As I mentioned here, after reading The Reluctant Entertainer I decided to entertain in my home at least once a month. Now, before this time, our dinner parties have been extremely informal and have included me being stressed out, frazzled and witchy to my family on the day of the party (ie: Why is our bathroom so messy! Gosh!!!).

Having read the book we made some changes, did well at some concepts and struggled with others. Here's the skinny...

Guests: 2 (sister missionaries for our church)
Date: Mother's Day 2011
Menu:
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Roasted Garlic Potatoes & Onions (using this recipe, but adding whole cloves of garlic)
Grilled Asparagus
Mixed Fruit Shortcakes


The girls playing in the yard with the Sister Missionaries before dinner.

 What we did well:
- We realized (too late) that some of our fresh strawberries had acquired mold. We grabbed some frozen blueberries from our freezer, ran them under warm water to thaw and added them to our berry mix.  Crisis averted.
- We also had a mishap with the potatoes not being near done when it was time to eat. No apologies, we just laughed and said it was part of a second course.

What we can work on:- We did not remove all toothpicks from the Chicken Cordon Bleu, so we warned our guests to watch for them. One of our guests (bless her heart) was trying to remove a toothpick and her entire chicken cordon bleu flew off of her plate and landed on the floor!  Note to self: Instead of using standard toothpicks to hold cordon bleu together, try longer skewers that WE can remove more easily before serving.
- Much like last month I realized we maybe should always have two veggie options on the table (something my mother always did) since one our guests did not like asparagus.  Plus, we would eat more veggies, right?

We're doing better and better as each month passes!
When did you last entertain?



(click to enlarge. then right click and save. print as a 4x6" photo)



I chose this pattern for it's ultimate twirling powers.  Ella is really gravitating towards tiered skirts and this was a winner.  It was very easy to follow and I made it in a pretty short amount of time.  The only problem is that it uses a lot of fabric, since the ruffled tiers are cut out of only two pieces.  The size ran HUGE.  Poor Ella had at least 1&1/2 extra inches of fabric on each side of her torso.  I wish I had measured her and gone by that instead of the sizes, but by the time I realized how large it ran it was too late to re-cut.

Score: ★★★★☆
Skill Level: Easy
Direction Clarity: Very good.
True to Size: Size numbers ran very large.
Changes Made: I added a wide sash to the waist, a rosette and sleeves (much to Ella's disgust).
Overall: I really like this pattern. I will make it again, but go by measurements when choosing a size.
Recommended: Yes.

As I mentioned here, after reading The Reluctant Entertainer I decided to entertain in my home at least once a month. Now, before this time, our dinner parties have been extremely informal and have included me being stressed out, frazzled and witchy to my family on the day of the party (ie: Why is our bathroom so messy! Gosh!!!).

Having read the book we made some changes, did well at some concepts and struggled with others. Here's the skinny...

What we did well:
- The morning of the party arrived blustery and cold.  We had planned on making ribs and the bar-b-que fixings, but changed over to a simpler menu. I made my Slow Cooker Beef Stew, bought greens for a salad and mixed up a batch of 5 Minute Artisan Bread.  This change was wonderful because it (a) allowed more time to tidy the house, which needed tidying and (b) was easy and worry free.


(click to enlarge. then right click and save as. print as a 4x6" photo)

- I asked our guests to bring the dessert.
- I purchased a $10 table cloth from TJ Maxx which covered our battered kitchen table and made me feel very grown-up indeed.
- We had the table already set when our guests arrived so we could focus on being present with them, catching up and being relaxed.
- Ahead of time I designed and printed simple place cards and let Ella (6) write the names of our family and our guests on them.  It was a fun and meaningful touch.


What needs improvement:
- I should have run the tablecloth in the dryer with a steam ball after taking it from the package. It was very wrinkled. Not a big deal, but good to remember for next time.
- I apologized for the salad not having fancy salad fixings.
- I realized we need a fancy water pitcher.  And by fancy I don't mean crystal, I only mean NOT plastic.  Next on my small to-buy list.
- I should have offered more varied side dish options, like red grapes and cheeses. This would have made the fact that our guests' kids didn't care for the stew less noticable and also would have given them other healthy options to eat instead of avoiding dinner all together....they could have snacked on bread, grapes and cheese.
- We ran out of eating utensils for dessert. Again, not a big deal, but maybe we should invest in some inexpensive additional forks/spoons.

Overall I was very happy with our progress.  I was especially grateful for my choice of menu. It was warm, comforting and not stressful to prepare.  When I realized that a bay leaf had remained in the pot I simply declared whoever found it the winner of the night. 

Hello new relaxed attitude!



*beef stew photo by blogchef.net