#52 – Host a themed dinner party and ask friends to make a dish to share. Then make a party out of it!
We were recently invited to a really fun “themed” dinner party at a friends house. The theme was inspired from the movie “Julie & Julia”. Everyone chose a Julia Child recipe and spent most of the day Saturday sifting flour, melting butter, sauteing vegetables and thickening sauce to make some of the most delicious dishes I’ve had in a long time. They were better than any restuarant I’ve been to in awhile. I was very impressed with all of the dishes and what fantastic cooks our friends are!
Once we were all there and the dishes were beautifully displayed on the table, we all took turns telling everyone else our individual stories about picking the recipe, shopping for the fantastic fresh ingredients and what it took to prepare the deliciousness we were about to enjoy. Almost everyone’s dishes took quite some time to make, but wow…they were so yummy. There was plenty of food to go around and we were all more than satisfied at the end of the evening.
We didn’t do this as a group, but my boyfriend and I decided to watch “Julie & Julia”, the movie, the night before the dinner party so that we were up on most things “Julia”. Since the movie was fresh in our minds it made for great dinner conversations while we finished our first plate…then went for seconds!
We did figure out that between all of the dishes we made, there was more than 2 pounds of butter in them. That’s probably why they all tasted so good!
It wasn’t all that expensive to plan this type of dinner since most of Julia Child’s recipes call for fresh ingredients, and we each only prepared one dish. So besides bringing a bottle of wine, it was a fun, inexpensive night out. You should try it. Find a theme you’d like to try some recipes for. Pick a date. Share the plan. Then enjoy a fun night “in” with some tasty food and great company!