This quote from Amy Marcus, a recipe developer and food stylist at Vegetarian Times caught my eye in a recent issue of the magazine:
"I think that people don't enterain enough. There's nothing like going over to someone's house for a home-cooked meal."
We entertain a lot, so it's hard for me too judge what the rest of the world is doing, but in terms of just having a good time, I enjoy being with friends at home (or at their home) over going out. All of that aside, I find entertaining, even with a fairly sophisticated menu, to be less expensive (or comparable) to going out.
The party seems to linger a little longer, and people seem more willing to let their true personalities show better when they're at a home. Growing up, my parents seldom entertained. When they did, it was always a big, stressful production. Although there is a lot about my parents I hope to emulate, I try to take a more relaxed approach to entertaining and try to keep an open door policy towards guests.
Mr. Bean and I had, in my opinion, the best Valentine's Day in Bean-relationship history. It started with an unexpected day off (weather related), a nice pancake breakfast, a few hours of snowshoeing, and a homecooked lasaga for dinner. Mr. Bean was recounting to friends the next day about our pancake breakfast. Many of our friends are international students- including some who have spouses back in their home countries.
Somehow he ended up inviting a few people over for brunch today-- but then the list expanded. In total, we had 10 people from 7 countries (US, China, India, Nepal, Turkey, Germany, Argentina).
We moved the kitchen chairs out to the living room and let people help themselves buffet style to a smattering of food, including a new recipe for Gingerbread Waffles, breakfast burritos, cherry almond cake (my fave!), a rendition of Jodi from Saving Advice's granola, fresh fruit, and an array of goodies brought by friends.
(The Granola was the the only thing I took a picture of!)
Everyone stayed over 3 hours. Lots of food and 3 pots of coffee later, we were all stuffed, but it was a fantastic way to end the weekend.
Entertaining
February 19th, 2007 at 04:02 am
February 19th, 2007 at 01:38 pm 1171892315
We love to entertain in our house - usually just family that comes over, but then we can clear the dishes and get out a deck of cards (you can't really do that in a restaurant!). It's a great way to pass an evening (economical too).
February 19th, 2007 at 02:40 pm 1171896010
February 19th, 2007 at 08:16 pm 1171916214
our goal for when we get our own place where we can entertain is to have fun and relax...