Dinner Party at Last

As much as I love cooking, I'm a novice when it comes to dinner parties. Other than my own wedding, and a few birthday parties, I hardly ever planned any parties let alone DINNER parties. The planning I can handle, but the food prepping just seems like a monumental mount of work that I shudder at tackling. I just don't understand "easy entertaining". So what do you think hubby suggested for this holiday season? A dinner party, of course! At least, we started small only with 2 friends.

A week before the party, I started planning. I made sure that only the least amount of cooking was necessary when our guests were here. So this is the menu I ended up with:

Hors d'œuvres:
Baked Puff Pastry with Brie and Apple Compote
Parmesan Crackers
Cheese Quesadillas
Smoked Salmon Mousse in Cucumber Cups

Chilled Tomato and Sweet Pepper Soup

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with Candied Pecans

Roasted Chicken

Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Roasted Potatoes

Popovers

Cheese Course:
Brie, Beechers Flagship, Gorgonzola, Dried Dates, and Baguette

Crème Brûlée

Well, that was the plan. Unfortunately, plans don't always work out. The week before the party, there were still abundant asparagus, but the 2 days before, there seems to be a sudden shortage. I visited a few stores, and there were no spears in sight. Luckily, I found some good looking brussel sprouts. I also didn’t have time to get a loaf freshly baked baguette. So I had to serve the cheeses with some more of those Parmesan crackers.

Of course, our friends didn't mind these last minute ad libs. Friends and conversations are more important than food, right? =)