Dinner Party at Chez Nous!

There's nothing I love more than entertaining. Put me at the head of the table, surrounded by good friends,good music, good food and good wine and I'm a happy woman. Yesterday I hosted another lovely six- course dinner for some of my friends. The theme was France (actually, the theme is always France at chez nous)so the menu looked a little something llike this:

Apéritif
cranberry pate
saucisson sec
baguette (from our favorite bakery, Le Fournil de Sébastien)
black olives
mini- plum tomatoes
The apéritif was enjoyed in our garden with Pastis and a crackling fire in the background.

Entrée
Oeufs mayonaise
Such a simple dish- just some boiled eggs covered with garlicky mayo and served on a bed of salad.

Plat principal
Lamb chops marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and fresh herbs- served with a mixed green salad and some more of that heavenly baguette from Sébastien. I made a simple vinaigrette for the salad and we drank some Louis Bernard Côtes du Rhône with that.

Fromage
Brie
Port Salut
Limburgse kaas
Red currants
(and more wine, of course)

Dessert
Homemade salted caramel ice cream. Lots of happy faces when this one was served!

Digestif
A variety of licquers served with coffee of choice and my special chocolate rosemary cookies.

(The music for this event was a mix of Brel, Aznavour, Wende, Brigitte & Serge. Oh, and a little Doris Day thrown in for good measure.)

But aside from the food, it truly was a great evening because I seriously have the loveliest, most gracious friends in the world. Not only did they show up with very thoughtful presents (wine and chocolate!), but they also helped out, played the guitar, sang and laughed a lot. Here's to more dinner parties like this one! I think the next one will take us to Italy- mangiare!