My First Dinner Party

This is (more or less) every single ingredient I used for the night.
I am missing bacon and Thyme, and the apple cider got cut off.

Tonight I hosted my first dinner party, but definitely not my last!

It's something I've wanted to do for a long time: invite people over for food I cooked myself and have them have fun and enjoy my food. Having dinner parties was the first thing I thought of when the Independent Component was explained. We are supposed to spend 30 hours working on something related to our project that will help explain or answer our Essential Question. (My working EQ: What is the best way to create a flavorful meal?)

THANK YOU CLAIRE!!
One of my lovely guests was kind enough to bring me all the
utensils and placements seen in this picture.

This party has definitely taught me a lot in many aspect of cooking. One thing I didn't even consider until just a few hours before the party was where we would eat. Clearly, I had a table and a space, but I didn't even think to count how many chairs I had until 6 pm! It wasn't until 3 pm that I realized I needed 8 place mattes, a table cloth, and 16 forks, 8 knives, and 8 spoons minimum for the meal. Then after the part started and I sat down, I realized that if all 8 of my guests had come, I wouldn't have had a seat for myself! These last couple of weeks, I've been planning a party for 8, when I was supposed to have 8 guests and then me hosting. Part of me was very relieved when two people didn't come, especially when my little brother high-jacked our 8th and final seat.

Here we are enjoying appetizers! Cute stories: 3 weeks after
the party, one guest said, "Normally I hat mushrooms, but wow!
Yours were so good, I had like 2 or 3!!"

I think my lack of planning in "front of house" (the place guests see) is what I'm least proud of and think I could have done better for this party. having to ask guests for utensils and place mattes at the last minute was embarrassing, so I'll be sure to look farther ahead for the next party. beyond that, I forgot about sides to the main course until just two days before the part, which seemed bad planning as well. Also, I did a lot of prep work yesterday, but I could have done more; I found myself scrambling to mince garlic and cook bacon as late as an hour and a half before the party was to start. This disappointed me, but I still feel I eliminated a lot of work by doing things like chopping apples and onion or making the dessert and vinaigrette yesterday.

Left: Mushroom stuffing. Right: Pork Loin Stuffing. I prepared
them at the same time about 3 hours before the party. Pre-making
stuffings definitely made me feel like a pro.

I am most proud of my timing. It was thrown off because I put the stuffed mushrooms 10 minutes late, and then didn't put the roast in the oven right away but rather waited 10 minutes after I'd taken out the mushrooms, but It still all went well. There was a comfortable amount of time between each course (though there could have been a little less between the entree and main course) and I was able to accommodate even our latest arrival (who came about an hour late).

Here is a very flattering photo of me setting up our little salad
bar! The apple cider vinaigrette is in the very center of the
photo, to the left of the spinach.

As for the food, everything seemed to be a success! The stuffed mushrooms were a bit strong, so I think a bit less blue cheese would have been better, but all the guests had one or two (which is what I accounted for). The guests really enjoyed the salad, which I served more as a "make your own" salad, with all the toppings on the table and a big bowl of spinach in the middle. Most guests ate the salad the way I had intended; they even tried my apple cider vinaigrette! I wasn't sure how my friends would feel about it, but I actually got a lot of compliments. This second batch included more honey, some sugar, and Dijon mustard instead of brown deli mustard, and was a lot better in my opinion.


The main course was well received! I wasn't completely sure how many of my guests would like apples with their pork, but everyone ate their piece and enjoyed it. No one was licking their plates clean, but everyone finished their meal with nothing more than a bit or two left. I think this time I seasoned the outside of the tenderloin a lot better, and cooked it better; I was sure to baste every fifteen minutes and cooked it to 150 degrees. in it's center, so there was no pink but was still juicy. I think it could have been juicier, but the food overall was good.

I have to say, however, that everyone's favorite course was probably dessert. One girl even asked for seconds! This simple chocolate-coffee mixture was, of course, enjoyed by us 17-year-old girls, and a can of whip cream was delightfully passed from person  to person  multiple times.

Overall, I'd say the party was a success! My guests all had fun and enjoyed the food, as did I. I truly got to visit with them throughout the process, which definitely made the dinner even better. I also learned a lot, about designing a meal, prep, cooking, and service. I look forward to applying my knowledge to more dinner parties, my internship, and future endeavors.

The night ended with a fabulous toast, proposed by my adorable little brother and done
through our coffee-chocolate desserts. The perfect ending to a very crazy yet fun night.

I will be posting recipes (along with the links and proper credit to all the recipes that inspired me) to everything I made tonight on this blog throughout the next month!

For more information on my planning, ingredients, or inspiration for the recipes I used, visit Dinner Party 1 Planner, located at the right side of this blog or here.

Here are the direct links to my Dinner Party recipes:
Stuffed Mushroom Recipe
Spinach-Cranberry Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Sides
Apple Stuffed Pork Loin

My New Favorite Quote

"You have to love either what you are going to eat, or the person you are cooking for. Then you have to give yourself up to cooking. Cuisine is an act of love."

 I read this in The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. They were quoting chef Alan Chapel (1937-1990), and I don't believe I've ever read anything about cooking that I felt was so profoundly true: to create good food, you truly need love. Cooking is passionate, full of more than just what you see, and while it is often about what you are cooking, it is often also about why you cook, or rather, who you cook for.

I think the best example of this happened sometime around freshman or sophomore year, when I was 14 or 15. At this point, I had been regularly preparing dinner for the family for 5 years, cooking for around 10. My mom taught me most of what I knew, along with the Food Network. When I reached middle school, my grandpa started telling me about old dishes my grandma used to make. He'd give me vague instructions, like, "Slice the steak and stew it with vegetables and tomato and stuff." Whenever he gave me these simple recipes, I'd replicate it many different times, hoping he'd say "Wow! That tastes just like your grandma's!" The first few tries usually yielded little more than "Try adding some salt" and a half eaten plate, but I never gave up.

I had this sort of need to try to make food the way my grandma did. Part of it was that I wanted to feel more connected to her, this woman that my grandpa and parents felt could walk on water and cook for the gods; I wanted to be able to cook just as well as if she taught me herself. Part of me has always known that if she were alive, I'd know all her recipes by now. The main reason I was so adamant about cooking her old food, however, was because I knew just how much my dad and (especially) my grandpa missed her and her food. I wanted to bring to them the food they ate 30 years ago, just because I knew it would make them happy, and I want my family to be happy. That's what cooking is about.

The first time I made tacos with my papa's vague instruction, my grandpa ate two. Two. Every time I'd ever made tacos before he told me how to do it, he'd only eat half of one, maybe a full one. I knew I was onto something, so I continued to perfect the recipe. Soon, I was devoting whole days to making the perfect taco. Then, one day, my grandpa asked for seconds. And then thirds. He ate six tacos that night.

"I didn't think Papa could eat that much!!" I had exclaimed to my father. "I've seen him eat 10 taquitos from his favorite vendor on Olvera Street. If he likes it, he won't stop eating until his stomach is about to explode. It just takes a lot for him to like something," my father had replied.

Once my grandpa finished his meal, he said, "Just like your grandmother's!"

Blog 11: EQ

1. I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

2. a. What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?
             i. You must study weight and the factors that affect it.
            ii."most important" implies a subjective answer.
           iii. The wording is sound. Broad, but still specific enough.

    b. What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?
             i. You must study the practice of law
            ii. The idea of something being "most important" implies the answer is subjective.
           iii. The wording is sound, broad enough to give freedom but specific enough to have defined                    answers.

     c. What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?
             i. You could study hair styles, but it'd be very hard to study what will "satisfy a customer,"                      because it is too subjective. Therefore, this isn't a good question.

     d. How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?
             i. Treating chronic pain and anesthesiology is what they must study.
            ii. Something being the "best" is subjective.
           iii. The wording is sound.

3. What is the most important factor in creating a flavorful meal?

Lesson 1 Reflection

1. I am most proud of the reactions I got from the audience during my presentation. Upon asking my hook question, everyone in the room had a response to give. Then, during the presentation, I could see reactions on people's faces. One girl looked horrified at the idea of people eating duck, others appeared confused at terms like "halal," but then I saw their understanding as I explained my topic further. Because the presentation was meant to inform my classmates, my favorite part was seeing the understanding on their faces. I liked my use of cuisine- related vocabulary, as well. I felt it really added to the professionalism of the presentation and my own authority.

2. I think I deserve a P+. I would give myself this grade because I fulfilled all of the requirements on the contract; my lesson plan was typed and submitted, I used multiple mentor and real life references, and in-presentation citations. My presentation was about 9 minutes long, I used a prop, and my introduction was interactive with the audience. Beyond that, my speech was extremely fluid. I went from one topic to another smoothly, including from my introduction into my presentation.

3. The thing that worked best for me was teaching my lesson in chronological order. I described cooking as a process, divided it into six steps, and then broke down and described each step. Using time really helps get points across, so I used that and I think it really made my presentation a good one.

4. If I could go back, I would use more props and possibly find a way to make the lesson more interactive. I'd bring in examples (or at least pictures) of good ingredients and copies of my sources.