This is the perfect, sure-to-impress menu for a date night or your last minute dinner guest.
In an ideal world all of our dinner parties would be on a Saturday or Sunday night with all the time in the world to prepare. However, we all know that with everyone’s busy schedules we don’t always get that much notice or have that much time to prepare. Sometimes you get word of a last minute dinner guest or the only available time to have family or friends over for dinner is on a weeknight after a busy day at the office.
Weeknight dinner parties are abundant at my house, as the only nights that line up for me and my boyfriend are during the workweek. Therefore, I always look for easy recipes that I can prepare the night before or over the weekend, yet are still fresh and beautiful and only require a little bit of day-of cooking. This simple and classy dinner party menu can easily be prepared last minute and is the perfect solution when you are short on time. Plus it is always a crowd pleaser and is sure-to-impress your guests!
I recently served this menu on a Monday night for a dinner party with my boyfriend and his family. Of course I wanted to make the best impression possible and wanted the meal to be perfect. With the easy Sunday night prep and table setup and the limited time on Monday this menu took to pull together, the night was seamless! It was the perfect combination of simple and classy that looked formal enough but not like I tried too hard.
We started the night enjoying the sunset over the Dallas skyline with our strawberry basil jalapeno vodka cocktails and then spent hours at the dinner table laughing and telling stories while we ate. Finally, we ended the night enjoying our dessert while playing a friendly game of Apples to Apples, which is my absolute FAVORITE game. The evening was a giant success and was an absolute blast spending time with his family and getting to know them better. This easy prep menu helped set the foundation for a laid back and wonderful evening, and I hope it does the same for you! Enjoy!
Menu:
Appetizer: Parmesan Crisp Salad
Entree: Cedar Plank Salmon with a Brown Sugar and Dijon Mustard Glaze
Sides: Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Vegetables: Pine Nut and Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
Dessert: Chocolate Fudge Cake
Cocktail: Strawberry Basil and Jalapeno Infused Vodka Cocktail
Decor: Simple + Classy Tablescape
Comments are closed.