Dinner Parties
Every few months, Jen and I get the urge to throw a dinner party. Fortunately, the feeling usually passes and we can focus on our more natural role of guests rather than hosts of evening soirees. Eventually, however, the balance between serving and being served becomes untenable for even a dedicated free-rider like myself and we have no choice but to pay back the dozens of dinners we’ve cadged since last time we hosted.
Choosing from among our full array of friends presents something of a challenge, but previous commitments on their parts typically permits us to winnow the number in half, thus freeing us from the concern of having to add any more chairs to our four piece dining set.
In order to settle on a menu, it normally takes us no more research than does your average doctoral dissertation. Cookbooks litter our apartment and stock value of various internet search engines skyrocket as we search for the perfect combination of appetizers and amuses-bouche to tantalize our guests. Our investigations are well worth it as we ultimately decide on dishes as rare an unusual as hummous, chips and salsa, and mixed nuts.
Much thought goes into the selection of wines and liquors, too, and the sampling necessary to ensure top quality is always one of the high points of the planning process…until the morning after, of course.
The day of the event is completely given over to cooking and cleaning, interrupted only by breaks for yelling and screaming at each other and threatening divorce. Usually, we can count on at least one cooking disaster and more if we’re planning on greater than a single-course meal.
Our guests predictably arrive the moment before we have an opportunity to shower. The good news is we can always blame any offensive odors on chopped onions.
Finally, though, the food is served, the wine uncorked, and all the problems of preparation and planning are forgotten…until the morning after, of course.
Choosing from among our full array of friends presents something of a challenge, but previous commitments on their parts typically permits us to winnow the number in half, thus freeing us from the concern of having to add any more chairs to our four piece dining set.
In order to settle on a menu, it normally takes us no more research than does your average doctoral dissertation. Cookbooks litter our apartment and stock value of various internet search engines skyrocket as we search for the perfect combination of appetizers and amuses-bouche to tantalize our guests. Our investigations are well worth it as we ultimately decide on dishes as rare an unusual as hummous, chips and salsa, and mixed nuts.
Much thought goes into the selection of wines and liquors, too, and the sampling necessary to ensure top quality is always one of the high points of the planning process…until the morning after, of course.
The day of the event is completely given over to cooking and cleaning, interrupted only by breaks for yelling and screaming at each other and threatening divorce. Usually, we can count on at least one cooking disaster and more if we’re planning on greater than a single-course meal.
Our guests predictably arrive the moment before we have an opportunity to shower. The good news is we can always blame any offensive odors on chopped onions.
Finally, though, the food is served, the wine uncorked, and all the problems of preparation and planning are forgotten…until the morning after, of course.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:05 AM
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