Casual Elegant Entertaining
Elegant entertaining does not have to be hard and it doesn’t have to be formal, but it does require some thought. I am SOOOO happy to be able to have people in again. You don’t know how much you miss something until you’ve had to do without it!
Now I’m celebrating any and every excuse to entertain. Haven’t seen friends in a while? time for a party! National Brussel Sprout Day (oh I’m sure there MUST be one!)? time for a party! It’s the weekend? time for a party! For any gathering, you want your guests to feel relaxed and pampered - that is the essence of luxury and elegance and hospitality, and the ultimate goal of a good host or hostess.
Make the feast a visual as well as gustatory one! Plan a pretty table, plan a simple menu, and do as much ahead as you can so you have time to enjoy your guests. GAH - I live for this process - the planning and prep are as much fun as the party!
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Table Setting
Charger plates, generous cloth napkins, and everyday white dinnerware topped with scalloped botanical salad plates make a simple but pretty summer table
I love setting the table and always try to do it early. Having the table all set and looking inviting builds anticipation for great things to come from the moment your guests arrive. Food always seems to taste better when it is presented beautifully and served in a pretty atmosphere.
For a recent luncheon for friends, I set a table in pale greens and whites. The centerpiece was created in this oval pedestal urn planter - I love this thing and use it all. the. time. I used faux ivy and hydrangeas with real kale leaves, key limes, artichokes, and alstromeria stems from the grocery store. It is a weird combination, but the mix of shapes, textures, and colors totally works!
Mixed greens, flowers, vegetables, and fruit, both real and faux, make a striking and unusual centerpiece
True confessions: I wasn’t even sure what the leafy green I bought was?! The checkout clerk held it up and I thought she was asking so I shrugged and said, “I don’t know I’m just using it in a centerpiece”. She was the one who informed me it was kale. I try not to eat anything that requires a massage to be edible, thus my naivete. She laughed and asked if that was what the artichokes were for too. Well, um…yes!
I’m sure she thought I was nuts, but hey, we can deconstruct it and eat the various pieces later. Well, maybe not the kale…yes, I’m expecting the commentary from all you kale devotees waxing poetic about the nutritional value and the wonders of kale chips - I’m happy to send it to you! :-)
Luncheon Menu
Regarding the menu, I planned a simple dinner of grilled swordfish and sirloin tips, and grilled mixed vegetables, with rice pilaf and a green salad. Practically healthy! Bakery dinner rolls got an upgrade by being warmed in the oven and served with a crock of honey-butter.
Eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, baby bella mushrooms, peppers, and onions all ready for the grill in our simple go-to marinade of olive oil, wine vinegar, minced garlic, fresh thyme, and salt and pepper.
Warm rolls and flavored butter are an unbeatable combination.
Butter is a great detail to level-up to gourmet-ish when entertaining (or just as a treat for weeknight suppers!). It is super easy to make interesting flavored butters - just beat softened salted butter with whatever appeals! Use fresh herbs or chives or honey or cinnamon-sugar. And serve it soft so it is easy to spread. I use an ice cream scoop to fill a little crock or dish with the flavored butter to pass with the rolls. Or, for more formal dinner parties, I sometimes mold individual butter pats in these fun shaped silicone molds - chill and pop them out onto individual bread plates so they soften before the party starts.
For this casual event, I put together a charcuterie board to serve as appetizers on the back deck and made sure everyone had their beverage of choice. Our new Weber Spirit grill (a somewhat self-serving Mother’s Day gift from my kids) is conveniently located on the deck so I could attend to the last minute cooking while visiting with my guests.
We serve “family style” for most casual meals, where we put the various meal elements in serving bowls on the table to pass and let guests help themselves. In contrast, for more formal dinners, we’ll plate each different course in the kitchen like a restaurant and deliver it to each guest…it is useful to enlist some help for this style of serving so that everyone can get their food at once.
One of my favorite little serving pieces is this triple bowl with scalloped edges and a tree/bird handle. I bought it for a photo shoot styling last year and it followed me home! I love anything with birds or with scalloped edges soooo….not a surprise this jumped in my cart! I use it all the time - this time it holds 3 varieties of crackers for the cheese board.
Citrus Tartlet Dessert Flight
For dessert, I wanted something fun and had recently been gifted 3 jars of different flavored citrus curd. I decided to make mini tartlets with crumb crusts and whipped cream and serve them like a little tartlet buffet for each guest…sort of like a wine “flight” only with tartlets, so a dessert flight?!
Hmmm…I may need to procure some rectangular dessert dishes so I can produce some mini dessert flights for future dinners, but I digress…
I had these tangy-sweet purchased curd flavors which were small batch crafted from Oregon, but it is relatively easy to make your own citrus curd too - it is just juice, zest (optional), butter, sugar, and egg yolks. Ina Garten has a good recipe here .
So the flavors that I made were:
graham cracker crust for the lemon curd - garnished with whipped cream and blueberries
ginger snap cookie crust for the lime curd - garnished with whipped cream and a tiny slice of key lime
chocolate wafer crust for the orange curd - garnished with whipped cream and a dusting of grated chocolate
Candied citrus peel would make a great garnish for these too, and ground nuts in the crusts would also be delicious!
Making the crusts is messy but easy:
Combine ~ 180 grams of cookies (or graham crackers - that’s about 12 graham crackers) with 1/3 cup sugar in a food processor and process until fine, add 6 tablespoons melted butter and pulse until fully mixed. Press the mixture into removable bottom tart pans (this is enough for 12 mini 2” tartlets or 1 full size tart). REALLY press it down into all the crevices - you can use the back of a spoon or some plastic wrap and your fingers to help firmly encourage the crust into shape. Bake for 10 minutes at 350º F. Baking helps them hold together. I recommend putting a tray under the tart pan so butter doesn’t leak onto the bottom of the oven and make a smoky mess…ask me how I learned this?!
They don’t seem to make these exact mini pans anymore, but these oblong 4” x 2” tartlet pans (which I, of course, also own) work too!
Cool the shells, pop them out of the pans carefully, fill with curd and garnish! I used a small cookie scoop to make quick and even work of adding the filling. Easy peasy! The cookie crumb ones were slightly sturdier than the graham crusts, but they all work.
I made the crusts the day before the party and filled and garnished them the morning of, and stored them in the fridge until serving time. The addition of a dash of whipped cream stabilizer is a great little trick that keeps the cream from breaking down too quickly so it can be piped on ahead of time.
Presentation is everything.
I keep a sleeve of disposable piping bags and a small assortment of extra large piping tips on hand for frosting and whipped cream. I’ve even piped whipped potatoes! Garnishes are important too - top your serving dishes of savory foods with compatible herb sprigs and/or citrus slices or wedges. Garnish sweets with fruit, grated chocolate, sugar crystals, or mint leaves.
And, of course, plate your desserts on pretty dishes!
A final word on entertaining at home: Please please please, I beg of you, use real flatware. Borrow it if you don’t own enough for the number of guests. Or serve finger foods (these mini tartlets are sized at around two bites each and work well as finger foods). Nothing is less elegant or pampering than plastic forks that break a tine when you stab something, or cheap plastic knives that are completely useless for, well anything! And I simply refuse to acknowledge the existence of the spork, that frankenmonster child of a spoon and fork that is clearly useless for either function.
So party on, but do it with elegant style!
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