Friday Friendsgiving

As we were eating our 3rd, and what should have been our final, Thanksgiving dinner up at the cabin, I told Carl I needed more. Just one more turkey dinner, with all the fixings, and I'd be set. I decided to buy a turkey when we got home, invite a couple of friends over and enjoy Thanksgiving one more time!

I wasn't going to do anything with the table, but at the last minute just dressed it up a bit to welcome in the Christmas season. I just used things I had from last year and regular season items as well. Just goes to show you can entertain any time for any reason. It was a mix of fancy and casual and completely delicious!

The menu was seriously traditional:

• Roast Turkey and Drippings Gravy
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Homemade Sweet & Savory Stuffing
• Green Bean Casserole
• Cranberry Sauce
• Wine
• Ice Water

My day went a little something like this:

2:30p start the stuffing and prep the turkey
3p: Start the turkey (8.5lb turkey to be done about 6:30p in time to rest and carve)
5p: peel and cut potatoes, put in water to keep from browning
5:30p put together green bean casserole
6p: set the table, wine in the decanter, ice water in the carafe
6:30p boil and mash potatoes, take turkey out and cover with aluminum foil, put casserole and stuffing in the oven
7p: light candles, guests arrive, carve turkey, get everything on the table


If you are hosting this year, here is my quick guideline for entertaining.

1-2 weeks out: Choose the Menu
2-3 days before: Grocery Shop
1-2 days before: Prep your table to be sure you aren't missing anything
1 day before: Do as much cleaning as possible
Day of: Start cooking early, be sure to leave time to get ready and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Tablescape

Since the only Thanksgiving I got to host this year was the Mock Thanksgiving, I didn't have a chance to do a formal table. I linked my previous post up with the Dare to DIY Party over at the NewlyWoodwards, but I wanted to take my challenge a step further and set out table. Had our group been smaller, it would have looked a little something like this...





Not that I'm complaining! I loved our big group, I just wanted in on the small group fun :) Did you set your table this week? Go share it at the Dare to DIY Party!

Mock Thanksgiving: Tips, Tricks & Photos Galore!

What do you do when you normally don't host more than 12 people for dinner at a time and you realize you are about to host 18? You improvise!

I hosted a Mock Thanksgiving in 2009, then took a year off because I couldn't see my feet last Thanksgiving. This year, I wanted to bring it back in style! I invited 17 of my favorite ladies to join in a holiday dinner without the family politics :) Oh and all the mommas left the babies with the husbands. Including me. Carl took Cam AND Gibson to his parents' house.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Scene: Friday Night. Carl and I are in the living/dining room trying to figure out how to seat 18 people.

Our dining table and two 6ft folding tables later, we came up with a solution. In my head, I needed it to be symmetrical, so we created one long table. It was hard to photograph the whole thing, but I think we succeeded in 1. it being symmetrical and 2. it not looking like a soup kitchen (right Tricia?). I didn't buy anything new for decor, I just used what I had- a mix of decorative basket filler, stones, faux leaves, candles and ribbon seems to do the trick. The glass candleholders were bought for our wedding and I've used them countless times now!


I created little name cards for all the dishes being brought. This way, people knew who made what.

Drink Station + Tricia:
Hot cider (like we did for the game night party), seasonal beer, wine, liquor and soda.





The sideboard was prepped and awaiting the desserts:

I love cooking a turkey. I really, really do. But when it comes time to carve, I move myself as far away as possible and wait for a hero to step in. Today's hero: Tricia.

As the guests arrived, they just placed their dish by their name tag. Food!!!


I had to keep my pictures quick, because Jess was not pleased I was making her wait to get to all that amazing food!

So that's the Mock Thanksgiving. How about some tips and tricks?

1. Send out your invites at least 3 weeks in advance. I think we settled on a date about 5 weeks out.
2. Keep track of who is bringing what. I basically asked everyone to request their two favorite dishes, and then figured out who should bring what. We purposely had a couple duplicates, but otherwise, you can see the assortment was fantastic!
3. The only item I cooked was the turkey + the gravy. My efforts were better spent on prepping the house. I do enjoy the occasional event where my guests don't lift a finger, but this is not that kind of event. The best part about Mock Thanksgiving is seeing what everyone wants to bring, tasting different versions of stuffing and sweet potatoes. Everyone has a favorite recipe, let them share it! Just make sure you have a variety.
   
4. I highly recommend printing up food name cards. Not only does it allow people to see who brought what, but it gives you a good idea of how much space you'll need for food.
   
5. As always, do as much the night before as possible. I had everything set up as much as I could so Saturday was easy going. Just some light cleaning and set up, plus cooking the prized bird.
6. Don't be afraid to go big. Was this a formal get together? Nope. Not even close. But was it comfortable, relaxing and great to just eat some good food with a bunch of gal pals? YUP!
   
7. A pot luck, buffet style party can be just as fancy looking as a formal event. OK...maybe not quite as fancy, but light some candles and put extra touches where you can. I've said it before; little details matter.
8. Kick back and enjoy! What's the fun in hosting if you are hustling around trying to make sure everything is going smoothly? Tricia was my right hand girl the entire night. Designate someone to help out with answering the door and making sure people have drinks. Just because you want to be the hostess with the mostest doesn't mean you have to be a solo worker bee!
   

Enough tips for you? Are you ready to host a big event? Not so much you say. OK, start small! With the holidays fast approaching (seriously...Thanksgiving is 4 days away!), set aside a weekend night and invite some friends over. I promise you'll enjoy it :)

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall Get Together

We had some very dear friends over to say goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall. What better way to do that than with some friends, some drinks, a dinner and a trip to a cider mill! We hadn't entertained in awhile and I was itching for it!

I decided to blend Summer and Fall decor since that was something I hadn't done before, I was definitely a fan! I bought the sunflowers at the farmer's market for $2. Seriously, 8 of them for $2. I put them in the soda water glasses, and that was the "Fall" of the table. I used my Crate & Barrel melamine chargers and plates, and their bright colors were the nod to Summer. The runners are the ones I bought at Ikea awhile back, and I had bought the bright green one last week to run underneath. It gives me more "safe" table space to avoid any scratches or damage.

This was how everything was set up before our friends arrived, including the staggered, stacked cake stands on the sideboard just waiting to display some donuts. I put a couple of the sunflowers in a small glass and weighed them down with some river stones.

We farewell'd summer with Corona and hello'd with Oktoberfest.


To say goodbye to Summer in a food manner, dinner was chicken fajitas. I had the chicken marinating and all the vegetables cut before our guests arrived, so when we returned from the cider mill, we just had to grill.



And we said heeeeeeellOOO to Fall with donuts and cider! EEP!


Dinner was awesome, almost as good as the donuts and cider :) Along with the chicken fajitas, we had cornbread and homemade salsa (courtesy of our guests).

We had a blast, and you should too! Summer isn't actually quite over yet. Go on, have your own celebration to say bye to Summer and welcome in crisp, cool Fall!

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Easter Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend turned out great! Not only did our weather here in Michigan rock, but all three of the events we had were lovely! I can't help but believe that planning is the key to a successful gathering. :)

You can see what all we had planned for in this post, but I'll just recap Easter Brunch since that was my main event for the weekend. I had planned out the menu:

Cherry Chicken Salad Croissants
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Egg Salad (brought by Carl's mom)
Vegetable Tray
Fruit Tray
Simple Punch (ended up skipping this)
Coffee

At first I had planned on using our china, but then I thought that my fun spring pieces Carl got me for my birthday last year would be much more festive. Plus, keeping it a touch more casual worked nicely as I could throw all the dishes in the dishwasher before we left to head to my parents' house. I loved how it turned out! Here is how it looked before we went to bed on Saturday night. The table was set as much as possible.


Sunday morning was spent arranging the vegetables, cutting and arranging the fruit, assembling the sandwiches and doing the last minute cleaning. Here it is right before Carl's family arrived. All the food tasted delicious! It was the perfect lighter meal seeing as everyone had heavier dinner plans later in the day. The menu will definitely be on my go to list!


You know I love me some tulips, so of course those were my flower of choice, but the aqua vases give them a different look from my normal choice of clear glass vases.



Did you do any entertaining or contribute food this weekend? This gets me so excited for BBQs this summer! I simply can't wait. And I don't have to wait too long. Cam's Baptism is in May, so you'll definitely see those details starting soon!

Dinner Party Recap

What a success! I love when things go right around here. The menu turned out great and it fit everyone's palette, which can be hard when catering to others. For all my viewers at home, I tried to write down things as I did them so I could explain how I got ready. We ended up getting a late start to the grocery store, so I was back later than anticipated, it was a bit of a crunch. But I do love a good challenge, so I pushed forward!

If you want to see the menu, go here.

I showered and got ready before leaving and returned from the grocery store at 5:00pm.

• Arranged flowers for table
  
• Got out butter to soften for cake and Herb Blue Cheese Butter
• Cut potatoes, put in water bath in fridge (keeps them from browning)
• Cut lettuce (with a lettuce knife....again to keep from browning), spun dry, placed in plastic bag lined with paper towels- in fridge
• Washed grapes
• *Dish Washing Break* (I find it important to clean as I go, especially when having guests over)
• Plate cheese, cracker, grape tray- place in fridge temporarily)
• Made croutons (they need to cool fully, so these are great to make and get out of the way)
• Made individual cakes (in the oven for about 20 minutes)
• Made Herb Blue Cheese Butter
• *Dish Washing Break*
• Started potatoes in boiling water
• Prepped steaks- they get coated in salt, pepper and garlic
  
• Poured wine in decanter
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Tossed salad
  
• Finished potatoes (kept warm by covering with aluminum foil and placing in microwave- just DON'T start the microwave!)
  
• Set out cheese tray
• *Dish Washing Break*

At this point, I just waited for the guests to arrive at 7pm to start the steaks since they cook so fast. (BTW- my favorite way to cook steaks is to get a pan nice and hot with a little oil, sear them on the top and bottom for 3 minutes each, then bake them in the oven at 375 for about 8 minutes. A little less if you like them REALLY rare, a little more if you like them well. I prefer medium rare. Let them rest with a foil tent for about 10 minutes.) Then I just plated everything as we went.

So the pics. Of course the pics.

Mid-Prepping- potatoes in their water bath and lettuce ready to go.


This is how the table looked on Friday evening, minus the flowers. I always wipe down the china prior to the party, and the glasses are kept upside down so everything stays clean.

The appetizer plate was set up on the sideboard.

And then here is the table all set up and ready to go, candles lit...and backwards knives. I had a helper :)

Close up of the centerpiece. Hydrangeas, (one of my favorites!) and pink tulips were in my 3 hopper vases and some dimension was given by a small cake stand. Some simple tealight candles provided a nice glow. The only thing I had to buy was the flowers, so that was a bonus!




My last additional bonus tip is about the linens. This tablecloth isn't my favorite, however you wouldn't know that, because I have two of them. (My favorite is actually our green casual one :) ) I have them in two sizes, one that fits with both leaves in and one that fits with one or none. The best part about it, is that since they are the same, I only need one set of napkins to go with them. No matter what size party, I know I have a tablecloth and napkins to go with it!

So, that's the recap. Hopefully I provided enough detail. Maybe it was too much. I'll just say this, these posts are as much for me as they are for you. Sometimes, I forget my own tips, but I always love new ones, so feel free to share your dinner party tips in the comments!

Now stop reading and get out there and enjoy this lovely Sunday afternoon! I don't know about you but it is GORGEOUS here, so we're gearing up for a run!