A Dinner Party

This past weekend hubby and I had our friends Dory and Tim from The Doyle Dispatch over for dinner. I love to entertain and definitely don't do it enough, so I was excited to plan a yummy meal and get out all of my fun serving ware. Side note: I wish I could be that quintessential Southern woman who sets the table every night and uses my good serving pieces, but some nights I can not even get it together enough to have dinner at the table. Yes, I am talking about dinner on the couch. Oh dear, I feel like I have just revealed a deep dark secret to you. I will blame part of it on my profession (which I love), but after taking care of 17 other little people all day and running on full speed every moment, the only thing I want to do when I get home is put on my pajamas at 3:00 and laze around and do nothing relax and rest.

Annnnnway as usual, blah blah blah, I am off topic. SO--on the menu were some of my favorites, and luckily our guests seemed to like them too!

We started with baked brie. I topped it with cranberry jalepeno jam and pecan chips. This jam is so delicious and I have also served it over cream cheese as an appetizer. I got it from my friend who sells Wildtree. Have you heard of it? It is a fabulous company that offers quick, simple, and delicious food items AND all of their products are all natural and organic. So amazing! Here is her website if you want to check everything out. Seriously not a product promo, I truly love this stuff! Annnnnnyway....I served the brie hot out of the oven with some crackers and it was mega delish!

For our main course we had hubby and I's absolute favorite soup and a fall/winter tradition in our house: Ina Garten's roasted potato and leek soup (recipe here). Oh yummy yummy. Everyone must try this, and it doesn't really require too many ingredients or steps. The recipe is really simplified if you have an immersion blender because then you can dump everything in the pot and blend it up at once. Best.invention.ever. I didn't take a good picture of the soup served up, but you top it with these crispy shallots and fresh grated parmesan cheese {my mouth is watering...}.

With the soup I served a simple salad of baby field greens, pears, shaved parmesan, and dried cranberries, as well as some warm crusty bread with butter or garlic dipping oil (also from Wildtree).

For dessert we had chocolate lava cakes courtesy of Trader Joe's. Gotta love something you can take out of the package and stick right in the oven!

We were pretty lucky hosts, because not only were our guests our great friends who we really enjoy spending time with, but they brought us some pretty rocking host gifts. Hubby received the most ridiculously awesome beer/drink caddy that was handmade by Tim! Make sure you check out the super cool bottle opener he attached to the side. It was filled with some of hubby's favorite beers as well as a few Cheerwines. They know him so well. :) How amazing is this:

And lucky lady me got some homemade brown sugar scrub. Mmm it smells like sweet deliciousness and it is fabulous for my poor winter cracked hands. In fact its so good I think it could be used for more than hands. After my next shower I will be smelling like a cookie...watch out!

I hope you enjoyed visiting our dinner party!

Wine and Cheese Please

Hi friends! It feels like forever since my last post even though its only been a few weeks. The first few weeks of school for a teacher, in kindergarten no less, are all consuming and exhausting. Two Fridays ago (the end of the first week of school) hubby went out with some friends for the evening (side note: they went to a new brewery in Richmond, Hardywood--have you been? Hubby loved it!), and I had no plans. Well, what's a girl to do on a lonesome Friday night? Prepare an indulgent meat and cheese "board" and open a good bottle of wine of course.

What a perfect end to a long and draining week. On my way home from school I first stopped at the library to get some good books (the perfect addition to a relaxing night on my own) and then I ran into the grocery store to get all the things I needed for my indulgent meal. I feel like I need to preface this with the fact that this was my whole dinner and there were possibly a few things left over?! Here is what I included:

• Prosciutto 
• Olives from the olive bar: mixed greek and blue cheese stuffed--my ultimate favorites are garlic stuffed and olives with red chilies (the dinky grocery store on my way home didn't have those kinds though...sad) P.S. I LOVE an olive bar. I mean LOVE. Sometimes that is my treat to myself at the grocery store--getting a tub of olives. It doesn't take much to amuse me. 
• Warm french bread--I bought a mini loaf (perfect for one!) of the french bread you get in the bakery that is "pre-baked"--you have to put it in the oven for about 15 minutes to "bake" it. I like it because it gives you that warm fresh baked taste.
• Dark chocolate bar with hazelnuts--any dark chocolate that has nuts or dried fruit in it would be delicious in my opinion
• Baked brie with honey and pecans--Oh yummy! I LOVE brie!!! Just put your wheel of brie into an oven safe baking dish (I really want need a brie baker...hint hint, anyone?) and top with a drizzle of honey and some pecan chips. Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese starts looking ooey gooey (about 15 minutes). There are so many delicious options for baked brie so play around and find your favorite combination. 

Now, onto other important things...you must be wondering what's in my wine glass! That is Viognier from Pippin Hill Farm. Viognier is know as Virginia's signature wine and this wine by Pippin Hill Farm lived up to its title. I discovered this fresh, fruity, crisp wine on a wine tasting trip with my mom back in June (thanks for buying me a bottle, mom!). Every few months we like to do a little "girls" trip and this last trip was to Charlottesville, VA where we did wine tasting at Pippin Hill, and then went to The Boar's Head Inn for spa treatments and an overnight stay complete with a lovely dinner. Here are some pictures from our trip to Pippin Hill:

After our wine tasting we had lunch on the patio overlooking the mountains. It was a perfect June day with cooler temperatures and bright sunshine. We had the cheese board and the charcuterie (I can never say that word correctly!)--ie. meat board. There were delicious homemade mustards, preserves, and spreads to accompany the meats and cheeses, and it all came with some delicious crusty french bread. Oh yummy! We had the most amazing time at Pippin Hill and I insist that you go give it a try. The atmosphere, food, wine, view, and service was all top notch. I can't wait to go back.

You can see all of my other wine and cheese ideas on my Wine and Cheese Please Pinterest board here. There are lots of yummy and fun ideas on there.

Well, I have gone off on a tangent as I usually do, so I will leave you with one last thought...

"There comes a time in the day that no matter what the question...the answer is wine."