Anatomy of a Dinner Party: a day in the life of a hospitalityaholic
 

December, 2009

...now browsing by month

 

Varasano’s Pizza

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Happy Saturday, Darlings!

As today is the SEC Championship Game between my beloved Florida Gators and Alabama, I am feeling a bit antsy. I am ready for the game to start and the andouille sausage to go on the grill.  So forgive me if I seem a bit scattered.

Miss Tami from Running With Tweezers and I perched ourselves at the bar at Varasano’s Pizza yesterday for some cocktail testing.  Now, since Tami is blogging about this, I will not steal her thunder and I look forward to reading about all her suggestions.  But we did have some lovely beverages, these yellow beauties being the first.

Tami's Charming Friend, Tony

Tami's Charming Friend, Tony

Read more about Varasano’s after the fold

You Drinkie, You No Drivie…..

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others.
Samuel Johnson

Good Morning, Darlings! You all know how I love a glass of champagne or two. But please allow me to get serious this post. This holiday season if you are hosting a party, it is your responsibility to keep your guests safe and happy. That includes not allowing them to drink and drive. I am ridiculously fortunate to have a number of our party guests living within walking distance, but not all of them are so close.

At our pre-party planning meeting this year, we had a serious discussion with our bartender, Wallace, on the importance of letting us know when he feels someone has had a little too much joy and happiness. We consider him our co-host on this special night and with over 75 people swinging by to party and mingle, I won’t be able to keep my eye on all the activities at once. So we are counting on his experience to help keep everyone safe. The fact that this year’s theme is black tie should  keep inhibitions a tad under wraps as well.

Dancing At The Black Tie Affair

I Love A Black Tie Affair!

host info after the fold

A Cupcapron Giveaway!

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Good Morning, Darlings! I hope that the holiday season is humming along for you and you are getting through your list with ease and champagne.

Lovely Becky at Glue and Glitter and I are getting ready to make your holidays sweeter with one of her cupcaprons! Oh, they are way too cute. Take a look:

Aren't they the Cupcakiest?

Aren't they the Cupcakiest?

Get to know Becky below the fold ->

Dinner Among Friends

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Last night Miss Diane returned from her holiday and we were lucky enough to snag her for dinner.

I had really had enough turkey (haven’t you?) and thought we were due for a little veggie meal.  Hmmm….what’s in the fridge?  I have baby portobello mushrooms, a bit of spinach, some mozzarella cheese.  What’s in the pantry?  Here’s some artichoke hearts, fire roasted tomatoes and farfalle.  That sounds like the ingredients for a cozy little meal, doesn’t it?  There are some yummy honey yeast rolls in the freezer – lets defrost them, too.

It all went together happily and handily.  As dinner baked in the oven, I received a call from Crystal who was walking little Scout and wanted to stop in to see our tree.  Of course!  And as Teague was officiating at the neighborhood meeting, I asked her to join us.  I had missed these two friends since they had both been away for Thanksgiving, so we popped some bottles of bubbly and got to visiting.  Eric finished work and joined us.  The casserole came out of the oven all ooey gooey and I set the table. Like a 9 year old.  I had put my Christmas tablecloth lovingly on my new table in the kitchen earlier this week and thought that since we were eating something that resembled Italian food, I should put out Italian-inspired dish towels as well as tiny tumblers out of which to drink the champagne.  When I stepped back, I had to laugh. Loudly.

No, Nothing Matched.

No, Nothing Matched.

Did this mismatched mess alter the way the food tasted? Not at all. That distinguishes the true friends from the not so true friends.

Moral of the story – always make sure the bubbly is flowing. That makes everyone happy! And hug your friends.

xoxo, Patti

Guest Blogger – Curtis and His Deconstructed Paella

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Good Morning, Darlings!

Today we have a guest blogger – my hilarious blogging (and real life) friend Curtis from over at Complete Waste of Time. If you remember, Curtis and I made carrot curd together. If that piqued your interest, his cautionary tale of deconstructed cuisine will slay you. I laughed until my sides hurt upon reading his story.

I think you will, too.

Enjoy!

xoxo, Patti

Hungry and Waiting for Paella

Hungry and Waiting for Paella

Paella Calamity

St. Augustine defined pride as: love of one’s own excellence. Pride I have in excess. Imagination I also have in excess. Cooking technique I do not. Don’t get me wrong, I cook quite well. But every so often I decide to leave the safety of my tried and true abilities for the culinary unknown. When I’m at my best, I do this at the most inopportune time.
This whole fiasco begins with an episode of Bravo’s Top Chef series. They did an episode based around deconstruction. Each chef chose a classical dish and had to deconstruct it as part of the competition. The losing dish was a horrid failing of paella.

Seeing this I decide that I can do better than the trained chef on television and will make it myself. But for what occasion? Paella is a pretty big dish and you don’t just make it on a Wednesday night. And considering I’ve never made it before, I let my imagination run wild with the possibilities. The occasion presented itself in a trip to a cabin in Blue Ridge, Ga. According to the website, the cabin had a well appointed kitchen with every pot and pan needed except a paella pan. But I’m deconstructing so I wouldn’t need it.

Failure or Disaster? Keep reading ->