soon turning 60. I would like to host a elegant breakfast in her honor for a small gathering of family. Do you have any menu suggestions?

Hoping to Impress

Dear Hopeful,

I know what you want: the perfect menu printed up for you with photos. While I find your cause noble, I'm just not a breakfast person. I am afraid I will only be minimally helpful to you. Every time I try to answer this question I feel like gagging. Please don't make me think of eggs or pancakes.

What I care about is how the table looks. Graceful flowers, soft linens, personal touches on the table. How you serve the food will make a big difference. I'm already voting for plating individually or maybe serving family style, but not buffet style. Nothing tastes as good from a buffet.

What 60 year old woman wouldn't like to see photos of herself when younger?

A few thoughts on the menu: just because it's breakfast, don't overload entirely on carbohydrates. Keep the other food groups in mind. Maybe that's part of my breakfast aversion. It's often sweet rolls, muffins, toast, orange juice, and eggs. Gag.

Also, I always try and find out if the guest of honor has a favorite dish or ingredient that I could include in the meal.

A few real ideas:

Classic:
quiche with ham
roasted vegetables
croissants
fresh seasonal fruit cup
strawberry cake for dessert

All Crepes:
Make sure you include filling options such as ham spinach and goat cheese, as well the sweeter options like chocolate and lemon. Warning: it takes a long time to make crepes for a crowd so you would need to have a handy helper who could be making crepes continually for the hour leading up to the party.

French Toast-
dare I say bar? French toast cooks faster than crepes. Provide a variety of toppings like maple syrup and nuts, raspberries and whipped cream. Throw in sides of crisp bacon and roasted vegetables for those who don't want to leave with diabetes.

Here are a few real recipe ideas:
Martha Stewart's brunch menu
Make sure you check out her other links at the bottom of the page.
I bet there are plenty of Breakfast-Lover Readers out there. Maybe they could help you out with a favorite recipe or an inspiring idea.


Good luck!

Dear Grandma

This will interest very few of you. These pictures are posted primarily for my Grandma so we can discuss how the party went. I'll call her and remind her how to get to my website, then she'll tell me how beautiful my tables looked and I'll feel pleased with myself. That I actually accomplished something feeling.

Yes, I had to put a table in the family room.

I wish I had taken a picture before the four folding chairs had to come in. They were very handy but not attractive.

This was my favorite thing about the table: the place card holders! Aren't they adorable? I thought of them myself and you can bet I'll use this same idea again. I already have pastel birds for spring.
Yes, there is a See's truffle in the box, but no, I did not get to wrapping the boxes for the red table. I can hear your concern: I used my silver on the dining room table.

The silver and blue table before the many candles were lit.
Notice the chandelier.

Good lighting.



I did wrap the tiny boxes for this table. And when I say "I", I mean Justin. I tied the ribbon on. I have since re-thought the snowflake placecard holders. Too scrap-book-y?

The kids table.

Complete with well behaved kids. There were actually 14 children (!) but these were the oldest. All except Whitman were on their best behavior.

I didn't get a full shot of the buffet table, but here's the Prime Rib in Croute. My talented chef friend, Karren, made all the food besides the (amazing) rolls.
Cheese and vegetable pie. To die for.

Diane is placing her fork in the Duchess potatoes. They looked like rosettes and tasted like heaven. Now that I'm noticing, Diane didn't eat very much.

Here's the full menu:

Cross Rib Roast on Croute with Duxelle
Torta Rustica
Roasted Root Vegetables
Potatoes Duchesse
Cream Spinach
Figgy Pudding
Plum Pudding
Croquembouche
Rolls
Assorted Drinks

The drinks consisted of a homemade ginger soda for starters and sipping chocolate with homemade peppermint marshmallows as an ending, by Justin.

The End.

The Day After the Party

I have a stack of questions that need answering, some pressing, but I don't feel like answering any of them. I've got that "day after the party feeling". You see a few days ago I had a luncheon with important guests. I had to not only prepare the food and table, but also have my entire house presentable. All the preparations, cleaning, flower arranging, shopping, ironing, and baking kept me busy and motivated for days.

The lunch went well, I'd call it a success. But now, I have no motivation. Why should I make my bed and clean up the toys? No one is going to see it. What's the point in having my summer drapes freshly hung if no one stopping by will notice? I don't need to be shopping for new summer table linens, again, who will be there to appreciate them? There are no menus to plan and baking is definitely out of the question. (diet.) If happiness is having something to look forward to, than that explains it all. In short, the day after the party feeling is a case of the blahs.

In an effort to cheer myself up a little bit, here are a few pictures from the lunch party. Note: they are not the best pictures. When you are the (hurried) host and your husband has (kindly) taken the boys to the beach, that leaves little time to pause and take photos.

The Table.

A place setting. My silver pattern is "Melrose", in case you want to buy me a shiny present.

The important guests. In order of importance, (kidding, clockwise): cousin Becky, my Grandma that you've all heard about, Aunt Bethanne, Aunt Gayle, friend Jan, and my Mom, Judy-tunes.

Here's the great and scary thing about my Grandma E.-she notices everything. She takes in and notes every detail of your house, appearance, food, you name it. She has what we in the biz call "a good eye". This might make you nervous, thinking that she's re-hanging your drapes in her head or questioning your choice of artwork. And if it needs improving, she probably is thinking it. She's usually right and she freely shares her opinions. What's so great about this is that none of your efforts are wasted. And just like the praise from a critic, it means so much more. This also gets most of us scurrying before her arrival. For example, my cousin frantically bought new furniture in anticipation. I like that kind of pressure, it gets me moving. Maybe she's softening with age, but pretty much everything she has to say is flattering. Also, it's not like the rest of you will notice that I polished the butter dish before placing it on the table.


It wasn't till we were half-way through dessert that someone said "we should take a picture of this" and I slapped myself because it was an attractive menu. Here's what I served and try to act surprised if I have you over for lunch and serve the same to you in the near future, should you be so lucky:

Chilled Watermelon and Ginger Soup
Salmon Salad Nicoise, with lime-aide and bread
Pavlova with fresh berries and flowers

Don't you like how I balanced feminine and masculine with this arrangement? Kidding. I can't tell you how much I love these flowers. Besides the lavender horn that I knew I should have pulled out but couldn't make myself do, this is one of my all-time flower arrangements. It's even better in person because the hydrangeas were more blue than purple and the smell. Oh the smell. The flowers came almost entirely from my friend Audrey's garden. She came to my rescue at just the right moment.

This post did cheer me up a little bit. Just so you know, this happens after most parties are over and cherished guests leave. The feeling of being lost afterwards, what now? I'll make do by throwing a few small lunches this summer. They will be more practical, my guests won't comment much or discuss dish patterns with me, and they certainly won't return the favor and have me over to lunch later, but I'll enjoy it.