Experience #20 Dinner Experiment

When throwing a dinner party, one should probably experiment with the recipes before the night of the party. One should also remember that you don’t need to have the wine because guests usually bring wine to the party. And of course, dinner party will be successful with all that wine flowing anyway, so it turns out, one may not need to worry about the food all that much.

This weekend I hosted my first ever couple’s dinner party. I always imagined having good friends who’d show up and have a good time over my extravagantly set table that utilizes all my dishes. It seems I’ve finally reached that point.

I’ve had many parties before. When it comes to the cooking though, I wouldn’t advise anyone to try my method. It requires more luck than skill, and luckily that seems to be what I have. I choose random recipes on the internet that sound appealing to me, but then when I don’t like the ingredients, I don’t add them. I do improvise and add in whatever I think I’d like though.

I ended up serving my guests seafood fondue as an appetizer. It was my favorite dish of the night, and the recipe did have a fair amount of tweaking involved. I also served Jack Daniels chicken, pineapple rice, salad, and dinner rolls. I couldn’t find a recipe for the pineapple rice that I liked, so I just made the whole thing up.

Luckily, no one got hurt (i.e. food poisoning) in the process.

Each couple arrived with a bottle of wine, and we opened three bottles for the seven guests. The conversation flowed as freely as the wine, and everyone had a great time. It was a unique blend of friends. People from all different backgrounds and different points in their lives laughing and conversating. This variety is what makes my life so rich. I do not have to search far for someone to have a similar experience I can draw from or for someone to seek out my advice on my own experiences.

I truly have the greatest friends. (And it doesn’t hurt that they’ll eat my food experiments and tell me they are delicious.)

After doing all those dishes from my table where I’d spared no dish, I did regret not having a dish washer, but I’m already looking forward to hosting another dinner party. Dishes be damned.



My version of Cheesy Shrimp Fondue

1 can tiny shrimp- drained
1 can crab meat (or the real Southern version I was lucky enough to have a brother-in-law peeled
2 packages cream cheese
1 can condensed cream of shrimp soup
1 cup sour cream (I put half of the large container- I didn’t feel like measuring)
½ tsp. salt ( I also added a bit of pepper here)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Dash (or several... Who am I kidding? Everyone knows I like hot stuff) of hot sauce
½ tsp. of Worcestershire sauce
A bit of Louisiana seasoning

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and can of shrimp soup; warm. Add all the seasonings. Heat over low heat until smooth; stir occasionally. Add shrimp and crab; heat thoroughly. Serve with Tostitos.