The Dinner Party

About 6 months ago, I decided to try my hand at throwing a dinner party. It seemed like a great way to bring people I care about all together, and the perfect excuse to try cooking some indulgent French food!

I'm a planner, so I literally started writing out and considering the menu for the night months in advance. However, I also change my mind about things all the time, so while I planned out the options for a French food themed event, it wasn't until about the day before that I went shopping and finalized the menu.

In an effort to try as many French dishes as possible, we went for three appetizers, one main dish with two sides, a cheese board, and two desserts. We also made sure there was a gluten free option in each course, and no peanuts in anything. (Due to a couple of food allergies)

Le Menu 

Les Entrées (Appetizers) 

Salade verte 

Mushroom tartlets 

Chèvre avec lemon  

Bread 

Plat Principal (Main Course) 

Coq au vin 

French potatoes

Caramelized carrots 

Le Fromage (Cheese plate)

Camembert 

Brie

Blue cheese 

Les Desserts

Lemon Tart

Mousse au Chocolat 

There was so much to do, prep really began three days beforehand. I'm not sure what I would have done without my friends and family pitching in! 

The first thing to do, of course, was create a shopping list and to buy all of the ingredients for the meal. The day before, a friend of mine, Vanesa, came over for the afternoon and we baked the Lemon Tarte and made the Mousse au Chocolat. I made a complete mess of the kitchen, and spilled egg/lemon mixture all over myself. Luckily, we were able to clean everything up, and somehow the desserts managed to taste absolutely divine! 

The day of the dinner, about three hours before it started, two other friends of mine, Cambria and Casey, came over and we cooked up a storm. My Mom was amazing and had chopped up all the veggies before hand so all we had to do was throw them together, drink some wine, and get everything set up for our guests! 

The night was better than I could have hoped! The food was amazing (if I don't say so myself!), the conversation and the wine was flowing. It was a wonderful evening spent sitting around the table, talking with some wonderful people. 

We made things extra cheesy by wearing lots of stripes (sorry French readers, we went with the cliché). 

It was a ton of work, but having a dinner party was so much fun. Definitely something I'd like to do more often!