Welcoming guests into my home and introducing them to my food fills me with joy. It is not the fleeting moment of the meal but organizing everything for the perfect party that extends the pleasure. Planning the menu can take days as I explore all sorts of possibilities and combinations. Orchestrating all the elements — cooks, servers, decor, lighting, music, liquor, etc. — is intense and satisfying when everything falls in place. Then the dinner comes and everyone loves it and I feel good and they feel happy but it doesn’t end there because the next day we will rehash every moment with my friends and I can relive and experience all the fun again. Like Evelyn Waugh said: We love our friends not for their ability to amuse us but our ability to amuse them.
Here is the menu with links in case you want to make it all or maybe some of the dishes.
Seated Dinner Menu
Passed Appetizers
Photo Laurie Smith
Crimped Corn Tartlets (Picadas) (top) with Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce (Salsa verde con aguacate)
Potato Fritters (Bocaditos de papa)
Margaritas
Mezcal Pierde Almas
First Course
Huitlacoche Soup (a corn mushroom, “our truffle”)
Wine: Pazo de Galegos Premium Selection Albarino 2012 (Rias Baixas, Spain)
Second Course
Seafood Frittata with Veracruzana Sauce
Wine: CUNE Rosado 2012 (Rioja, Spain)
Third Course
Chiles Rellenos de Picadillo de Frutas
Wine: Santo Cristo, Selección Garnacha 2011 (Campo de Borja, Spain)
Dessert
Lustau Moscatel Superior Emilin Sherry (Andalucia, Spain)
