This year my annual Valentine's Day dinner party was held on Saturday, February 16. Who knew that roses would be half price if I waited to buy them until after the 14th? That was a pleasant discovery, one that Marty, my go-to florist, was quick to tell me about when I met with him several weeks ago to place my Valentine order (which is only one of the reasons he is my favorite florist on the planet!).As usual, my party planning began a month in advance, when I inserted homemade invitations into envelopes fastened with sealing wax and stamped with my initial. Next, I printed pretty menus which detailed the evening's culinary offerings. This was to be a fondue extravaganza: three rich courses, each one a different kind of fondue. I printed a copy of the menu on card stock for each couple, rolled the menus up, tied them with raffia and secured the ties with a pretty silk flower and a foil-wrapped chocolate rose.
This year I decided to treat my guests to something really special. I have been suffering from a lingering dry cough for weeks, the remnants of a head cold I'd caught in January. While thumbing through a recent issue of Enchanted Living magazine, I came across a recipe for a magic elixir designed to boost the immune system and ease the symptoms of colds or flu. I decided it would be a perfect gift to bestow upon my guests!
I got in touch with the creator of the recipe, Miss Wondersmith, who hosts magical dinner parties in the Pacific northwest, to ask her about the ingredients. I ordered the herbs: horehound, mullein and dried elderberries to mix with the items I already hand on hand: star anise, orange blossom honey and bourbon. I set a purposeful intention of wellness, light and robust health as I carefully added each element to the cauldron simmering on my stove. The resulting brew was potent -- slightly bitter from the horehound but sweet from honey and anise. A half teaspoonful calmed my scratchy throat immediately. I swirled in some edible gold luster dust and funneled the magic potion into cute little jars whose cork tops I decorated with shimmering stones and lavender tulle.
Into paper gift bags I set the menus and tonic, added small containers of roasted sunflower seeds -- a favorite recipe from my wonderful late mother -- and a list of the homemade sauces I would be serving with the main course. I wanted my guests to know how to use the magic elixir once they returned home, so I stayed up until midnight one evening teaching myself origami from YouTube videos, and then glued copies of the potion instructions onto red paper backing and folded them into pretty lotus flowers. A scattering of mini Toblerone chocolates completed my treat bag inventory, yet still left room for take-home place-card tins full of chocolates to be safely stowed during dinner, which is why I came up with the gift bag idea in the first place.
The next item on my to-do list was to decorate the house. Spike, my year-round front porch mascot, received a seasonal scarf and a sparkly red heart earring. I lined my porch railing with flickering red candles. My dining room ceiling proved the perfect foil from which to dangle all manner of red paper hearts and pink tissue poufs. The fireplace mantel got a sprinkling of silky spring flowers and candles. I picked up my floral order from Marty and arranged red roses, baby's breath and pink and red carnations into an elegant centerpiece and several smaller bouquets to spread around the house.
As the day of the party approached, I started preparing for the meal itself. While the various fondue courses would basically "cook" at the table, there was an enormous amount of prep work to do. A festive champagne cocktail was on the menu, for instance, featuring a punch bowl rimmed with sliced blood oranges, lemons, limes and tangerines and filled with a delectable concoction of cognac, triple sec, Belle de Brillet pear liqueur, lemon juice, a concentrated cinnamon simple syrup and champagne. I simmered the simple syrup and sliced all the citrus ahead of time. Dinner's first course, a traditional Swiss cheese fondue from my childhood, featured Emanthaler, Gruyere and Vacherin Friborgeois, a creamy cheese I order from Switzerland through The Swiss Bakery in nearby Washington D.C. I grated all the cheese, tossed it with flour and salt to prevent clumping and stowed it in the fridge. Fresh sourdough bread had to be sliced into cubes just the right size for dipping into the melted cheese. Into airtight bags it went.
I have fabulous Swiss fondue plates with partitioned wells to hold dipping sauces for the main course: beef fondue. I got to work on five homemade sauces: my special sugar-free barbecue sauce, a tangy mustard-onion sauce, a silky garlic-paprika aioli, a horseradish sauce, and a balsamic blue-cheese sauce. In addition to perfect cubes of the best filet mignon, I planned to offer colorful tiny potatoes and button mushrooms with the main course, since one of my guests is vegetarian. The dessert course was to be a decadent chocolate fondue, don't you know! I sliced honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, strawberries and pineapple into chunks to serve alongside maraschino cherries, fresh kumquats, mandarin orange sections and pickled watermelon rind.
After decorating the house and preparing all the food, my final task before the guests arrived was to set the table. It took three hours to create my tablescape, but that is because I love the process so very much. Each place setting featured a pierced metal tin from IKEA filled with chocolate truffles and adorned with the name of one of my guests. Red metal charger plates were surrounded by glassware. After all, there would be different beverages for each of the three courses! Kirschwasser (a fiery cherry liqueur) filled shot glasses at every place setting, next to a glass of Belgian pale ale to chase it with. These are traditional beverages for Swiss cheese fondue. Next to those glasses were stems for Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, the drinks I chose for the main course. And lastly, I set a delicate pastel cordial glass beside each plate, which my parents received as wedding gifts in 1953. These would hold Maryland-based St. Michael's chocolate zinfandel, my beverage of choice for a dessert course of melted chocolate infused with Gran Marnier, into which the assorted fruits would be dipped. Candles, ruby-hued gems, glittery hearts and silk rose petals rounded out the romantic scene.
I was busy in the kitchen when my guests arrived. Dressed in simple black leggings, a pink Alfani top and fringed cowboy boots, I was festive but comfortable. Everyone gathered in the living room, sampling appetizers and champagne punch while I put the finishing touches on our meal. Finally, it was time to enter the dining room. A crackling fire welcomed my diners as they took their seats. Candlelight glowed. We dug in to our meal, enjoying the camaraderie among us.Between courses I asked Valentine-related trivia questions and bestowed tiny gifts upon the guests who answered the most correctly. Over the course of the evening I asked each couple how they met. Alex and Chloe met years ago while working at Development Design Group in the firm's architectural model department, which was headed back then by my longtime companion, Jesse Turner. Alex now teaches illustration at the Baltimore Academy of Illustration, which he co-founded. Chloe still works with Jesse, but now at Lion's Wood Banquet Furniture, where she and Jesse are members of a design team that creates high-end bars, podiums and serving stations for the hospitality industry. Victor and Sierra met as classmates in high school and have been virtually inseparable ever since. They operate an organic farm in rural Maryland. Victor also works full time at Lion's Wood Banquet Furniture.
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| From left: Alex Fine, Chloe Elswick, me, Victor Hill and Sierra O'Keefe. Jesse took the picture |
The next day I received a lovely note from one of my guests, expressing with great gratitude how much fun they had and what an unforgettable evening I had created for them. I live for appreciative gestures such as that. Designing memorable gatherings, after all, is my own form of art.
Cheers!
Lynell
"Food is one part of the experience. But the rest
counts as well: The mood, the atmosphere, the music, the feeling, the design,
the harmony between what you have on the plate and what surrounds the plate." ~ Alain Ducasse
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