Miss Part 1? I’m going backwards, yesterday I wrote about our dessert! It was delicious.

On Wednesday night, I had a 5-person dinner party using our fancy china, fancy flatware, and the works. It was really lovely, and nice to pull out the good stuff once in a while. We have been married over two years, and this was the first time to use our china.

And did you know that food tastes better when you put a lot of love and time into it? It’s true. This meal was delicious, and I worked on the menu and prepping it for many hours. And always nice to share it with family!

We used our place settings, tablecloths, flatware, and serving pieces for the first time. I still love it all, even since it’s been three years since I picked out the patterns!

The flowers are my favorite, and in season in the late summer to early fall. They are called celosia, and I first saw them in my wedding centerpieces two years ago.

Ok, last one of the table!

Salad:

Jeffrey created the salad of arugula, shaved parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and lemon slices. The dressing was olive oil, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper.

Dinner:

You sure don’t see a lot of meat on this blog, but for a special occasion, I make it. This was a beef tenderloin, cooked by an Ina Garden recipe.

Ingredients:

beef tender

2 T unsalted butter

salt, pepper

Instructions:

Heat oven to 500*. Season meat with butter, salt and pepper and rub in well. Cook for 22-25 minutes and remove. Cover with foil for 20 minutes. Slice and serve.

Meat intimates me, and this recipe was very simple and flavorful. I served with cocktail sauce and horseradish sauce for dipping.

Potatoes:

These potatoes were delicious. You know I’m pretty simple at ingredients and effort, and this was no exception.

Ingredients:

12-15 baby potatoes (or any kind)

2 T brown mustard or Grey Poupon

2 T olive oil

1 T parsley

1 T chopped fresh oregano

1 T chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Instructions:

Place potatoes in a ziploc bag. Add rest of ingredients to a small bowl and whisk or mix together. Pour mixture over potatoes and shake. Refrigerate until ready to bake (as long as you want).

Bake on 425* for 20-25 minutes.

They were crispy, not too oily, and very flavorful from the herbs. A keeper!

Vegetable Side Dish:

It’s been done before, recipe hyperlinked.

And look who wanted to be included at dinner. A special seat just for Lily. She barks when she’s left out. We’re working on that. Until then, we get some cute pictures and she stays quiet.

And the dessert one more time, on its pretty cake platter. I love cake platters, such beautiful glass pieces.