Dinner Party I

Last Thursday I hosted my first dinner party in my new apartment in D.C. to thank my wonderful friends, both new and old, for introducing me to my new hometown. On the upside, everything turned out perfect and I couldn't have had a better time. On the downside, there are no pictures to show of the food, which is a shame because it was quite a feast. I do have some quick pictures that were snapped before any eating actually happened to share though, so not all is lost.

For the dinner, I had a brie and crackers platter out and made a tomato salad with lentils, goat cheese, and a lemon-basil vinaigrette for an appetizer, french bread (par-baked from Trader Joe's and finished off in the oven) and steamed mussels in a white wine butter sauce for the main course, and shortbread cookies for dessert.

Before any cooking actually happened, I stopped at my farmer's market to pick up some fresh flowers. I figured this would be a nice distraction from the tangle cords by my desk that I didn't quite get to tending to in time and all of the empty picture frames I have yet to print pictures for.

Back to the food...

The mussels were super easy to make, inexpensive ($4 per pound), and something I love to cook because it seems impressive without actually taking any work on my part. Also, there is slim margin for error - if the mussels are open after they are cooked then you've succeeded; if not, steam them some more. Simplice! All that is required in terms of chef-skills is creating a tasty sauce in the bottom of your pot before you dump in the mussels. (Hint: more butter = better sauce)

• Chopped Shallot
• Olive Oil
• White Wine
• Mussels, rinsed and de-bearded (discard any already opened shells)
• Butter
• Parsley or other herbs

In a large pot with a lid, sautee the shallots in olive oil until they are translucent and fragrant. Pour in a cup or two, depending on how big your pot is, of the white wine. Add in your mussels. Cover with the lid and steam for about 6 minutes. Once the shells are opened and the mussel inside looks opaque, remove the mussles with a slotted spoon and place into your serving dish. Add butter and herbs to the remaining liquid and boil until it has reduced to a thicker sauce. Pout this sauce over the mussels. I like to serve this is deep bowls. No utensils are required - just pick up a shell, scoop up the sauce in that shell, and then spoon it all into your mouth. Use the French bread for soaking up all the extra sauce once you've finished the mussels.

The shortbread cookies were a last minute thought around 10:30pm Wednesday night. I only had flour, brown sugar, and butter for making something sweet with. In most traditional shortbread cookie situations, one would measure things with measuring cups, have a hand mixer to make sure the butter in blended while cold, and have some sort of formal cookie cutter. In non-traditional cases, like my apartment, shortbread cookies have been known to be measured by estimates in an irregular shaped drinking glass, mixed with hot blooded hands, and then cut with said drinking glass. Whether you prefer the traditional or non-traditional method, sugar and butter can never fail to taste delicious. Perhaps in the end they shouldn't have been called "shortbread cookies", but they did the trick after cheese, salad, mussels, and several glasses of wine.

This is the only picture that was actually taken during the evening, and I'm happy to say that there were no more because we were having such a wonderful time eating and chatting.


I am sure people have many standards, varying in importance, by which they choose their friends. If I had to choose my top five qualities of what makes a good friend to me, I'm confident that "possessing the love and appreciation of food" would fall easily within that list. That one characteristic really can tell you a lot about a person.