First Dinner Party- Italian Themed June 2007

June of 2007 my husband and I hosted a dinner party at our home inviting 7 couples to attend. I did all the work- planned, shopped for and cooked all the food, made decorations, and invitations. First I made a list of a variety of couples to invite. I made the invites, delivered them, and waited for RSVP's to come in. I shopped for some fabric to make elegant table cloths and dug up some nice placemats and table decorations. Our own dishes are already Italian looking so we used them and used our glass goblets. I made marinara sauce, chicken Alfredo sauce, penne pasta and served pomegranate salad and garlic bread. It all turned out very well.
Our guest list:
Ned and Cherlynn Thomas
Trey and Jaclene Stewart
Nate and Alysia Thiriot
Greg and Tiffany Lewis
Kelvin and Laurie Gebs
Jeff and Melissa Nichols
Jeff and Maggie Goebel

It was our first dinner party so we were quite nervous that it would go off well. Luckily it did and it was a lot of fun! The conversation was as great as the food. We played a game where each couple had to write down one thing that they did as a couple that no one in the group would know about them. We had many revealing things like: one couple met at Blockbuster Video, another couple had a 'shaker' honeymoon, and another couple had a very short engagement! It was a game that provided many laughs and conversation.

I took a lot of notes after this first dinner party. Here are some of them:
"Dinner began just after 6 with everyone eating salad. It was a salad dressing I had never made before and it was delicious! I received a lot of compliments on it. Each course lasted over 30 minutes. Jeff and I cleared the table after each course. Before dessert I handed each couple an index card to write an experience that happened to them as a couple. It was fun to see everyone talking closely to their spouse quietly and discreetly writing their fact."
To Feed 14-
3 jars Alfredo Sauce (2 would do)
1 1/2 bags frozen broccoli
4 diced/cubed cooked chicken breasts
1 pkg. polish sausage
1 16 oz. pkg mild Italian ground sausage
1 sm. can tomato paste
3 reg. cans diced or whole tomatoes, pureed
oregano
4 garlic cloves and 1 large onion
2 loaves garlic bread
1 purple onion and 6 tomatoes
1 bag romaine hearts (Costco)
1 plastic tub lettuce Spring Mix
1 red bell pepper (Costco- only use half)
bottle of Pomegranate Balsamic vinegar
bottle grapeseed oil
1 bucket Neapolitan icecream
1 container Piroulines (cookies at Costco)