Fall Dinner Party

I've been gushing over the change of the seasons on here, but I am truly thrilled to be moving into fall  and the accompanying cooler temps and richer, more comforting food.  To celebrate, I had some of my favorite people over (Lindsay, Dave, & Julia) to toast to the new season and test out the menu featured in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

table setting

in my opinion - no dinner party is complete without a
little bubbly to start the evening off right...

Soup:  Honestly, I don't think I have ever had a parsnip before I started chopping them up to put in this soup.  The flavor is very different, it almost has a little bit of a licorice bite to it?  Once complete, the soup was pretty much a more complexly flavored potato soup.  The toasted almonds were a great touch!

Salad:  Arugula is my favorite "green" and it's bitter leaves with the asian pear (hybrid between an apple/pear), crunchy celery and the tangy champagne vinaigrette composed a really beautiful and tasty salad.

Main course:  What is not to love? Thick papardelle noodles, ooozey taleggio cheese and mushrooms. This pasta was heavenly.

Dessert: I skipped the Espresso Creme Brulee's featured in the magazine because I think 3 courses is sufficient and I don't have a kitchen torch handy (shocking, i know).  In lieu, we finished off the evening with some coffee Hagen Daaz ice cream,  bottle of red wine and some girl time - much better than any creme brulee could ever be.

Good food, Great friends. Success!

All images via Martha Stewart Living Magazine