You can tell just how strange of a person I am by looking at
my bucket list. I don’t have any of the normal things like skydiving or
visiting the Taj Mahal, although I wouldn’t mind the last one. For instance, I
would really like to host an epic dinner party.
When I was a kid my parents
often had dinner parties where their guests included artists, writers, fellow
professors, etc. I remember the delicious dishes my mother would prepare and
the conversations that would last for hours. I learned how heated discussions
didn’t necessarily need to end in arguments or grudges. And when I got older my
parents told me I didn’t need to sit in on those dinner if I didn’t want to.
But as long as I lived with my parents I was more than happy to attend. I
served as my mother’s sous chef and learned some great tricks. And although I
wasn’t always sure enough of myself to participate in discussions, I soaked it
all up like a sponge.
The first couple of places I’ve lived in after moving out of
my parents’ home were not big enough to host the kind of dinner parties I dream
of. And still my dinner plates don’t all match. But I would like to try my hand
at inviting the right mix of people even for a buffet style dinner party. And
here are some books that have helped me come that much closer to my goal.
"Corey Mintz hosts dinner parties in his home every week. Before that he was a restaurant critic. And before that he worked for a living, as a cook. He began hosting without napkins or stemware, serving wine out of Nutella jars. But after entertaining politicians, artists, academics, monkeys, librarians, chefs, sommeliers, cops, lawyers, psychologists, a spy, a forager, a rabbi, a gambler, a drug addict, and a mayor, he's become a pro." Here he is in front of the Type Bookstore window with his book, How to Host a Dinner Party. He's truly an inspiration for us normal folk who don't have a giant dinner table that seats at least 12. His book is also very thorough and reads almost like a manual for those like me who really appreciate the step-by-step guide.
I saw this book on the Design Sponge website and I have still yet to pick it up but I can't wait! In A Curious Invitation, Suzette Field chronicles forty of the greatest fictional parties from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park to Douglas Adams' flying party above an unknown planet in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Field describes the hosts, venues, guest lists, dress code and what was served at each party. What a great idea to focus on such a minor and, yet to Field -- monumental moment in each novel.
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