Friends for dinner -

Having friends over for dinner usually sounds like fun, a week in advance, and then the day or two before it sounds hard to get everything done and look and feel sparkling* as well.

My husband and I are famous (only to ourselves) for deciding the day of, or the day before, to invite people over for the evening.  We are terribly wonderfuly spontaneous people!! (No we aren't). 

We do not consciously wait till the last minute, so we have an excuse if our yard is weedy, but rather it is at the last minute that we see a possibly clean house, an easy trip to the store and an evening open itself up in front of us to entertain. 

Fellow Tired Girl Christina sent me her words on entertaining.  All very brilliant and Tired Girly.  If you are having guests over anytime here are her words to consider:

-I always serve wine/drinks right away, the more people drink, the better whatever I serve tastes in their mouths. What I lack as a chef, I make up for as bartender.

-If I really have zero time to cook I cut out side items and make up for it with easy appetizer and bread.  My blueprint for a hassle-free dinner is: easy appetizer, bread, salad, protein, easy dessert with coffee.

- Super simple appetizer is a good cheese (maybe a brie or an aged sharp cheese), some crackers and some jam. The more i provide in appetizer, the less I have to worry about with sides dishes.

- Bread can be pretty filling, and easier to prepare than cooking a starch.  I get a baguette from Publix or wherever, slice it up in a basket and pour some olive oil on a plate with Italian seasoning added to the middle of the olive oil pool.  Could not be simpler.  Much faster than baked potatos.

-Dessert  - when I have no time it is a mixture of berries with some whipped cream on top.  Healthy and EASY and FAST.  Or I get a dessert from Publix, no shame in that.

The real message, in my opinion, is that when we have people over to our homes they want to be with US, not watching me mash potatoes while they talk to each other. Less time working and more time with friends, and lots and lots of bread -booze and bread.

*I have borrowed the term sparkling from my friend Ellen - who often asked if I felt "sparkling" at work in the mornings.  Sparkling is a fun way to look and feel especially if it's real. 

Our dinners are usually so casual - I set out dishes and stuff and we do buffet style.