Dinner Party Part 1

I think I may be stretching to say that we are having a dinner party tonight because we are, just in fact, having a family over for dinner. But there will be more than the two of us which equals party and we will be having dinner. Therefore, I am calling it a dinner party.

This party at which we are having dinner has had two menus. My first one was much more well planned out and fancy without being fancy. Then I got hit by a bus earlier this week- or at least I felt like I got hit by a bus, so I wanted to both make it easy and limit my contact with food that will not be cooked at high temperatures before my guests have it.

As with all planned events, I had an awesome, organized grocery list. Not only did I categorize it, I also put it in the order that I would find the stuff in the store. Yes, I am that anal and I know my grocery store that well. I (like with many other planned events) proceeded to leave this list at home and take my first list, a chicken scratch approximation, with me to the store. This meant that I both forgot things and I had to double back in the store when I realized the next item on my list was three aisles back.

I also discovered two things. Copps does not carry instant espresso powder and Gruyere cheese is the single most difficult thing to find. There was one 2 inch block in all of the store. A trip that should have taken 30 minutes took over an hour, and all the while I was being chased by a screaming toddler. Now I have friends who have children and I am sympathetic to a point but I would hope that if my friends' children were screaming for 30 minutes straight, they would leave the store and not follow some poor woman, who is already muttering to herself, around Copps. No matter where I was in the store, they were in the aisle behind me. Even when I doubled back or spent 20 minutes going through every coffee product Copps sells, I could hear them behind me. I think they had a radar or some other tracking device.

So, without further adieu, here is the menu for tonight's dinner:

Appetizers:
Braised Onion dip with veggies and vegetable chips
Stuffed Mushrooms (with spinach and Gruyere cheese)

Salad:
Spinach, radicchio, arugula
Sweet and Spicy Sesame Walnuts
Apples
Turkey Bacon
Red Onion
Homemade Poppy Dressing

Entree: Italian Beef Sandwiches with Havarti Cheese
Roasted Potatoes and Butternut Squash
Roasted Green Beans

Dessert: Hot Fudge Cakes

Last night, I made the onion dip, sweet and spicy sesame walnuts and got the beef started. Before guests arrive, I am planning to do the following:

-Go back to the store to get the rest of what I forgot yesterday

-make the poppyseed dressing

-Peel and cut the squash

-Pre-bake and stuff the mushrooms

-Clean and prepare the green beans

-go back to the store to get what I forgot on my second trip

-Stir up the hot fudge cakes

Right before they arrive, I will just need to put the mushrooms and potatoes in the oven. So the only things I will actually make when they are here are the green beans and I will put the cakes in the oven when we sit down to eat.

That's the plan at least. We'll see how it goes...