Dinner Party

Tonight I hosted a small dinner party and loved every minute of it!
I even went out and bought new pasta bowls I was so excited.  You might not think that's saying much, but in London space is everything. 4 new bowls!... you may as well be bringing a motorcycle into your kitchen... you just don't have the room.  However, tonight I bit the space bullet and was so glad I did.  Especially since had I not, one of the bowls would have had a chip and who wants to be given a bowl with a chip? NO ONE!
OK, OK, enough about my new huge plain white pasta bowls.

What brought on the dinner party you ask?  A friend is going to school to become a certified hypnotherapist and needed some study hours so while I was in the kitchen she was hypnotizing some other girl friends in a private room in the flat.  I think it was a splendid reason to feed some friends.  If you are interested in being hypnotized let me know and I'll put you in contact with her.

What did I serve?
-First course:  rocket and baby spinach salad with shredded beetroot and Dijon mustard dressing (a tad too heavy on the garlic, but hey, I did ask them if they had issues with garlic beforehand... I love garlic.) I also had the option of pancetta and piccolo cherry tomatoes to toss in if they wished.
-Second course: Tagliatelle pasta with Ina's red sauce recipe topped with fresh flat leaf parsley and Parmesan cheese.  I came very close to over salting this dish, but thankfully didn't.  I will most definitely make this sauce again. It was really good and so easy to make.  I made it an hour before everyone showed up and just let it stay warm on the stove top.

*Had the pasta water boiling while I was eating my salad.  Timing could not have been better for entertaining.  We also had a fresh baguette to devour with our meal.

-Third course: Warm Molten Chocolate Cake with Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream and blue berries.  Don't forget to set the ice cream out so it isn't rock solid when you go to scoop it.  If you forget, no worries, just throw it in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds.

Anything else?  Yes, we had two delicious bottles of red wine.  I needed a bottle of chianti for my red sauce and since I only needed a 1/2 cup I had to do something with the rest of the bottle... so me and my friend who came early sipped on that while watching the red sauce simmer...  Ina always says never cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink yourself so I followed her advice to the T.  As for bottle #2, she (when I say "she" I mean my friend, not Ina...hee hee...) brought a very tasty organic red wine that we also "almost" finished.


When did the festivities begin?  Just before 5pm and ended at 10:30pm, I'd say that was a successful dinner party for a Monday night.  We only had one person leave early...about 9:15pm and since I didn't trust myself with the left over ice cream I sent it home with her.

What did I forget? To offer anyone tea or coffee with dessert!! aahh! I can't believe I forgot about that. Shame on me.  I should have set it on the counter during prep work time to prevent this little mishap.

Where was the mister?  He was at work, then the gym and then came home and gobbled up his saved portion.  He seemed like a happy boy.

Why am I up at 1am blogging about this already?  Well, I can honestly say I wasn't even married the last time I drank that much red wine.  I just stopped drinking it one day.  However, tonight it was delicious and I just couldn't help myself.  So between the red wine and the sugar from the ice cream and chocolate cake my blood pressure is through the roof.  I can feel the blood running through my veins it's so bad.  I am a delicate flower what can I say.  The worst part is that I have a grocery delivery that will be here in 5 hours! HA!

I'm also kicking myself that I did not take any pictures of tonight.  That is SOOO not like me.  I take pictures of everything.  Especially food.  Oh well, I'll just have to do it again and take some then.

Just so you know... this was the easiest party that I have ever hosted.  I will remember this party plan for sure.

Cheers!