Dinner parties

Ok, so us Manor girls are quite thankful. See, we have these three guy friends who have been so gracious in helping us maintain our yard. I mean, they've willingly and cheerfully cleaned the shrubs, weeded, pruned and removed the hideous dog house that was rotting in the backyard. Oh and they also planted 5 rose bushes for us! This picture was taken a couple months ago, so we've enjoyed a couple budding roses since then!


We are most appreciative, so the least we could do was to make them dinner. Last night Cait made a yummy lasagna, salad and bread. I did the appies and dessert. I used a Giada recipe where you toast salami slices in the oven and then dip in a sour cream/basil sauce. Yum! I also made a mousse for dessert, and if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know it was almost a disaster. It was some kind of ganache after I made it, but after mixing with a little whole milk, it turned out ok. I made homemade whipped cream and put it all in cocktail glasses, topped with cocoa powder, which all but 3 of us choked on. Oops :).

So the guys came over and we sat at the table talking for hours. After hosting lots of big group parties, I've realized that I absolutly love a small dinner party where everyone sits at the table and it's a bit more intimate and you're not terribly overwhelmed with dishes afterwards at midnight. So this is my new, fall/winter thing. Oh and I am so thankful for good friends!