When my husband’s hobbies take him away for a night or two on a hunt — it means two things : girls night & a chance to practice my hobbies! To be extra self-indulgent, I arranged for the kiddos to have a slumber party at their Grandparent’s and texted some friends to join me for a Friday night dinner at home.

I took full advantage of the fact that it was a “girls only” night and set my menu for a simple, easy, and not super filling dinner. Which means a good drink, light food, and of course, dessert!

The menu :

Old Fashioneds

Chopped Salad with Rotissiere Chicken

Cheese Wafers

Pots de Crème

SET THE TABLE

A whole afternoon of doing what I love — setting the table, arranging flowers, and cooking in the kitchen. I’m not sure which is more fun the preparation of everything or the actual dinner but I’ve determined it’s totally therapeutic and something I enjoy creating and getting lost in doing.

Luckily my favorite flower shop (aka Mom’s garden) had a surplus in Dahlias and end of Summer flowers that I went and cut from.

Summer’s finale showing off beautiful colorful blooms made for a bright and fun setting! I used a brown block print table cloth, a pair of antique wooden candlesticks, and dried mushrooms to bring in hints of Fall.

O L D F A S H I O N E D

We started off the night with one of my favorite cocktails — they were a hit, used my Dad’s tried and true old fashioned recipe!

Served a chopped salad for the main entree— recreated one of my favs from True Food Kitchen with manchego, dates, marcona almonds, farro, dried cranberries, and pulled chicken with a homemade champagne vinaigrette. Paired cheese wafers with the salad and it was just right — a light dinner means room for dessert!

***Also something I learned by my mistake — because it’s all about trial and error — I ended up making way too much salad. Next time, if I’m serving a salad as an entree, I will portion out the lettuce per serving ahead of time then construct it all together. Note to self!

P O T S D E C R È M E

The best part of the meal by far . . . and always a crowd pleaser — pots de crème! It’s so incredible easy and my favorite party trick because the presentation looks like you went to a lot of effort but let me assure you - its so simple and delicious!

Served with homemade whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. I have a few recipes that I like for this yummy dessert — this time I tested Ina Garten’s Pots de Crème. Slightly surprised she didn’t include coffee (as she uses it often in Chocolate recipes) but it was delicious - I added a splash of Grand Marnier to give it a rich flavor. I may be adventurous next time and try to whip up my own recipe?

We talked the night away, listened to some fun disco beats, laughed a lot and lost track of time.

Lingering at a pretty table and uninterrupted time with friends is good for the soul!

It was the perfect “farewell to Summer” dinner party with girlfriends!

Check out my instagram reels to get a glimpse into the night.

Also, what is your favorite dessert to have or make at a dinner party? I would love to know!

XxChelsea