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October 2015

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BBQ Chicken Sliders

When hosting an event with many different appetizers and dishes, there is bound to be a little slip up with one recipe or another; therefore, it is important to have a Plan B!

For dinner parties, I like to have an idea for a backup entree, which usually means having some extra chicken breasts in the fridge that I can use to whip up something quickly! However, I cannot always have another entree available, so I like to make sure that I have at least one menu item that is a “no-fail” recipe and impossible to mess up!

I recently made these BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders as my “no-fail” recipe for a football game watching party that I hosted. I served a variety of different appetizers and snacks for my guests, many of which required a lot of hands on preparation time. Because of the complexity of some of the dishes, I wanted to make sure that I had at least one substantial dish that required little attention and was sure to impress! These BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders did just that plus they are filling and absolutely delicious! 

Jalapeno Poppers

Cooking has always been very nostalgic for me. Each recipe that I make brings a certain memory, whether it was a specific time I made the dish or just whatever was going on in my life when I first started making the recipe.

These Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers provide some of my favorite memories and bring me back to the early days of my relationship with my boyfriend. We cook together a lot now, but this was the first recipe we really made when we started dating. He discovered these little gems in college and called them Buffalo Turds, but for some reason that name freaks me out and I just cannot bring myself to refer to them as that, so I’ve changed up the name a little bit! 🙂 Over time my memories associated with these jalapeño poppers have grown, as I can recount serving these on numerous nights with friends while enjoying many laughs and football games, but I will never forget the initial memories associated with making these.

Jalapeno Poppers Tailgate Party

We love to make these poppers for football game watching parties of all sizes, as the recipe is very easy to cut in half or double depending on the number of people who will be enjoying them. However, it is not uncommon for us to make the full recipe just for the two of us! They are just that good and always a crowd pleaser! Make these for your game watching party or tailgate this weekend, and I can guarantee that you will be the talk of the party and for future parties to come! 

Spinach Artichoke Dip

With the temperatures finally cooling down in Dallas, I am majorly on the comfort food bandwagon! I love that I can finally break out the fall recipes and incorporate them in my parties without adding the, “I know it’s 90 degrees outside, but can we still celebrate fall?” disclaimer!

One of my favorite fall recipes and comfort foods is this absolutely divine Cheesy Spinach Artichoke dip! It is one of my major guilty pleasures and favorite things to whip up for a football game watching party! I know this dish is pretty common and is not the most creative dip to serve, but it is a “go-to” for a reason, so embrace it and indulge! We can be more creative and original with our other dishes at the party! 🙂

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Nachos are one of my all-time favorite football foods! Most everyone who has watched a football game or been to a party (or lived at all, am I right?!) has munched on a classic chips-and-cheese nacho dish. This is an expected snack to serve at game watching parties, but what truly leaves a mark on your guests is when you can take these traditional dishes and put a unique spin on them and really make them yours! This will always leave an impression on your guests and these are the dishes that will stand out in people’s minds long after the party.

That’s what I love most about these buffalo chicken nachos. This isn’t your classic bar food snack. The buffalo chicken combined with the spicy ranch queso creates an absolutely delicious southwestern flair to your nachos that is always a crowd pleaser! Seriously, I dare you to put these down on the table and walk away…they will be gone within five minutes, so be sure to make extra queso so you can keep reloading! 

This is the perfect, sure-to-impress menu for a date night or your last minute dinner guest.

In an ideal world all of our dinner parties would be on a Saturday or Sunday night with all the time in the world to prepare. However, we all know that with everyone’s busy schedules we don’t always get that much notice or have that much time to prepare. Sometimes you get word of a last minute dinner guest or the only available time to have family or friends over for dinner is on a weeknight after a busy day at the office. 

Weeknight dinner parties are abundant at my house, as the only nights that line up for me and my boyfriend are during the workweek. Therefore,  I always look for easy recipes that I can prepare the night before or over the weekend, yet are still fresh and beautiful and only require a little bit of day-of cooking. This simple and classy dinner party menu can easily be prepared last minute and is the perfect solution when you are short on time. Plus it is always a crowd pleaser and is sure-to-impress your guests! 

salmon party 3

I recently served this menu on a Monday night for a dinner party with my boyfriend and his family. Of course I wanted to make the best impression possible and wanted the meal to be perfect. With the easy Sunday night prep and table setup and the limited time on Monday this menu took to pull together, the night was seamless! It was the perfect combination of simple and classy that looked formal enough but not like I tried too hard. 

This asparagus recipe is one of my main go-to’s for dinner guests. It is SO easy and looks very decadent. It has the perfect amount of olive oil (yummmm I just cannot get enough) and roasted pine nuts with the melted Parmesan….oh goodness, y’all! This is tasty! And healthy because it is a vegetable too right?! This dish is perfect for your last minute dinner guest and it looks like you invested way more time into it…no one has to know this took 15 minutes max including cooking time, do they?! 

Pine Nut and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking pan with parchment paper. 

When it comes to hosting a dinner party, it is all about the details! One of my personal favorite details and part of the dinner party planning process is designing the tablescape. Whether you are hosting a casual weeknight meal or a festive fall gathering, the dining room table is where everyone comes together. The way you set the table can determine the formality and mood of the entire evening, so this is not a detail that you want to overlook!

I recently hosted a simple and classy dinner party for my boyfriend and his family. I found tons of inspiration from these dinner party tablescapes, and I hope they inspire you as well!

Style Me Pretty Tablescape

From Style Me Pretty

Everyday Occassions Tablescape

By Jenny Hobick of Everyday Occasions 

Unskinny Boppy Tablescape

From Unskinny Boppy

Outdoor Fall Tablescape Camille Styles

By Camille Styles 

Stylish Soiree Tablescape

By The Stylish Soiree

By: Hunter Sprague

Introduction from Kate: I am so excited to introduce my good friend Hunter Sprague. Hunter is a wine connoisseur who believes that no dinner party is complete without good wine. He has taught me so much about the art of wine pairing, and I am honored that he is sharing with us today! I know his insight and knowledge have been so helpful for me in planning my dinner parties, and I hope it does the same for you! So take it away, Hunter!

Everyone loves to wine and dine every now and again… I think that’s scientific fact. Thus, the quintessential dinner party needs an ample amount of vino for the guests. There’s a lot more to it, though, than pouring a glass of Two-Buck Chuck and calling it a night (save that for the kick-your-feet-up-and-relax evening the day after the party. You earned it).

How to Incorporate Wine into a Dinner Party

You’ve likely spent all week preparing — and using recipes from The Everyday Hostess, obviously — so you’re not going to pair your carefully-crafted appetizers and entrées with the first thing you see on the shelf. That’s where I come in. I’ve provided some guidelines to keep front of mind when planning your next dinner party:

Kick the night off with some bubbly. It’s a crowd-pleaser, and it pairs with any appetizer on this blog. I’d personally recommend Prosecco. It’s light, fruity, and reasonably priced. Anything from Italy in the $10-$25 price range will surely be a hit. Nobody wants to be at the dinner party that runs out of sparkling wine, so play it safe here. Any extras can be saved for your next brunch party or any after-dinner entertainment.

Once all the guests have arrived and the food starts coming out, there’s a ton of variation on what wines to open, when to open them, and what to pair them with. There’s a lot to think about. But I’ve got your back. 

I cannot get enough salmon! After having the cedar plank salmon at H-3 in the Fort Worth Stockyards, (all local DFW friends, seriously please go! It is amazing and right across from Billy Bob’s) I have become obsessed with cedar plank salmon. The smoky flavor infused in the salmon is to die for, so of course I had to create my own version of this delectable dish!

salmon above 2

This brown sugar and Dijon mustard glazed cedar plank salmon is by far one of my favorite entrees of all time! The candied flavor from the brown sugar and honey mustard glaze coupled with the smoky flavor from the cedar plank creates the perfect sweet and savory combination.