Clockwise: A mint julep, blue hydrangea, our dessert of apple pie and finally, the great Mark Twain (copyright notice: The photo of Mark Twain, the mint julep and the hydrangea, are not mine. The photo of the pie is mine)

I grew up in a family  in which entertaining guest in our home was a more common occurrence than going out to a restaurant. My mother was a great cook with some international flare that, considering she never traveled outside of the US, still amazes me. As far as I know, she was the only woman in our community who made Yorkshire Pudding and cooked authentic Chinese dishes. I once discovered two Vietnamese women crouching in our backyard over a make-shift barbeque, preparing a Vietnamese meal for my family and teaching her how to do the same. She took food seriously…and apparently this is genetic.

For mom,preparing a meal for guest went beyond the food. The table had to be set perfectly, the atmosphere had to be relaxed and still eloquent. Which was a reflection of her personality. She taught me to take pride in my cooking, in the table I set and in the details. Flowers, the colour of the tablecloth, shining silver (daunting task) and beautiful glassware. Mother was the creative force and instigator behind some of

the best church functions I attended as a child. It was her idea to have a costume party (she sewed our costumes herself). Despite having a full-time job, she was always creating something. Often these creations revolved around food.

In the last twenty years, home-entertaining has dropped drastically in favour of meeting friends for dinner at a restaurant. But now, thanks to the financial crisis in the US, people are finding creative ways to socialize at home. Hence, a resurgence of The Dinner Party. Still, friends of mine have told me they find it intimidating. It doesn’t have to be. Even if you are not the best of cooks, you can still host a great dinner party by keeping the menu simple by sticking to classics and add some flavour to the evening by having a theme.

This weekend I hosted my first dinner party in my new city. Being a Southerner, my first impulse was an obvious one: Southern Food with a twist. The theme was Mark Twain’s South. A writer, Southerner and temporary Parisian, it’s easy to see why I chose him.

Each guest had a place-marker on the table with their name on it. Inside the folder paper was a passage from various books by Twain: “Innocents Abroad”, “Adventures of Huckleberry Fin”, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Author’s Court” and “Mark Twain’s Notebook”.

The menu was Southern with just a bit of French thrown in, appropriate considering that Twain spent time in Paris:

Apéritif: Mint Juleps – the preferred drink of Southerners and a tradition at The Kentucky Derby

Entrée: Beef carpaccio with an orange, chili, shallot “salsa”

Plat: Herb encrusted rack of lamb served with an accompaniment of root vegetables drizzled with honey and cardamon and roasted with the lamb. It was served with mashed potatoes with a sauce I made: cream, Dijon mustard, drippings from the lamb and ale.

Instead of the traditional French baguette, I baked some typically Southern, yeast dinner rolls. We drank red wine instead of sweet iced-tea of course.

The dessert was an amazing apple pie baked for me by my fellow Southerner and a “true Belle”, Laurel – one of the partners of Sugarplum Cake Shop. A special thanks goes to Laurel for going in on her morning off, just to bake this pie for me. It was perfection! I served it with a salted caramel ice cream.

Our favourite Mark Twain quotes of the evening:

“In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.” – From Innocents Abroad (1869)

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – From A Connecticut Yankee in King Author’s Court (1889)

You can find pictures of the food and ingredients as I went along, from prep to service, here on the Facebook Page.

Here are some resources and idea pages for your dinner party:

Southern Living Entertainment Section (of course!)

My favourite Epicurious videos in their entertainment section

The Nest Comprehensive Entertaining Guide

Table Settings Seasonal Must -Haves

Martha Stewart’s Entertaining Guide

Finally, A Blog I LOVE - all about entertaining

Have fun!

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010

© 2010, Epicure on a Budget. All rights reserved.