Dinner Party of Blue, White and Chocolate

I was preoccupied with Payback Time last week and didn’t tell you all about my dinner party! It was my dad and I, a good friend of mine from home and her parents, who were also good friend with my parents back in the day. Clear?! Ha.

I got excited about this blue, white and chocolate color scheme, and bought this gorgeous paper at the paper store around the corner with which to wrap vases for the table.

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Which I filled with fluffy white flowers and paired with blue-silver placemats.

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I made simple placecards out of gorgeous chocolate-colored paper and a white gel pen.

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And placed them inside a napkin envelope – which I didn’t iron! I ran out of time. There was nothing to do but just go with the wrinkly look and hope it worked in a casual way.

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I think it worked okay. It’s the least complicated table I’ve designed in a while, and I liked the minimalist simplicity that it had.
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I’ll post the menu and recipes soon!

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S’mores in the City

I’m so lucky that I have a wonderful friend with an apartment in the middle of New York City – with a working fireplace.

photo-5That’s right, kids. Real logs and everything. And she used it to throw an intimate s’mores party! If you have a fire source of some kind, I highly recommend it.

photo-6Instead of graham crackers, she used thin ginger cookies and they were purrrrrfect. I can never go back to normal grahams again.

photo-7For extra yumminess, pair the s’mores with White Russians (or as The Dude calls them, Caucasians). I make them with skim milk instead of half-and-half, and just a touch of vodka.

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All we could talk about was how the fire made the party. Something about staring into it makes you feel like there’s a purpose to you being there.

Food Pairing Ideas

I happened upon this website called FoodPairing, and it’s pretty cool. Check out the tree they gave me for “American Bourbon Whiskey“:

FoodChart.ashx

It’s a little odd – olive oil?! – but still fun to get ideas. I kind of want to serve bourbon and caviar together now.

The closer to the middle the flavors are, the closer the flavor profiles are. Could be useful if you’re trying to figure out what you’re making – say, you feel like salmon but can’t think what kind of marinade/sauce you would like. I hope they have more wine pairing ideas in the future.

Oscars Party

What are the Oscars without friends to shout at the screen with you when someone wears rosettes that look like they’re copping a feel? No fun at all, obviously. Lucky for me some friends got decked out in jeans and jewels (it was a casual gathering, yet with a nod to Oscar) and came to yell at Charlize Theron with me. I mean really? (with Seth and Amy). REALLY?

By Jason Merritt, Getty Images

By Jason Merritt, Getty Images

So it was a fun time.

By the way, I love love love the Fug Girls for the red carpet rundown. Check them out, if you haven’t already.

Anyway, back to the shindig: I made two kinds of tea sandwiches, lemon cookiesmy skinny margaritas and a grapefruit champagne cocktail that knocked me on the floor because it was SO tasty that I couldn’t stop myself. So tasty that I forgot to take a photo of it, even as I announced to everyone in earshot how good it was and how it was definitely going on BB&B in the morning. So tasty that I didn’t wake up in time to write this post before morning class and am now posting it well into the afternoon and frankly Ithinkwe’veallbeentheresothere. OKAY?

Raspberries on lemon cookies

Raspberries on lemon cookies

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The spread

Please continue for the recipes . . .

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Payback Time: Two Themes That Are a Little Too Literal

And for the last Payback Time post, I have two themes. Both put the principles of Rule #1 and Payback Time literally into action – with food, instead of stocks.

marthastewart.com

marthastewart.com

1. Do-it-yourself dishes. Because you know what’s right for you better than anyone else does. Just as you take care of your own money, put your meal together yourself exactly as you like it!

  • Lettuce wraps
  • Hot dogs
  • Tacos
  • Burgers
  • Salad

2. Use ingredients from companies that you have bought or would buy. Once you’ve been investing for a while, you will be aware of the quality companies in the food industry. Buy food from them. Make any dishes you prefer, as long as it is from companies you think are worthy of owning.

This is more of an advanced theme, as you’ll have to have done the legwork to find companies you support, but for a Rule #1 investing club it would be a great way to discuss food industry companies. Have fun with it!

Payback Time: Green

OK, so maybe you’re not feeling going with super-inexpensive simple food or spending tons of time and money on gourmet ingredients. Fair enough. My third Payback Time theme is the most incredibly obvious one, but also pretty fun: Green. For money.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/43884

http://www.newsweek.com/id/43884

I know.

But come on – a money theme is awesome! It’s like St. Patty’s Day without the shamrocks or the hangover! (Though green beer would be really kitschy and theme-appropriate, so I’m not against it.)

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Throw yourself into the obviousness and use green tableware, string some Monopoly money as a welcome banner, and  slip a dollar sign ring on your lovely hand.

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It will let the universe know that you’re ready for true wealth.

How do you make green beer? I thought you might ask that.

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