Tuesday evening last week, I’m expecting my book club in an hour when I walk into our living room and get hit with a smell that can only be described as “salmon dinner meets teenage boy’s gym bag with undertones of wet dog.” The lingering aroma from last night’s fish dinner had apparently decided to … Read more
Three weeks ago, I’m hosting my mother-in-law’s birthday dinner, and everything is going smoothly until I realize I completely forgot about dessert. Not just forgot to prep it – forgot it exists as a concept entirely. Meanwhile, this woman has spent thirty years making elaborate homemade desserts for every family gathering, and I’m about to … Read more
Last Saturday’s dinner party almost killed me, and it wasn’t from cooking stress or cleaning panic. It was from jumping up every three minutes to refill someone’s wine glass, grab another beer from the fridge, or hunt down the coffee pot for someone who wanted decaf. By the time dessert arrived, I’d logged approximately seventeen … Read more
Friday night two weeks ago, I’m hosting my first dinner party in months, feeling pretty proud that I managed to get the house clean and dinner prepped without any major catastrophes. Guests are due in twenty minutes, and I’m doing that final walk-through to make sure everything looks perfect when I hear it – the … Read more
Two weeks ago, I’m hosting my book club and panicking because I completely forgot about appetizers until three hours before everyone arrives. These women show up with gorgeous homemade cheese boards and artisanal everything, while I’m standing in my kitchen having a full breakdown about how I’m going to pull together something that doesn’t scream … Read more
Picture my weekend when my college roommate called from the airport – her connecting flight was canceled, could she crash at our house tonight instead of spending hundreds on a hotel? Of course I said yes, because that’s what friends do, but as soon as I hung up I realized she’d be arriving in three … Read more
You know that moment when you’re planning a dinner party and suddenly realize you’ve committed to cooking for twelve people, which means spending your entire weekend grocery shopping, meal prepping, and turning your kitchen into a war zone where every pot, pan, and surface gets destroyed in service of creating this elaborate feast that will … Read more
Remember my sister’s birthday party last year? Twenty-four people, three courses, what I thought would be a “fun celebration” that turned into me washing dishes until 2 AM while my guests were long gone and my dishwasher had given up in protest. I spent more time scrubbing plates than I did actually talking to people … Read more