My First Dinner Party: A Success

One good thing that came from last year’s quarantine was that I had time to rediscover my passion for cooking. When I was younger, I was able to cook a lot. But the hustle and bustle of life has a way of shifting our priorities.

Fortunately, my rediscovered culinary skills plus hours, days, and months of isolation gave birth to my genuine desire to entertain.

Yesterday, I had the honor of hosting a dinner party for my mother, grandmother, and aunts in celebration of my new apartment and my Mom’s birthday. Check out the details below to see how I pulled it together!

The Menu
I designed the menu using Canva. I started with the “Beige Elegant Floral Menu” Template and made adjustments to suit my personal taste. After I designed the menu, I printed them and used a regular glue stick to adhere them to blue cardstock, cut them out, and voilà!

Recipes
These are the recipes I used. The only menu item I didn’t get to make from scratch were the jalapeño poppers with bacon-wrapped quail, which I purchased from Buc-ee's and cooked on a cast iron griddle.

Image courtesy of Vivino

• Crab Cake Poppers

• Cilantro-lime dipping sauce

• Peach Tea

• Garlic Parmesan Wings

• Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

• Oven-Roasted Veggies

• Torta de Queso al Horno (Basque Cheesecake)

  The Wine
  I chose a bottle of Bottega Oro Rosa, a light-bodied, off-dry, Italian sparkling wine with flavors of strawberry and peach and a lingering finish. This wine paired well with the chosen menu options and fit the celebratory mood of the occasion perfectly!
  
  The Table Setting

• Toasting flutes from Dollar Tree

• Dansk drinking glasses gifted to me by my Dad 🥰 This glass is no longer in stock by Dansk, but I was able to find something similar on the Bed, Bath & Beyond website

• Silver charger/serving plates from Michael’s for $1.99 each

• TrueLiving patterned ceramic dinner plates from Dollar General for $2 each

Blue patterned ceramic side plates from Dollar General for $2 each
Navy blue cloth napkins from Amazon for $7.99
Light blue classic ramekins for dipping sauces ($9.98)

Light blue 3-piece ceramic bakeware set for serving the roasted veggies and shrimp scampi ($29.99)

Honestly, this experience—planning, preparing, and serving a three-course meal as a sit-down dinner for my family—greatly exceeded my expectations. I got many compliments on the food and the setup. We laughed, conversed, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I cannot wait to host my next dinner party!