Luxe Made Easy: A French-Inspired Dinner for 8 [PFB Challenge #3]

We made it to the next round of PFB!  We're now down to just 200 bloggers.  What better way to celebrate than invite six people over, stress all week about the menu, and go crazy cooking and cleaning all day?  Someone pass the wine already!

The challenge was to host a luxury dinner party.  To me, luxury is high quality ingredients, simply presented, but prepared in an interesting way.  So I set out to plan a menu that reflected that, and I ended up with a bit of a French twist.  French stuff always sounds fancy-schmancy to me.  I've really got to get to Paris one of these days.  Maybe that's what I'll do with my 10 grand.. stuff my face with croissants and macarons while wearing a beret and posing in front of the Eiffel Tower (really, I haven't thought about it at all).

This was our first dinner party in our new house.  Actually, it was probably our first real dinner party ever.  I wanted to present some new tastes, but keep it classic enough that everyone would enjoy it and no one would be awkwardly picking at food they didn't like.  I picked beef instead of fish [thank goodness, we had a few fish-haters at the table, ha!] for just that reason.

Here's a peek at my menu:

the courses.

first: Goat Cheese and Thyme Souffle, Salad of Arugula, Radicchio and Shaved Parmesan

second: Braised Beef Short Ribs, Puree of Celery Root and Yukon Gold Potato, Red Wine Reduction

third: Dark Chocolate Pots de Creme, Whipped Sweet Cream, Fresh Raspberries

In my opinion, you know you had a good meal if the pictures get progressively worse- that means you were having so much fun that you didn't care about documenting it!  If it weren't for the challenge, I don't think I would have snapped a single photo, and that makes me so happy!

Here's a little secret: recipes that sound fancy usually aren't that hard to make.  It's all in how you describe things.  Example A: I could have written 'chocolate custard' on the menu, but I wrote 'dark chocolate pots de creme' instead.  Easy to do, fancy pay-off.  Your guests will be impressed before the food even reaches the table.

I'm no Martha (in my dreams), but here are a few tips to help you go luxe:

don't stress about setting the perfect table.  Chances are, if you're trying to go luxe, you'll have your hands full with the food.  Give yourself a break and go easy on the decor.  Use simple, classic dinnerware and the food will take center stage.

choose simple centerpieces.  Produce is always easy, less expensive than flowers, and you can use it afterwards.  Who's coming over for lemonade this week?

pick recipes that you can make ahead.  in my opinion, this is key!  You don't want to be slaving away in the kitchen while everyone is having fun.  Do just enough that all you have to do is plate the food.  In this menu, the souffle, the short ribs and the dessert were all make-ahead items- it made all the difference when it came time to serve the meal.

be mindful when it comes to drink options.  Not everyone likes wine with dinner, so keep other beverages on hand so no one goes thirsty.

relax.  After all your hard work, make sure you actually enjoy the party!

This party was a smashing success and tons of fun.  Thank you, PFB, for getting me off my tush and finally inviting some people over!  Now I've got the entertaining bug.

Voting for this challenge is open October 4th at 9AM ET until October 7th at 9PM ET.  As usual, I pinkie promise to remind you about voting (even though I'm sure it's getting old, "vote for me, blah blah blah") and swear on my overabundance of lemons that I will throw you an even fancier dinner party if I win.  Try me.