My mom is a wonderful host. She throws parties so casually she’d sometimes make the Barefoot Contessa look flustered. Ever since my now husband and I moved into our condo I’ve aspired to be that easy going while entertaining. Now that we have a house selected carefully for its entertaining potential that aspiration has elevated. They say practice makes perfect…and I’m working on it and I’m getting there.
I’ve found the best way to practice is to have slightly more people than you can easily cook for without thinking much about it and to make sure all those people are good friends. A few weekends ago my friend inquired what I’d be doing for the season premiere for Downton Abbey. I let her know I was thinking of having my mom over and she and her husband were welcome to come for dinner before the show. And with that it was off to menu planning.
I’d just rented Rachael Ray’s “Everyone is Italian on Sunday” through the digital lending library. I know plenty of people don’t love Rachael and I can even see their points – she may or may not have used ghostwriters in the past, she is not a true “chef”, etc. But me? I love her. I can’t help it. She was one of the first cookbooks I purchased when I discovered my love for cooking on my own terms. She also makes everything look easy.
I settled on pork loin, roasted broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a salad all from her new cookbook. I also opted to make a chocolate bundt cake from a recipe I’d found online. How’d it go? I have no pictures NONE. No photos of my using all coordinated white servingware, even a gravy boat. No photos of the completed (and delicious) dishes. No photos of the nicely set table. No photographic evidence of my greeting guests who were 15 minutes early while I was in the middle of the final stages of preparation with a calm smile on my face and questions about their lives and how they were doing. And that to me is the sign of a good dinner party. I didn’t get a chance to take a quick picture because I was too busy living.