How to Host a Farm to Table Last Minute Dinner Party With Ease
Today I am joining some blogging friends for some dinner party inspo. What could be simpler than a spontaneous, last-minute dinner party you can prepare with your guests in attendance? No need to spend a couple of days prepping or to make it a multiple course meal or grand affair. Invite a few close friends and create a menu featuring the season’s best. All you need is a simple meal plan, great company, and good food for a relaxed, effortless dinner party. Let’s chat about how to host a farm to table last minute dinner party with ease, and create a gathering that’s as beautiful as it is delicious.
How to Host a Farm to Table Last Minute Dinner Party With Ease
Embrace Spontaneity
With our wonderful lifelong friends visiting this past week, we were eager for them to meet our friends but wanted to maximize our time together. Hence, a fuss-free, impromptu dinner party that didn’t take a lot of time was the perfect opportunity to achieve both goals.
Settle on a Simple Seasonal Menu
The week before, I gathered some of my favorite dinner party recipes. My friend Michelle’s burrata with roasted peppers is a great appetizer option that doesn’t require much time or prep work. A main course that required preparing on the spot was a good idea. For the main meal, I decided on paella and a delicious salad with oranges, fennel, and parmesan cheese, with a salad dressing utilizing our own home-grown extra virgin olive oil. My good friend Freddie provided delicious lemon bars for dessert (sorry I failed to get a picture).
Grab your Groceries
After exploring, I popped into Trader Joe’s (our favorite local grocery store) for most ingredients.. A quick grab of some crisp white chrysanthemums and alstroemeria, and I was set for the table decor. Pier 46 provided fresh mussels, prawns, and clams for the paella.
No Need for Perfection
Don’t sweat the last minute stuff. A good dinner party doesn’t always require perfection or over-the-top great ideas. The best way to embrace the beauty of a (delicious meal) relaxed, spontaneous gathering is with seasonal food, decor and great company,
Two hours before the guests arrived I grabbed a few snips of mock orange and rosemary from the garden. Two of my favorite little square vases from my stash were just begging to be filled. A bit of water, a quick trim to the flowers and herbs, and voilà! Two simple arrangements added just the right amount of freshness to the table.
Local Fresh Ingredients Rule
I made the dressing for the Arugula Fennel Salad and prepped and placed the ingredients for the salad in a bowl in the refrigerator.
Arugula Fennel Orange Salad with Shaved Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan shaved for serving
- 2 tsp. honey
- Kosher salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 6 mixed oranges such as Cara Cara, blood, and navel
- 1 medium fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 6 oz. arugula
Instructions
- Step 1
- Whisk ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan, and 2 tsp. honey in a medium bowl until emulsified. Season dressing with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Step 2
- Using a small knife, remove peel and white pith from 6 mixed oranges (such as Cara Cara, blood, and navel); cut crosswise into ¼”-thick rounds. Combine oranges, 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced, 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced, and 5 oz. arugula in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss to coat. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
- Step 3
- Arrange salad on a platter. Top with shaved Parmesan.
Ten minutes before the guests arrived I grabbed the burrata from the fridge, and toasted the baguette. I surrounded the burrata with the crusty bread and the peppers.
You can find the Burrata and Roasted Pepper appetizer recipe here.
When the guests arrived I prepared the paella while they were enjoying the appetizer with wine.
I used Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Paella recipe with these modifications.
Paella
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Spanish chorizo sausages thickly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 Spanish onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves chopped, reserve some for garnish
- 1 15-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
- 4 cups short grain Spanish rice
- 6 cups water warm
- Generous pinch saffron threads
- 1 dozen littleneck clams scrubbed
- 1 pound jumbo shrimp peeled and de-veined
- 1 pund mussels
- 1/2 cup sweet peas frozen and thawed
- Chicken:
- 1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 4 boneless skin on chicken thighs
Instructions
- Combine the paprika and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
- Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.
- In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last five minutes of cooking add the mussels. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it’s perfect.
- Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.
- Cook’s Note
- The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.
Shop Farm to Table Dinner Party
Thank you so much for reading how to host a farm to table last minute dinner party with ease. There is no need for perfection. Explore new recipes that don’t require hours to prepare. Don’t be afraid to throw open those doors, and let the simple beauty of fresh, seasonal food create a relaxed evening with treasured friends, no matter the number of guests.
You might also enjoy more of my entertaining ideas here, or Forbes list of the World’s Ten Best Farm to Table Dining Experiences here. Now let’s pop over and visit my friends for more great dinner party inspiration.
Enjoyed reading about dinner party for your special friends visiting from out of state. Can’t wait
to prepare the paella recipe.
Some time ago you posted the paint color that you have used in all your rooms at Paso house
Please let me know the paint color for I will be making changes.
Thank you
Hi Jacqueline
I did not pick out the white that is in this house. My favorite is benjamin moore white dove. This house is Sherwin Williams creamy which has more of a yellow undertone, whereas white dove has gray, cream, beige, and yellow undertones. The undertones can make the color appear to change in different lighting conditions.
Cindy, you are a pro at cooking and entertaining. Your table, flowers and food looked fabulous. I’m sure your friends are all in awe of your abilities to create so much. You always seem so unflappable.
Wow, to be a guest in your gorgeous home I’m sure is a memorable experience. You put so much love into everything you do. Your whole heart is always in it.
You have better nerves than I do — somehow, I don’t like cooking while guests are visiting — I used to not mind it. Perhaps it is just familiarity with the recipe that helps. Would love to make this paella when I have good shellfish (here in the MW)!
Cindy!
What a delight to spend time with your oldest and dearest friends. I imagine you lingering around your gorgeous table for several hours creating another special memory.
Thank you for including Molly. She exudes coziness and always cheers my Saturday mornings. However, after I post to her comments, they never show up on her site.. Perhaps, she’ll see this and send a remedy. I know viewers comments mean something in the blog world.
Staying cozy on Mercer Island,
Diney
It all looked delicious!
As a Latin cook I commend you for making “an impromptu paella, especially in front of your friends. It looked scrumptious. I’ve just remodeled my house, including the kitchen, where I made sure I had a gigantic island where dinner guests could congregate while I cooked. Best entertaining!!!! Congrats on a job beautifully executed.
That is my favorite salad!!! And since Luca joined the family, we are big on paella, too. How nice to spend time with friends!!
Hi Cindy! What a simple, but lovely dinner you created for your friends. Love the sound of the salad — I love fennel and citrus. And I went with a similar simple floral centerpiece on my table. So fun joining you ladies for this!
Cindy! Your table looks gorgeous! Love the flowers, the glassware…and the menu!
Holy cow! I am always impressed by YOU!!
Pat
Hi Pat
You are so sweet!!
You are the best cook and hostess!
Thanks pal!! I would certainly say the same about you!!
Hi Cindy, I am interested in your home grown olive oil. I have producing olive trees and would love to know how you make your olive oil. Thank you for sharing – I love your blog!
Hi Vicki
I will try and do a post on making your own olive oil soon!