Dinner Party

So I hosted a dinner party to thank my two good friends down here for all their help and support in helping me get set up down here in DC. Daphne lent me her awesome apt for a few weeks, where as Mollie has consistently lent me her husband, and I even managed to put his '94 Corsica in a coma for a bit. I'd been planning this dinner party in my head since the second I got the job (and even more so since I knew I would be living in a one bedroom apt!).

For starters we had 3 of the previous mentioned cheeses-- gouda (shout out to our times in Amsterdam), brie and bleu cheese. I also put out a mix of delicious olives I'd gotten at the market, some carrots and celery w/ homemade hummus.

For din, I made a pesto pea salad from Barefoot Contessa, altho I didn't really follow her pesto recipe and I did a mix of basil and mint, as well as a mix of baby spinach and mixed greens. I also made a summer squash dish that to me screams summer. As usual, I start by sauteeing garlic and onion, but then you add yellow squash and slow cook it over low heat for 20-30 minutes. The squash really cooks down and you can start to mash it. I then throw in some diced tomato because I think tomato (especially fresh) makes everything better. Plus summer squash for me can be a tough thing all on its own. I'm kinda weird w/ texture and I don't like things that make my teeth squeak. The primary example of this is mushrooms, but yellow squash have been known to do so as well. Somehow w/ yellow squash, I'm more willing to overlook it and this recipe is nice cuz the squash cooks down so much it doesn't seem to be "squeaky." Then you toss the squash w/ goat cheese and fresh basil. The end result is this amazingly creamy, but summery dish. Delish!

For dessert, I did another Food Network recipe from Semi-Homemade w/ Sandra Lee, Sangria Granita. I think we all know she is a lush, and to be honest my friends and I can be a bit of winos, so I decided to give it a whirl. You take a bottle of white, pour it into a pan, add 3 tbsp orange juice concentrate (I used orange mango), 1 tbsp limeade concentrate, 1 cup nectar (I used a Mango Naked Juice), 3 tbsp honey (I used wayyy less) and 1 tsp vanilla. Then you whisk it all together, throw it in the freezer and mix it every hour or so while it sets. It took abt 6-8 hours for mine to set. I served it with fresh peach on top. Sandra Lee says this makes 4 servings. There were 5 of us, and I still have half a pan of this in my freezer. She is a lush! Mollie brought over some chocolate dipped strawberries, which I thought went very nicely w/ my dessert because both were pretty light and fruity.

We ended the night by playing a riveting round of Apples to Apples. Mollie won, an attestment to her sense of humor. Tom was a close second meaning they truly are a good match! All in all, a great night-- good food, good friends, good times. Andddd, 5 bottles of the wine split between the 3 ladies. Oh yeah...