On Sunday we had an international dinner with our neighbors. Each couple (there were 4) drew a country and a course. Bryce and I drew Spain and the soup,salad or side course. How fun, right!
We started the evening with an appetizer from Sardinia. We were served fried ravioli filled with pecorino cheese and topped with a wild boar ragu. You'll be proud of me, I even ate the wild boar. And liked it! The dish was impressive and delicious.
Bryce and I were the next course, naturally we went with tapas and sangria to drink. We had fried Marcona almonds, Spanish olives,
tortilla espanola,
manchego cheese with quince paste,
cucumber bites and
Vodka flamed chorizo (we couldn't get it to ignite!!)
For the main course we visited Vietnam. We had a delicious pork
Banh Mi. It had cilantro, carrot, a sweet pickle relish and tangy aioli.
Dessert took us to Hawaii (yes, yes, we know it is not a country.) We enjoyed coconut cupcakes from
Cake Envy. And can I say that it was the very best cupcake I've *ever* eaten hands down. I didn't know cake could taste so good. Don't even get me started on the frosting. All I know is I'm a fan!
We all had so much fun we made plans for another similar evening. This time we decided to keep it in the US, using regional recipes. We threw in a bunch of states, added the courses and this is what came out:
Appetizer - New York
(Bryce and I)Soup, Salad, Side - Minnesota
Main Course - Alaska
Dessert - California
Do you have any suggestions? I know there are New Yorkers, Minnesotans, Alaskans, and Californians out there. Don't be shy.
5 comments:
What a seriously fun evening. I haven't had Cake Envy! I guess that will be on my list for when I come at the end of summer. It looks like it is located really close to where I lived on Wallingford. Do you and the girls ever walk around Greenlake? It is one of the things I miss about Seattle. Incase you haven't seen my post on my blog, I got the chocolates. So yum and thanks for throwing in the chocolate from Fran's. It lasted only about 30 seconds after opening the package. I was surprised that I liked the laveneder and jalopeno pepper carmel, but my least favorite was the Saffron.
I'm not from any of those places, but I am jealous of your neighbors!! How awesome is this dinner party idea!
Such a fun idea - I love it!!!
What a fabulous dinner party. I would love to have one of those with my friends. I wonder if I could pull it off. I live in Southern Ca, but was born in Northern Ca. I'm not sure what's a Ca dessert, but I'd go for one of 2 iconic places. In San Francisco there is Ghirardelli Square. We get ice cream sundaes there when ever we're visiting family. In Buena Park we have Knott's Berry Farm. They're famous for their Boysenberry Pie and there are recipes online to copy it. http://www.food.com/recipe/knotts-berry-farm-boysenberry-pie-359051
I'm just so sad y'all didn't end up with states that are actually KNOWN for fantastic, unique cuisine: New Mexico, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas...next time. I can visualize many more neighborly international dinners!
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