Dinner Party Preparations

Preparations for the wine pairing multi-course dinner are well underway. If I neglect to blog in the next couple of weeks it's because I'm going to be a busy little bee planning the menu and experimenting with the dishes. I'm also forcing Big N to act as a guinea pig as I perfect them in advance of the dinner. I can't very well blog about the dishes I intend to serve as it would quite obviously ruin the surprise. The trial run helps me to leave as little as possible to chance. I also need to carefully plan the timing of each dish, especially because the menu now stands at 6 courses plus an amuse bouche and cheese course, all with intended wine pairings. Timing is everything (that and just not screwing it all up).

Friends Eagle Eye and El-El (aka Lickity List) are coming in from St. Louis specially for this dinner and I'm determined not to disappoint. Mousseux will also be in the house so the wine pairings better be spot on. The guestlist now stands at 14 but may reach 16 as we get closer to February 7. My goal is to keep it simple but delicious, and to make it as enjoyable for our guests as the last time we hosted one of these shindigs. Wish me luck.