Pasta, Passion and Pistols

I love throwing dinner parties.  I love the planning and the prep and the part where I (hopefully) get to serve my friends something yummy.  Also, when we have company, the house gets cleaned, so that's a bonus.

This dinner is something I have been hoping to try for a long time, but needed some time to build up some courage.  I wanted to serve a small bite 'tasting' meal as a walk through of an entire day's meals.  We had breakfast, lunch, dinner (with an appetizer, salad and main course), dessert and a drink to pair with each of them.

This post is a little teaser of the meal and I'll link out to the recipes later once I get them written up.

While I cooked, everyone else kept busy playing a murder mystery (hence the bizarre title of this post).  Two months ago everyone was given their characters and last night they had to come fully dressed and acting the part.  My friends, as always, did themselves up amazingly and cracked me up all night with their italian accents and dramatic monologues of grief, accusations and lies!  

I made up a little menu so everyone knew what to expect and named our little 'restaurant'.  Dilettante means to delight or amuse and it can also mean amateur (how appropriate!)

pomosa: pomegranate juice, pomegranate vodka, prosecco

goat milk yogurt, macerated strawberries, blueberries, orange zest, granola, dark chocolate 

raspberry pancakes, almond powder, banana, lemon ricotta stuffed raspberry, grade B maple syrup

soft-boiled scotch quail egg, chive, asparagus tips, parmesan, moutarde

Innis and Gunn - scotch ale 

roasted cauliflower soup, quinoa, chicken, bacon 

turkey sandwich, fontina cheese, bacon, spinach, cranberry mayo, apple 

tequila lime jello

prosciutto wrapped scallop, arugula, sun-dried tomato vinaigrette 

cornmeal crusted scallop, sweet corn mash, sriracha

cucumber-spinach salad, red bell pepper, radish, olive bread cruton

balsamic vinaigrette and balsamic vinegar 'caviar'

stilton, comte, fried camembert, grape, almond, dried apricot, farmer's salami

pancetta and goat cheese ravioli, shallot and garlic brown butter, peas, parmesan

apple steeped rum

maple glazed brussels sprout, pork belly, rum soaked apple, pork belly mayo

sous-vide flank steak, red wine sauce, dehydrated gorgonzola powder

Megalomaniac riesling ice wine with edible gold stars

lemon cheesecake, black raspberry ice cream, pistachios, 

black raspberry soaked in ice wine, black raspberry sauce 

first of four loads of dirty dishes - yowza!