My Other Passion

Instead of using regular taper candle holders I used some old olive oil bottles as candle holders donned with some sparkly silver taper candles {as I’ve seen sold at West Elm for a pretty penny} and added two drip catchers – the cost of my version? Just the effort of stripping labels off my olive oil bottles… which gave height, created interest and made for conversation at the dinner table.

Entertaining… When I was a little girl, I remember my mother spending hours cooking. She enjoyed preparing meals for others and would send me off with a Pyrex of food to share with the next door neighbor. Somehow, whenever someone stopped by she always seemed to have been able to spread out a feast before them in just a flash!  Just as important to her was that the table be set with the best China and silverware so that the guests felt special. 

Looking back, I often wondered how did she do that? Although those moments went faster than I could appreciate them, the little bit I do remember of those days are fond memories of my childhood. Apparently I have inherited her hospitable trait, because I can’t seem to go a month without having someone over for something. 

As a teenager, I remember wanting to host dinner parties for friends or visitors.  However, since I didn’t have a place of my own to host them, my friends would offer up their parent’s home for me to have such dinners, and would even help out to make it a success. These too are fond memories that I will cherish forever.

For this reason, I can never wait just for once or twice a year to go all out… I try to do it all the time no matter how busy I am!  I don’t let other things get in the way of making others happy within my means.

As soon as I got married and got a place of my own, the first thing I did a week after the honeymoon, was host a dinner party and I have not stopped since. Some have said to me that I would get tired of it as I got older, but I derive such happiness from cooking for others that I am so unhappy if I don’t do it. These photos are a little sampling of my recent dinner party last night.

This is the coconut Panna Cotta in the chocolate truffle sauce – My guests were so excited for the eggnog Panna Cotta with the mixed berries to come out,  I totally forgot to take pictures of them. Lol!

The menu:

Starter: butternut squash soup with a dollop of creme fresh and a drizzle of truffle oil

Entree: Roasted pork tenderloin with a rich fig sauce, butternut squash risotto and glazed carrots.

Desserts: I made two different kinds of Panna Cotta {or cooked cream}

eggnog and coconut.

The eggnog ones I served with mixed red and black berries drizzled with caramel sauce.

The coconut ones I serve over a chocolate truffle sauce that I made with a dash of chocolate tequila instead of using a little bit of Amaretto.

~ “The art of happiness is to serve all.” ~