How to throw a dinner party without being Martha Stewart

Describe your perfect day.

This exercise was the icebreaker one week at the beginning of the small group bible study that Katie and I were in back in college. For some people this might be a tough assignment. But for me, it was easy, and my answer is still the same 4 years later: to spend the day cooking and getting ready for a dinner party with friends.

For a lot of people, the idea of throwing a dinner party is one of the most stressful things--pretty much the opposite of a perfect day! But it can also be so fulfilling to host a gathering where friends can enjoy each other around the table. Food brings people together.

In this post, I'm going to share with you some dinner party hacks from a get-together I threw recently that will hopefully empower even the most anxiety-ridden host, and save some dollars while you're at it! I'll even give you a whole menu of recipes!

Keep It Simple Stupid. This age-old saying definitely applies to stress-free dinner parties. Keep the guest list small, the menu basic, and the booze cheap. Simple does not have to mean boring or bad!

 

[photobooth fun. just like the college days.]

The Guest List
My friends make fun of me because I tend to "socially construct" get-togethers. I don't just invite every person I know every time, I'm very strategic about it. That might sound mean, but it relieves a lot of anxiety when you don't have to worry about people having a good time or getting along.

I usually aim for around 5 or so guests. There isn't a real science to it--that's just how many fit nicely around my table! I also find it to be a good size for everyone to be together in one conversation. and it's a typical serving size for most recipes, so you don't have to mess with doubling anything ($$$) or running out of food.

For this dinner party in particular, it was myself and four friends from college getting together to catch up. My fellow Happy Eater Amanda was among the mix. :)

[cheese on carbs. doesn't get any better.]

The Menu
Again, keep it simple! Don't have a hundred courses with a zillion complicated recipes. Italian is often a good direction to go--almost everyone likes it, it's fairly simple and it makes a ton! So here's a breakdown of what I served at my dinner party, with full recipes and everything!

It's always nice to have some kind of snacky appetizer while people are arriving and you're wrapping things up in the kitchen. A cheese tray is a simple and solid choice.

I had out a plate of sliced French baguette from the Publix bakery section with two wedges of cheese from the deli section: a Publix-brand brie and a Publix-brand aged sharp cheddar. Simple, cheap (yay generic brands!) and no cooking required! All you have to do is put it all on a plate and set on the table! If you're feeling adventurous, you can grab a pack of sliced salami and proscuitto (also found in the deli) to serve with the cheese.

For the main, I chose to make my dad's baked ziti (recipe below). It's simple and really easy to prepare in advance and pop in the oven when it's time go! oh, and it's also so delicious and makes a ton. wins all around. I started cooking it when I got home from work, assembled the baking dish, and stuck it in the oven to heat through when people started to arrive.

Along with the pasta, I had Amanda bring a Caesar salad (recipe below). Another reason to go Italian--a Caesar salad is much more simple than having to dice and chop lots of veggies because the lettuce and dressing are the stars of the show.

Lastly, I had a loaf of sliced White Mountain Bread from the Publix bakery and wrapped it in foil to heat up and serve with the pasta.

 [ice cream sammies. easiest, most impressive dessert!]

For dessert, one of my guests requested ice cream cookie sandwiches. Sounds intimidating right? Not the way I do it :) I had break-n-bake chocolate chip cookies that I had baked and stuck in the freezer the day before. When it was time for dessert, I pulled them out along with a pint of vanilla ice cream and spoons, and everyone assembled their own! Fun and delicious and impressive and yet nothing from scratch! You could even buy cookies in the bakery and skip the baking step all together! No shame.

The Booze
Yet another way that Italian wins is that wine is cheaper and easier than cocktails! Most likely at least one of your guests will ask if they can bring something, and wine is a great thing to request so you're not shouldering the cost of a few bottles on your own. We ended up with two bottles of red (including my fave, a $10 Mouton Cadet Bordeaux from Publix) and a bottle of white. We had a special treat because one of our guests brought his homemade limoncello--perfect for Italian!



Okay. So I've given you some time- and money-saving tips for throwing a simple, easy-going dinner party. Now it's your turn! I hope you feel empowered to go out and host your own. It's all about spending quality time with people you enjoy, so just breathe and break out another bottle of wine and everything will be great.

Let me know how it goes!

      

My Dad's Baked Ziti

1 jar of your fave spaghetti sauce (somewhere are 32oz)

1 box of ziti noodles

1 green pepper, chopped

1 lb of Italian sausage (I like using ground better than links)

2 cups shredded mozzarella

Cook noodles to al dente.

Meanwhile, brown sausage in skillet. Remove from pan, and saute green pepper.

Heat sauce in saucepan until bubbling. Add cooked sausage and green pepper and heat through.

Grab a 13x9 dish. Put down a ladle of sauce and spread around the bottom of dish to keep noodles from sticking. Add half the noodles and spread evenly. Spoon half the sauce over top. Add the second half of the noodles. Spoon the rest of the sauce over top, then top with cheese. (You can stop here and stick in the fridge until you're ready to pop it in the oven!)

Bake uncovered at 350 until bubbly and heated through.

Amanda's Caesar Salad

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Your fave croutons

Diced avocado (her secret ingredient!)

Parmesan cheese

Your fave Caesar dressing (Amanda loves Brianna's)

TGIFriday: Things to cook in August

It's August you guys! Can you believe that?!

I was trolling BuzzFeed this week and came across a glorious post on 31 things to cook in August, based on the yummy things that are in season as fall approaches.

I pinned the heck outta those recipes, here are some of my favorites to try soon!

blueberry hand pies, white peach gin fizz, grilled shrimp with cilantro, lime and peanuts,

creme fraiche galette with heirloom tomatoes, Mediterranean lamb burger]

Which ones catch your eye? Take advantage of the weekend and try them out for yourself

Happy eating!
   

    

TGIFriday Video: Booze and John Green!

We 3 Happy Eaters have a particular fondness of author/vlogger John Green. He wrote The Fault in Our Stars, a New York Times Best Seller, and if you haven't read it you really really should. Really. I don't care if you don't like YA, you will love this book.

On the vlog scene, John Green hosts Mental Floss, a weekly show on YouTube "where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information." Seriously nerdy, seriously witty, seriously amazing, and his latest vlog is this week's TGIFriday Food/Fun video!

A quick, fascinating look at the history behind your favorite cocktails:

Happy Friday, eaters!

    

Go to there: The Pinewood

 

[whiskey on whiskey on whiskey.]

Last week, Amanda called me up (and by that I mean g-chatted me) to see if I wanted to join her for dinner and cocktails at The Pinewood in Decatur, known for their whiskey selection and home of Whiskey Wednesdays (50% off whiskey cocktails!). She had an awesome ScoutMob Hand-Picked deal (sorry, it's over) that was going to expire, so off we went!

When they opened at 6, we were one of the first parties in the door. It was such a fun, not-overly-hipster atmosphere with a very cool looking bar and all the staff looked like they walked out of a Madewell magazine.

[The menus were in up-cycled legal file folders.]

The menu--food and cocktails--had us drooling as soon as it was handed to us (and by that I mean when we looked it up online earlier that day). I ended up going with a whiskey drink called the Day That I Die, with a big slice of ginger in it! Amanda went with the Van Lear Rose, gin mixed with rosewater.

[left, Amanda's Van Lear Rose. right, my Day That I Die]

Both were so beautiful and delicious that we had to try more. But first, the food.

[see that? that's andouille. in the dressing.]

We started with the jumbo sea scallop because, when you have a deal like this one, of course you go for the most expensive thing you can get! It was served on a bed of creamy grits and frisee with an andouille vinaigrette. You know something is good when there is sausage in the dressing. It didn't have the crisp you hope for in a scallop, but overall very, very tasty.

[photo from The Pinewood's website. I was too hungry to take one myself.]

I was thrown off by one of the items on the menu--a bolognaise pasta with a fried egg on top. What. I had never heard of such a thing. So I asked our waiter about it and he said it was his favorite dish on the menu. So of course that's what I ordered. and it was delicious indeed--such an unusual combination (to me) but the egg married so well with the spices in the sauce. I was very happy with my choice.

[That's a gala apple puree on top.]

Amanda ordered the grilled pork chop with sweet potatoes. It looked, smelled and tasted divine (isn't that just what you hope for in a meal?), and I know this because she was kind enough to share a bite with me. The sweet potatoes were caramelized so they were slightly sweet, which was just right with the pork chop.

So now, our second round of cocktails. We both chose from the "Monday laundry list" of New Orleans-inspired specials--a French 75 for me, and an absinthe frappe for Amanda.

[so pretty and elegant!]

I love a good French cocktail (champagne and gin. heaven.) so I was thrilled with mine. The only thing that could have made it better would have been drinking it in actual France.

[crushed ice = frappe.]

Amanda's, on the other hand, was super bizarre. Probably shoulda guessed that from the phrase "absinthe frappe," but still, we were surprised. It was exactly what it said it would be, with a heavy licorice flavor from the absinthe. Probably wouldn't choose it again, but the fault was ours, not theirs.

I'm eager to go back to Pinewood for Whiskey Wednesdays and try more of their cocktails. and food. Maybe the ScoutMob gods will hear our roar and have another Hand-Picked deal.

In the meantime, get yourself there! It's on the opposite side of the block from TacoMac. and remember they open at 6--so if you get there at 5:45 you'll have to kill time in the shops next door. or so I hear :)

    

Is it Pimm's o'clock yet?

It's been raining all night and day here in Atlanta and I can't help but echo Amanda's yearning for warmer weather. 

My most favorite drink of all time is a Pimm's Cup. Most people say this is a summer drink, probably because it's the official drink of Wimbledon, but I think it's just too good to only drink in the summer. 

[doing a little research at Leon's Full Service in Decatur. So good.] 

Pimm's No. 1 is a gin-based liquor made in England. 

The best part is - it's super easy to make at home! 

Traditionally, the English put 1 part Pimm's No. 1 and 3 parts chilled lemonade. Then throw in some cut fruit (strawberries, cucumbers, lemon) and mint leaves. 

If sparkling lemonade doesn't strike you, you can do an easy swap for ginger ale. (Although technically, this would make your beverage a Pimm's Ginger.) 

[does this look like a little happy family or what?] 

I recently learned that Pimm's was first made by James Pimm in 1823, an owner of an oyster bar in London, to aid in digestion. So, it's healthy to drink. Or whatever you need to justify this deliciousness.

[For more recipes, check out Pimm's website.]

So what are you waiting for? Throw all that goodness into a glass and look at your watch -- "It's Pimm's o'clock!" 

Pimm's Original:
1 part Pimm's No. 1
3 parts chilled lemonade
Add mint, cucumber, orange and strawberry

Pimm's Ginger:
1 part Pimm's No. 1
3 parts ginger ale 
Add a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint


That does it for drink week! Did you try any of these? Beer? Hot Toddy's? What's your go-to beverage? 

You know you're a beer snob if...

[The 3 Happy Eaters in NYC a few years ago, enjoying a brew in line for Shake Shack.]

I have a reputation among my friends as the beer snob. I won't let anything with the word "ultra," "lite" or "ice" in it pass my lips. I probably won't drink it unless it's darker in color than lemonade (or another famously yellow liquid). And few things offend me more than a potentially delicious beer ruined by a frosted mug.

I blame my snobbery on my dad. He raised me with a healthy attitude about alcohol. I don't remember my parents drinking it, but I also didn't receive the impression that it was taboo. Chalk one up for "all things in moderation."

[Like father, like daughter.]

When I became of consuming age, he taught me important things like that Bass Ale is bottom-of-the-line standard and that wheat beer isn't really beer (ahem Blue Moon) and that drinking out of the bottle is sooo middle class.

The all-time biggest offense to a well-cultured beer drinker is the frosted mug. My dad and I are both known to order an unfrosted glass while dining at lesser-informed establishments. And here's why:

Most bottles of beer (worth drinking, anyway) have the correct temperature at which the beer should be served printed on the label. It is never ever ever going to marked slushie-cold. No. You should only drink BAD beer at sub-arctic temperatures, because the colder the beer the less you can actually taste it. You shouldn't be drinking bad beer in the first place, so let's just stop it all together with the frosted glasses thing.

Speaking of glasses, despite the creation of more dishes to clean, I suggest you don't drink out of the bottle whenever possible. Much like wine, beer has a "nose" and crafters perfect their beers based on the assumption of that additional sense. It's a more forgivable offense, however, and I'd always pick a bottle over a frosted glass (are you getting the seriousness of that one yet?).

[A suite of beers to taste at The Brick Store Pub in Decatur.]

When you go to bars or pubs that have an extensive beer menu, you'll notice that different types of beers are served in different shaped glasses. This poster hangs above our bar cart and is a fun way of seeing which type of beer should be served in which glass (depending on the "nose" of the beer, as mentioned above).

[Sweetwater Motor Boat: here for a good time, not a long time.]

Now for some beer recommendations! I tend to go for the ambers, browns, and reds. My favorite beer of all time is a Sweetwater seasonal, Motor Boat, an ESB that usually hits Atlanta-area stores around October. As I mentioned before, Bass Ale is a great go-to when you're somewhere with a smaller beer selection. Another of my favorites is Rogue's Dead Guy Ale, an Amber that's very drinkable. 

[Eye Patch IPA by Monday Night Brewing that I snagged at The Beer Growler in Brookhaven.]

I encourage you to explore the local brews from your area--craft breweries are popping up all over! Also be sure to find your local growler--these are storefronts where you purchase a jug for around $5 and then choose from 20-30 different beers on draft (prices depend on the beer). They bottle it for you, seal it up so you're legit, and you get to have on-draft beer at home! (Atlanta Eaters: ScoutMob has tons of deals for growlers all over the city, even OTP!) 

Cheers!