Our first dinner party was a Christmas theme, which meant the decorations were easy and the food was decadent and delicious!
Wow, 22 years ago this month we gathered for our first dinner party.
We started as a "gourmet" group; but since none of us are trained chefs, it soon turned into more of a foodie group. And what fun we've had!
When we started we were not friends, more like acquaintances. The four of us ladies were volunteering at our kids' school, working on the same fundraisers and in our kids' classrooms.
So we knew each other, but we had never met each other's spouses or hung out together. Perhaps because of this we didn't have any expectations of one another.
It was a mutual love of cooking and an interest in entertaining that brought us together.
[Wishing we had more pictures from that first Gr8 Dinner...We never thought we'd be doing a blog when we started!]
Our husbands, of course, were a little skeptical (maybe a LOT skeptical!), but after the first dinner, they were each more accepting of the idea.
They actually all got along! And they realized that these were not going to be stuffy gourmet dinner parties, but just a group of friends getting together for dinner. (Check out our "party outlines" to learn more.)
Our Gr8 Dinner themes revolve around countries and cultures, favorite celebrity chefs, holidays, cities, even rock 'n roll...you name it, we've probably done it!
The husbands really like when we do sports themes or fun things like our "Wild West" dinner.
The invitation for that first dinner was modest compared to subsequent invitations. I did a simple card printed on my home computer. To make it special I sewed the envelope out of organza.
This sounds like a lot of work, but remember we only have to make THREE! (I knew my middle school sewing class would come in handy!)
Since the date was the beginning of December, I chose a holiday meal theme and used my best dishes.
And the decorations were easy; because it was Christmastime the house was already decorated. I didn't have to think about any special decorations at all.
(Gr8 Tip: plan a Christmas dinner party for friends at the beginning of December and after you've decorated the house and half the work is done!)
~ Menu ~
Assorted Appetizers and Cocktails
Dried Fig, Walnut, Cheese Spread
Salad
Butter Lettuce Salad with Pomegranate and Apple
Main Course
Crown Roast of Pork with Spiced Fruit Chutney
Broccoli à la Kyle
Farinella's Wild Rice with Mushrooms
Dessert!
Jurga's Cranberry Apple Pie à la Mode
We never dreamed that these dinner parties would continue for so many years or that we would become the best of friends.
I think it's because we kept it pretty simple, one of our main rules is that you don't have to try recipes ahead of time, if it doesn't work out, we'll order out! And we've NEVER had to do that.
So gather a group of friends, plan some dates and start your own group!
Remember ~ Gr8 Food, Gr8 Friends, Gr8 Fun!
Christmas Dinner Themes
Almost any theme can be adapted to Christmas, unless it's truly seasonal. So be cre-8-ive. These are two more dedicated Christmas themes that we've enjoyed.
Edited from original post date of December 24, 2015.
Anna
Thanks for being a Gr8 friend and joining us!
Brenda Perlin
Thank you for inviting us into your homes!!!