Dinner Party

Sunday afternoon I planned an impromptu dinner party for last night, to celebrate college graduations, new jobs, new jobs in other countries, and I always look forward to trying new recipes.  Last night was dinner party heaven because every new thing I tried was lovely and delicious, so I thought I should share the love.

We'll start with The Pioneer Woman's two contributions:  Homemade Lemonade and Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake.

I don't have a juicer, so I squeezed 24 lemons by hand yesterday, then weeded out all the seeds.  It made my trash can and my hands smell like summer, and it was perfect and delicious.  I filled up a big serving vat and gave no other drink options. :)

I think this cake speaks for itself.  Homemade whipped cream, from scratch chocolate cake, strawberries...and don't forget the Nutella.  It was seriously good and pretty to look at, too.  You could just make one layer if you don't want lots of leftovers.

I also followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest for the "perfect baked potato."  I thought it delivered.  I used our sea salt we brought back from Normandy, and the insides were fluffy and perfect as promised.

I also used our French salt on steaks that my lovely husband grilled to perfection.  The only downside of the evening was when a falling steak knife grazed KJ's hand, resulting in a rather bloody end to dinner.  I got out the fancy steak knives we received as wedding gifts, and since they've only been used around 5 times in nine years they're pretty sharp.  I think he'll recover fully, though.

The picture of James above reminded me of our favorite line from last night.  After a trip to the bathroom, James walked out with only his underwear and announced, "My pants are invisible!"  I for one didn't see them again for the duration of the evening.