A friend that I hadn’t seen in almost two years sent me an email hoping she and her husband could get together for dinner. We set the date, rescheduled at least twice, and finally made it happen after much back and forth coordinating calendars. I invited a few other friends I hadn’t seen in a while to join us, and when we got together it was as if no time had passed at all. So much had happened in our lives since our last dinner we shared, and the nice thing about being with friends is that we picked up right where we left off. It was as if we had seen one another the day before. The table was filled with non-stop laughter and we squeezed two year’s worth of stories into one evening.
The wine flowed much too late that night, and being a weekend evening, I doubt any of us where operating at full speed the next day, but it was well worth the aspirin or two for A.M. peace of mind! It was a magical evening I'll cherish, and the moments we shared together reaffirmed how important it is to take the time and make the effort to stay in touch with the people we love and not let relationships fade. It’s easy to get caught up in our own lives without realizing how much we miss a casual, no agenda evening with good friends.
Since it was a Friday night and my workweek schedule had been crazy, to say the least, I wanted to make it as easy on myself as possible. The night before, I set the table, did the flowers, planned my menu, and ordered everything online with FreshDirect. All that was left for me to do was the cooking and cleaning. I always clean as I go so at the end of the night I’m not stuck in the kitchen scraping pots and pans until sunrise three days later. Entertaining isn’t easy, but it’s well worth the effort. It’s something I love to do and squeeze it in whenever I can.
I decided on a first course of cauliflower soup followed by sirloin steak served with green beans drizzled with truffle oil and topped with toasted almonds. For dessert I purchased some homemade applesauce at the gourmet market around the block, warmed it slightly, and topped it with freshly sliced pears and a piece of honeycomb with toasted almond slivers. For added decadence, a scoop of vanilla ice cream did the trick.
Dinner was set for 8:30 p.m., a little later than usual, but I didn’t want to rush home from the office and scramble to get everything done in time. My guests arrived promptly, which surprised even me. I was shaking the martinis as the doorbell rang and had just enough time before the elevator opened to set out a couple of bowls of nuts. Everyone arrived at once, and with pitcher in hand, I poured a round of sour apple martinis. We had a quick drink in the living room before heading to the kitchen table for dinner. A few votive candles alongside gorgeous pieces of rock crystal, and an arrangement of flowers a friend sent over the day before, looked glamorous on the coffee table.
My kitchen table is higher than most, with tall stools for seating. At each setting was a black placemat, a white rectangular dinner plate, and a round black and white ceramic plate with a rich green linen napkin rolled in a silver napkin ring. I mixed my expensive purple St. Louis stemmed wine glasses with inexpensive green water glasses from Pier One. For added glamour, purple votives were scattered down the table and black vases were stuffed with mini black calla lilies. To finish, I further accessorized the table with horn salt and pepper holders I found at Amon Wardey in Aspen.
After such a long day, way too much food, and way too many laughs, we called it a night. By the time we finished, the last guest left my apartment, and the dishwasher was doing its thing, it must have been around 1:00 a.m. Another great night spent with close friends had come and gone.
