Dinner Parties

[Maeglin]

@YaraMateo

I don’t blame you. If your passionate about a hobby, spend all the money you can afford. I like your system. Spending on what you use and cutting back on what you don’t. If it weren’t for True Blood, I don’t think I’d own a tv. (I’m not huge on tv, but I love movies.)I watch all of my dvds on my computer.

ETA: Only if you like red.

I do like red. I only really know about Bordeaux, though, but I can be convinced.

But yeah, there is no limit to what my wife and I spend on what we are passionate about. We throw serious tea parties, too. My wife, who actually is Asian, loves English-style high and low teas. I, as white as the day is long, like Chinese gong fu tea ceremony. Neither of us think anything of spending $500/lb on the right rare tea. Our couch is a piece of shit that we have been meaning to replace for ever, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So if you like tea, you probably won’t be disappointed. We’ve done parties with a few different kinds of tea interspersed with dim sum snackies.

Damn, I am getting hungry.

[YaraMateo]

@lindsaybluth

I’m 24 and I hold dinner parties. I don’t make superspecial food for the one or two people who are vegetarians and they’re just fine. So long as you honor all allergies seriously, go for it!

If they don’t like it, you need to find a new crowd. Some people are happy eating Cheetos and wiping their hands on their tube socks for all of eternity.

Protip: don’t do a potluck. Your friends - especially if they’re in their 20’s - will bring some garbage they bought at the grocery store.

I thought you were older for some reason. :smack:

I’m going to see how it does. Next Saturday, I’m going to have a dressy dessert/drinks party. Try to make them think it’s their idea to keep it going. If it dies, I’m befriending foodies.

Some of my friends are good cooks, but you’re right. I have no idea what they would bring. I’m all into themes.

@Vihaga

You might be right about the grilling. My husband couldn’t cook a bit when we first moved in together, but he gradually picked up the basics. He was, however, never a great cook.

Then my parents bought us a nice grill when we bought a house. It was like you could hear angels singing the first time he threw a couple of steaks on the thing. Now he smokes pork, spends all afternoon making us ribs, and did his first brisket for our last barbecue. He’s constantly trying new rubs, making new marinades, and experimenting with new techniques. He’s also become quite a good cook in general, all since we got the grill.

I’m a decent enough cook, and I don’t shy away from complicated recipes, but I can’t grill like he does. I don’t think I ever will.

My ex was like that. He like the Gordon Ramsey of the grill. Well, he was a lot like Gordon Ramsey (and he was English) in general.

My mom is really good on the grill. I’ve tried a few times, but it’s not in the cards for me.

@Maeglin

I do like red. I only really know about Bordeaux, though, but I can be convinced.

But yeah, there is no limit to what my wife and I spend on what we are passionate about. We throw serious tea parties, too. My wife, who actually is Asian, loves English-style high and low teas. I, as white as the day is long, like Chinese gong fu tea ceremony. Neither of us think anything of spending $500/lb on the right rare tea. Our couch is a piece of shit that we have been meaning to replace for ever, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So if you like tea, you probably won’t be disappointed. We’ve done parties with a few different kinds of tea interspersed with dim sum snackies.

Damn, I am getting hungry.

Maybe instead of the wine, I’ll bring you a Wedgwood teapot. I was just looking at their site earlier. Their china is to die for. I have a few teapots and sets from them. I actually got one of my sets as a graduation gift. I know, I’m weird. I’m so taking a trip to your house. I love tea parties.

[Baker]

@YaraMateo

As most of you probably imagined (if you ever gave the time to lol), I was very odd child. One of the things I imagined doing as an adult (and imagined adults did frequently) was have and throw dinner parties. Oh, how grand would my dinner parties be!

Anyway, I am in my 20s. I have china. (I love china!). I have friends (despite what you think). I have food to give these people and nice plates to give it to them on, but no dinner parties. :mad: I’ve also not being invited to any. :mad:

I had a talk with a friend who is very like minded as I am. We’re going to try to get this dinner party thing started. I thought about it. Was I wrong as a child? Do adults not have swanky dinner parties?

TLDR; Do you have dinner parties? Do you like them? How many have you gone to? (This includes ones you’ve thrown!)

I once had a small dinner party based on foods mentioned in the TV series Babylon 5. Some of the dishes we had were Swedish meatballs and bagna cauda. All of us were fans of the show, and the meal was a success.

[Full_Metal_Lotus]

We throw Dim Sum parties. My wife and I love Asian style cusine and hospitality (niether of us are Asian, we are Canadian of euro descent, both of us). I currently can cook 38 Dim Sum dishes, and of a typical evening trot out anywhere from 25-30 of them in under 4 hrs.

Family and guests have learned that you DO NOT just wander into the kitchen when I am involved at that rate - (its dangerous, and will get you screamed at).

I have just finished learning how to do items 37 - eggplant stuffed with pork, and and 38 - noodles with ginger and green onions (a very tricky dish to get “just right”),

Dress is causal, and Mrs Full does most of the hostessing while I go nuts in the kitchen. At any one time, I might have two sets of stacked steamers, a deep fryer and the back yard BBQ in play.

Guest list typically includes 15 -20 people, items are served on plates and guests have saucers, chopsticks, forks to grab and consume the Dim Sum items.

Among my friends are several people with Asian backgrounds, and it blows them away more than anyone - typically, in their cultures, one goes “out” for dim sum.

Before this post gets too braggy, let me add that we also have Hot Pot parties, and Mongolian BBQ Parties. Now… its TOO braggy.

Cost for 20 people is cheap; typically around $75 - $125, prep time is where it costs. The day before dim sum day I generally work 7-10 hours prepping, then another 4-6 on the day, 4 hours cooking, and another 2 in clean up.

I am 50, and my wife is in her early 40’s

[YaraMateo]

@Baker

I once had a small dinner party based on foods mentioned in the TV series Babylon 5. Some of the dishes we had were Swedish meatballs and bagna cauda. All of us were fans of the show, and the meal was a success.

That seems like a cool theme. I have a few friends who like the same show as me, True Blood. For that, I don’t think I’d go full blown dinner party. That’s more of a snack and paper plate thing.

Glad your party went well.

@Full_Metal_Lotus

We throw Dim Sum parties. My wife and I love Asian style cusine and hospitality (niether of us are Asian, we are Canadian of euro descent, both of us). I currently can cook 38 Dim Sum dishes, and of a typical evening trot out anywhere from 25-30 of them in under 4 hrs.

Family and guests have learned that you DO NOT just wander into the kitchen when I am involved at that rate - (its dangerous, and will get you screamed at).

I have just finished learning how to do items 37 - eggplant stuffed with pork, and and 38 - noodles with ginger and green onions (a very tricky dish to get “just right”),

Dress is causal, and Mrs Full does most of the hostessing while I go nuts in the kitchen. At any one time, I might have two sets of stacked steamers, a deep fryer and the back yard BBQ in play.

Guest list typically includes 15 -20 people, items are served on plates and guests have saucers, chopsticks, forks to grab and consume the Dim Sum items.

Among my friends are several people with Asian backgrounds, and it blows them away more than anyone - typically, in their cultures, one goes “out” for dim sum.

Before this post gets too braggy, let me add that we also have Hot Pot parties, and Mongolian BBQ Parties. Now… its TOO braggy.

Cost for 20 people is cheap; typically around $75 - $125, prep time is where it costs. The day before dim sum day I generally work 7-10 hours prepping, then another 4-6 on the day, 4 hours cooking, and another 2 in clean up.

I am 50, and my wife is in her early 40’s

If you didn’t say your wife was in her early 40s, I would have thought you were Ramsey’s (my ex’s alias) father. He was a great cook and would do something like this.

You deserve to brag. That’s wonderful you’ve learned to cook so many styles of dim sum.

I’d love to try an Asian style dinner party. Sounds like it could be loads of fun. If not, I can always crash your’s.

[PunditLisa]

I host a dinner every couple of months for two different groups of friends. One group is very informal because we play tennis beforehand and so we’re all sweaty. The host is in charge of the entree and the other 3 couples provide appetizer, salad, and dessert. We all bring wine. After dinner we all play girls v. boys games.

The other group is a tad more formal, though jeans are still the norm. We all take turns hosting. The host pretty much prepares everything but we all bring a bottle or two of wine. Because there are only 6 of us, the meals are generally much nicer – prime rib, etc.

A few years ago, my friend invited me to join her dinner party circle. I went to the first one and it was very formal. The hostess was an incredible cook, and she greeted us in a skirt and heels. Kind of odd. Good dinner, but honestly we didn’t have much in common. And I felt intimidated me because there’s no way I could keep up with the Joneses when it was my turn to host. We ended up taking the group out to dinner and then I resigned from the group.

[YaraMateo]

@PunditLisa

I host a dinner every couple of months for two different groups of friends. One group is very informal because we play tennis beforehand and so we’re all sweaty. The host is in charge of the entree and the other 3 couples provide appetizer, salad, and dessert. We all bring wine. After dinner we all play girls v. boys games.

The other group is a tad more formal, though jeans are still the norm. We all take turns hosting. The host pretty much prepares everything but we all bring a bottle or two of wine. Because there are only 6 of us, the meals are generally much nicer – prime rib, etc.

A few years ago, my friend invited me to join her dinner party circle. I went to the first one and it was very formal. The hostess was an incredible cook, and she greeted us in a skirt and heels. Kind of odd. Good dinner, but honestly we didn’t have much in common. And I felt intimidated me because there’s no way I could keep up with the Joneses when it was my turn to host. We ended up taking the group out to dinner and then I resigned from the group.

It’s interesting to see how dinner parties vary among different friends and circles. That reminds me of the time I spent in NY. Instead of dinner parties, we would go out to resturants and it would get expensive. At times, it felt like a lot of one up manships and keeping up with the Joneses.

[lindsaybluth]

@YaraMateo

I thought you were older for some reason. :smack:

I’m going to see how it does. Next Saturday, I’m going to have a dressy dessert/drinks party. Try to make them think it’s their idea to keep it going. If it dies, I’m befriending foodies.

Some of my friends are good cooks, but you’re right. I have no idea what they would bring. I’m all into themes.

Ha, in real life I get carded for rated R movies and online I’m thought to be older. Good idea in starting out slow for them - otherwise you’ll overwhelm them. A friend of mine will probably never come over for dinner again - she brought chicken wings to a potluck that weren’t touched, I made spicy Thai peanut noodles that were gone 1/2 way through the party. It was awkward.

We should team up - I make a ton of food but I have zero creativity for themes or anything like that. I mean, all my food “goes” well together but I’m not at the point where I do corresponding drinks and desserts and shit, or based on a timeperiod or TV show. That may change but I don’t feel like I should put forth the effort until it’s reciprocated by friends. I’ll go all-out for myself and my other half, though.

cries Full Metal Lotus, why are you never in the “What’s for dinner?” thread?! Making your own Dim Sum is pretty freaking hardcore.

[YaraMateo]

@lindsaybluth

Ha, in real life I get carded for rated R movies and online I’m thought to be older. Good idea in starting out slow for them - otherwise you’ll overwhelm them. A friend of mine will probably never come over for dinner again - she brought chicken wings to a potluck that weren’t touched, I made spicy Thai peanut noodles that were gone 1/2 way through the party. It was awkward.

We should team up - I make a ton of food but I have zero creativity for themes or anything like that. I mean, all my food “goes” well together but I’m not at the point where I do corresponding drinks and desserts and shit, or based on a timeperiod or TV show. That may change but I don’t feel like I should put forth the effort until it’s reciprocated by friends. I’ll go all-out for myself and my other half, though.

cries Full Metal Lotus, why are you never in the “What’s for dinner?” thread?! Making your own Dim Sum is pretty freaking hardcore.

I’ll never forget the time my former job had this like potluck thing. I wanted to bring in something simple that would feed a lot of people. So, I brought in home made baked ziti and meat balls. (Ok, I cheated and my mom helped with the gravy.) Everyone was all :eek:. You’d have thought I brought in beef wellington.

Please PM any time you have a party. I’d love to brain storm ideas. I love the little things about parties and get togethers. Like china, favors, and decorations. I also love invites and stationary.

[lindsaybluth]

People who don’t cook get weirded out by those who do. I don’t know why.

Also, I find it hilarious that they’re less willing to eat something that was cooked by someone they know over going into a restaurant. To me, eating unfamiliar restaurant food is akin to going up to a stranger, handing them $20 and saying “I’m hungry - please don’t poison me”. Not that I don’t go to new restaurants often, quite the opposite, but it’s obviously a bigger risk than a previously known entity cooking for you.

[YaraMateo]

@lindsaybluth

People who don’t cook get weirded out by those who do. I don’t know why.

Also, I find it hilarious that they’re less willing to eat something that was cooked by someone they know over going into a restaurant. To me, eating unfamiliar restaurant food is akin to going up to a stranger, handing them $20 and saying “I’m hungry - please don’t poison me”. Not that I don’t go to new restaurants often, quite the opposite, but it’s obviously a bigger risk than a previously known entity cooking for you.

People who don’t cook at all seem to think certain foods are harder to make then they really are. To be honest, some of the easiest looking things are the hardest. I’ve been wanting to try to make Asian pork buns. It takes a lot of effort and work, but the final product is simple looking.

I’ve always been lucky in that I’ve never gotten sick from restaurant food. I think it just depends on your circle of friends and culture. Like in NYC, a lot of people don 't have room in their apartments for people. Sometimes the resturants have GREAT atmosphere.

Around here, there’s a few places I eat at regularly. While at first they were strangers, now I know them really well. I even know the take out guys know me. It’s nice. That’s only three places.

[DMark]

I have been to many dinner parties where you have to dress up - mostly when I was living in Berlin, but a few here in the US.
One important fact that has been mentioned; if you do throw a dress-up dinner party, make sure you do it right. Some have food that is mediocre at best, and made no effort to make it special in presentation. Others have not thought out simple things like table decoration or candles or music.
Also, there has to be a limit to number of people, and try to get a variety of different personalities. Some of the best dinner parties had a “special guest” - perhaps a friend who had just returned from some exotic location, or an artist of some renown, or a friend with a cool/interesting job. The idea being there would be some interesting conversation at the dinner while going through the many courses.
Dinner parties can be fun, but they take some planning.
Oh, and as a recent thread about RSVP’s pointed out, you might have some problems making sure everyone you invited shows up!

[aruvqan]

@YaraMateo

That’s shocking most men don’t own a full suit. Don’t they realize how sexy it makes them look? :o

I think I’ll just ask for semi formal attire.

Hubby looks fantastic in either full dress blues or a suit. Which reminds me, it is time to take him out for a new suit. I’m thinking zoot suit =)

@DoctorJ

We used to have a “supper club” that got together once a month at someone’s house. Everyone would bring a dish based on a theme. We dressed up the first time, but that didn’t really last.

It burned out a while back. I’ve been trying to restart it, but most of my friends are so busy that it’s damn near impossible to get anyone together for anything.

My parents did that back in the early 70s when it was popular to do the roaming supper club thing.

@Motorgirl

I’ve been looking at cold fruit soups lately. I need an excuse to make them into shooters as appetizers (or dessert!). It might be time to have another dinner party.

Cold soups are fantastic in the summer, and hte idea of doing 3 or 4 different sweet and savory ones as shots is interesting.

@Maeglin

Our copy of Modernist Cuisine just arrived this week, so we are already talking about a blowout party to subject our friends to whatever insane recipes we decide to try.

Drool … I am hoping to find a copy next spring when I get a bit of money put by, working my amazon mechanical turk fingers to the bone for it!

@YaraMateo

I’ll never forget the time my former job had this like potluck thing. I wanted to bring in something simple that would feed a lot of people. So, I brought in home made baked ziti and meat balls. (Ok, I cheated and my mom helped with the gravy.) Everyone was all :eek:. You’d have thought I brought in beef wellington.

Please PM any time you have a party. I’d love to brain storm ideas. I love the little things about parties and get togethers. Like china, favors, and decorations. I also love invites and stationary.

I like to make lasagne as a pot luck dish, it is another thing that is simple to make and people go nuts for.

I organized and did my first formal dinner at 12 as a menu test for a Boy Scout Boy Power dinner that I was organizing for my dad. My dad and mom taught me to be a hostess so I could help out at various business and political functions. I had 12 kids I knew from school over, served it on the set of Haviland Limoges using my set of the family silver, and the glassware was my set of the family baccarat crystal. [oddly enough, I have service for 16 of the wedding china/silver and crystal from an ancestor back in 1835. We still have the reciepts but unfortunately not the barrels they were shipped in. My family are packrats =)] I got the menu from the list of dishes the banquet hall were willing to cook, I used the recipes they gave me and I conscripted my mom and brother to wait tables but I did all the cooking.

I love throwing formal dinners, and I love theme dinners as well. [I did a chinese dinner a couple summers after that that was actually for my parents and some of their friends, it went off quite well.] When we move again, I am going to have a large kitchen and huge dining room, dammit. And I want a second set of less than haviland china/bacarrat crystal so I don’t have to risk my good sets! [though I will still probably use the rose medallion tea set for private highly formal teas … it is way too pretty to just let sit around.]

[YaraMateo]

@DMark

I have been to many dinner parties where you have to dress up - mostly when I was living in Berlin, but a few here in the US.
One important fact that has been mentioned; if you do throw a dress-up dinner party, make sure you do it right. Some have food that is mediocre at best, and made no effort to make it special in presentation. Others have not thought out simple things like table decoration or candles or music.
Also, there has to be a limit to number of people, and try to get a variety of different personalities. Some of the best dinner parties had a “special guest” - perhaps a friend who had just returned from some exotic location, or an artist of some renown, or a friend with a cool/interesting job. The idea being there would be some interesting conversation at the dinner while going through the many courses.
Dinner parties can be fun, but they take some planning.
Oh, and as a recent thread about RSVP’s pointed out, you might have some problems making sure everyone you invited shows up!

Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice. Yeah, there seems to be a process to dinner parties. Having a special guest seems like a good idea.

[YaraMateo]

@aruvqan

Hubby looks fantastic in either full dress blues or a suit. Which reminds me, it is time to take him out for a new suit. I’m thinking zoot suit =)

My parents did that back in the early 70s when it was popular to do the roaming supper club thing.

Cold soups are fantastic in the summer, and hte idea of doing 3 or 4 different sweet and savory ones as shots is interesting.
Drool … I am hoping to find a copy next spring when I get a bit of money put by, working my amazon mechanical turk fingers to the bone for it!

I like to make lasagne as a pot luck dish, it is another thing that is simple to make and people go nuts for.

I organized and did my first formal dinner at 12 as a menu test for a Boy Scout Boy Power dinner that I was organizing for my dad. My dad and mom taught me to be a hostess so I could help out at various business and political functions. I had 12 kids I knew from school over, served it on the set of Haviland Limoges using my set of the family silver, and the glassware was my set of the family baccarat crystal. [oddly enough, I have service for 16 of the wedding china/silver and crystal from an ancestor back in 1835. We still have the reciepts but unfortunately not the barrels they were shipped in. My family are packrats =)] I got the menu from the list of dishes the banquet hall were willing to cook, I used the recipes they gave me and I conscripted my mom and brother to wait tables but I did all the cooking.

I love throwing formal dinners, and I love theme dinners as well. [I did a chinese dinner a couple summers after that that was actually for my parents and some of their friends, it went off quite well.] When we move again, I am going to have a large kitchen and huge dining room, dammit. And I want a second set of less than haviland china/bacarrat crystal so I don’t have to risk my good sets! [though I will still probably use the rose medallion tea set for private highly formal teas … it is way too pretty to just let sit around.]

You’re serious business. Can I be your friend?

Wow, your china sound fab. Yeah, I agree, better to use it. I hate people have nice things and don’t use them. It’s always good to have a few sets, though. Sometimes, I like to mix and match. So it looks really unique.

I want a dining room, too. We can dream. :o

[BlueKangaroo]

Well, Yara, your dinner party mojo is working for me. My previous engagement went away, freeing me up for the dinner party.

So I guess you should PM me if you’re ever in Chicago & in need of a dinner party, as I clearly owe you one. It’ll be casual and small, though.

[Mother_Popcorn]

I often sit and throw my own dinner parties, with only myself as company. I usually listen to classical music and paint faces on my fingers, when feeling lonely. My own required attire is a tuxedo, nothing less fashionable.

[YaraMateo]

@BlueKangaroo

Well, Yara, your dinner party mojo is working for me. My previous engagement went away, freeing me up for the dinner party.

So I guess you should PM me if you’re ever in Chicago & in need of a dinner party, as I clearly owe you one. It’ll be casual and small, though.

I had a feeling you would be able to make it.

The next time I’m in Chicago, I’ll harass you. We’ll have red wine and baked ziti.

@Mother_Popcorn

I often sit and throw my own dinner parties, with only myself as company. I usually listen to classical music and paint faces on my fingers, when feeling lonely. My own required attire is a tuxedo, nothing less fashionable.

You should get animals. That cares of left overs and you can dress them uo, too.

[aruvqan]

@YaraMateo

You’re serious business. Can I be your friend?

Wow, your china sound fab. Yeah, I agree, better to use it. I hate people have nice things and don’t use them. It’s always good to have a few sets, though. Sometimes, I like to mix and match. So it looks really unique.

I want a dining room, too. We can dream. :o

If I was serious rich I would start a roaming feast … start out in Maine with hubby and myself in a huge bus, and start hitting cities for dopefests and pick up riders to go to the next dopefest on the list and see how long it takes us to go across the country and who we end up with in San Francisco. I figure at least a month headed west and another month headed back…

[YaraMateo]

@aruvqan

If I was serious rich I would start a roaming feast … start out in Maine with hubby and myself in a huge bus, and start hitting cities for dopefests and pick up riders to go to the next dopefest on the list and see how long it takes us to go across the country and who we end up with in San Francisco. I figure at least a month headed west and another month headed back…

If you’re having a feast be sure to include zapoles. I like your style.