Happy weekend everyone! I don’t know about you but this week has been full of events, dinners, and celebrations. It has been a fun one, but I’m ready to relax a bit this weekend. One night this week we had a dinner party to honor a friend and his 21st birthday.
Sometimes for dinner parties I tend to worry about the presentation, styling, and making everything perfect. With it being a weeknight, I knew that I wanted to focus on the food and keeping things simple and achievable with the time I had available. With a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table and my favorite set of linen napkins, the table was deliberately simple with notes of spring. It was a night of great company, appreciating a new and dear friend, and delicious food. Per the birthday boy’s request, every course included his favorite food, olives, in some form or variation. The food turned out amazing and I’m so excited to share this menu with you. Below you will find it and the recipe links.
Menu
Appetizer: Bruschetta with black olive pesto, ricotta, and basil from The Curvy Carrot
Main: Braised chicken thighs with garlic, lemon, and olives from The Tasting Table, served over garlic mashed potatoes
Dessert: Lemon olive oil pound cake with a lavender honey rum glaze from The Cup of Jo
Drink: Rosemary lemonade (I made mine with thyme) from A Beautiful Mess
Feel free to try these recipes and let me know what you think. This meal was one of my favorites I’ve had in a while and was a fun creative challenge. I’m thinking about featuring a seasonal ingredient in a variety of ways in dinners in the future, kind of like Iron Chef at home. Until the next episode everyone.