Tell me about dinner parties

[theotherfossilsister]

Oh how I miss dinner parties.

Please tell me about your most memorable ones and dream ones and literary ones, and who you will have over when it's ok to do so, and what you will eat and drink.

Don’t really so formal dinner parties. We have 2 friends over, drink wine, beer, gin, eat pizza, cheese, pate, crisps, salad.

My mum used to throw the most spectacular dinner parties for her lawyer friends in the 80's. Four or five courses, matched wines, Royal Doulton China etc. I've never attempted anything as formal, but I do miss having a bunch of people over bad throwing a massive lasagne at them.

*and

My lasagne is actually quite good!

I really love hosting! I proper miss it.

My younger brother is getting into wine so I said I’d invite him for a wine tasting evening when I can. I’ll do the charcuterie, dessert wines, the whole hog.

My parents used to have regular dinner parties. My mother was in charge of the menu and cooking, my father would serve the drinks. Usually gin and tonic for the men and martini or campari and lemonade for the women. Wine would be served during the dinner party and brandy with the coffee.

First course
Prawn cocktail / toasted grapefruit / homemade pate and toast

Main course
Something en croute / meat pie / lamb roasted in a sort of plastic bag

Dessert
Creme caramel / baked Alaska / oranges in Gran Marnier / Egg custard
(she specialised in desserts, so would probably serve all of these!)

Cheese course
Cheddar / camembert or Brie / blue cheese

Coffee served from a coffee pot with single cream rather than milk and After Eight Mints

Everything was homemade and the table would be set with silver and crystal and her dinner service would have pride of place. All the ladies would dress up and wear cocktail dresses, the men would wear jackets and ties.

The men's coats would be hung up under the stairs and the ladies' coats would be laid on my parents bed. The washing up afterwards was huge and no dishwasher either. My sis and I used to help set the table, with the cooking and also with the washing up. Sometimes I used to help with the serving too, but we never ate with the adults.

p.s. this was in the 70s

Love, love, love having people for dinner. It’s one of the things I miss most about this shitshow.

I tend to do a big mix of dishes. Mostly anything from my Sabrina Ghayour books. Her food is amazing.

I want to do Come Dine with Me but DH will not do the couples one, I’d go it alone.

The menu I toy with most is

Scallop and lemon risotto served in the scallop shell with samphire.

Beef casserole with homemade horseradish cream (optional) to put on top. Served in a giant Yorkshire pudding.

Lemon posset.

I'm guessing barbecues don't count? We've had friends over for barbecues, pizza, Chinese/Indian takeaway, but I've never cooked a proper "grown up" dinner party style thing.

I might do it though as soon as we can. Sounds like heaven at the moment - good food, good wine and good friends.

I do love a nice dinner party with 4 to 6 adults. I like planning the menu, the wine, the playlists. I love the evening itself. When everyone gets a bit tipsy and we break out the record player.

I managed a few with family before the current lockdown. The most recent had the following menu:

• Warm goats cheese on a giant crouton with lettuce, walnut and apple salad.
• Lasagna with garlic bread, a tomato salad and a green salad
• Tiramisu

Champagne before the meal, wine with the meal and G&Ts, Moscow Mules and or whiskeys afterwards.

I love dinner parties, we used to have them quite a lot at uni (because we were adults now )

When DS1 was a toddler we still used to like hosting and he'd stay up and eat with us...we were the first of that group of friends to have DC so no one was hoping to get away from their own that evening!

We are hopefully buying somewhere at the end of the year/next year...can't wait to invite everyone over (assuming we are allowed by then)

@Chottie

My parents used to have regular dinner parties. My mother was in charge of the menu and cooking, my father would serve the drinks. Usually gin and tonic for the men and martini or campari and lemonade for the women. Wine would be served during the dinner party and brandy with the coffee.

First course
Prawn cocktail / toasted grapefruit / homemade pate and toast

Main course
Something en croute / meat pie / lamb roasted in a sort of plastic bag

Dessert
Creme caramel / baked Alaska / oranges in Gran Marnier / Egg custard
(she specialised in desserts, so would probably serve all of these!)

Cheese course
Cheddar / camembert or Brie / blue cheese

Coffee served from a coffee pot with single cream rather than milk and After Eight Mints

Everything was homemade and the table would be set with silver and crystal and her dinner service would have pride of place. All the ladies would dress up and wear cocktail dresses, the men would wear jackets and ties.

The men's coats would be hung up under the stairs and the ladies' coats would be laid on my parents bed. The washing up afterwards was huge and no dishwasher either. My sis and I used to help set the table, with the cooking and also with the washing up. Sometimes I used to help with the serving too, but we never ate with the adults.

I love this, it's so evocative. Like something from a novel. The details are beautiful.

@Sexnotgender

Love, love, love having people for dinner. It’s one of the things I miss most about this shitshow.

I tend to do a big mix of dishes. Mostly anything from my Sabrina Ghayour books. Her food is amazing.

Yes! We have Feast by her.

@GintyMcGinty can I come please?

Barbecues totally count

Sorry, on phone and struggling to reply to individuals hence the bajillion posts

Haven’t done any for ages, but used to years ago. Still have people round to eat (well, pre COVID we did) but never a formal thing at all.

I do still occasionally have my dinner party nightmare - it’s nearly 11pm and the potatoes still aren’t cooked! 😂

I've never had one.

DH and I run a monthly supper club (pre covid). Eight people come, usually 4 couples, sometimes they know each other, sometimes not. They sit at one large table, eat the same meal and pay per head. We make everything from scratch, cocktails and canapés, soup, first course, main course, dessert, coffee and truffles.
We tend to have themed menu nights - usually based around the seasons.

It's such fun and every night is different. Really miss it.

I really miss Saturday night dinner parties. We live rurally and host or go to friends for dinner parties most weekends. they are always such fun. everyone makes such an effort with food, flowers, dressing up.... Awww I miss it!!!

I’ve never had the guts to say I’m hosting a dinner party because that sounds too formal and people may raise their expectations too much! Plus if I did I would fear I had turned into my mother. However BC we used to have people over for supper, usually did 2 courses with drinks and nibbles before rather than 3 sit down courses but I think you probably could count it as a dinner party.

Before DC we would have dinner parties now we just have people over for dinner!

I miss it all - planning what we're going to eat, searching for recipes, the shopping, making lists and plans, preparing food in advance, thinking about what people would like and what we had last time, making the table look lovely, snacks with drinks, flowers, music chosen, cooking, good wine chosen and good chocolates ready for after dinner.

I can't wait to have people back over, I don't care whether it's a posh three-course dinner or a big curry in the kitchen.

3 other couples invited, lots of food and wine. Nothing fancy, just miss my friends.

Most I've had was 12 round the table. Pissed before we got to main course. The chicken in the coq au vin dissolved I cooked it so long in the slow cooker. Counted 25 empty wine bottles plus Jameson's, gin, and other liqueur bottles. Top nights with great friends I've not seen for over 12 months and one is no longer with us (died a couple of years ago). I love a dinner party

Love dinner parties

Get the beautiful antique dinner service out, shining the silver, proper table cloth and napkins, candles and flowers

6-12 people

Champagne to start

Food: smoked salmon, beetroot salad, something with goats cheese, a fresh summer soup

Wine

Mains: pink lamb, dauphinois, or beautiful tender beef, chicken in white wine and cream sauce.

More wine and extra mains for those who fancy it.

Cheese: at least 3 (one hard, one blue, one squishy and strong) with grapes and nuts. Oatcakes and fancy crackers. Passed around and around the table.

Extra wine. Table cloth now covered in splatters and spills

Pud service is giggly and messy due to wine.

Pud: frangipane and apricot tart or passion fruit cheesecake

Wine. Or coffee.

Then spirits and lounging on the sofa or dancing on the sofa.

@Chottie

My parents used to have regular dinner parties. My mother was in charge of the menu and cooking, my father would serve the drinks. Usually gin and tonic for the men and martini or campari and lemonade for the women. Wine would be served during the dinner party and brandy with the coffee.

First course
Prawn cocktail / toasted grapefruit / homemade pate and toast

Main course
Something en croute / meat pie / lamb roasted in a sort of plastic bag

Dessert
Creme caramel / baked Alaska / oranges in Gran Marnier / Egg custard
(she specialised in desserts, so would probably serve all of these!)

Cheese course
Cheddar / camembert or Brie / blue cheese

Coffee served from a coffee pot with single cream rather than milk and After Eight Mints

Everything was homemade and the table would be set with silver and crystal and her dinner service would have pride of place. All the ladies would dress up and wear cocktail dresses, the men would wear jackets and ties.

The men's coats would be hung up under the stairs and the ladies' coats would be laid on my parents bed. The washing up afterwards was huge and no dishwasher either. My sis and I used to help set the table, with the cooking and also with the washing up. Sometimes I used to help with the serving too, but we never ate with the adults.

My parents had this EXACT dinner party down to same menu and drinks. Poss add in a home made Black Forest gateau in place of baked Alaska. And a casserole in a wine sauce instead of the meat pie. But crystal, china (although at one point we had a snazzy bungalow when it was all arabesque Denny and G-plan/mackintosh furniture. Then we moved into a Georgian house in time for the eighties - chintz and mahogany and obsessing over the antiques roadshow etc.

I’m going to have uni friends and yes, cook from feast.