A dinner party and a sunburn

On Friday we hosted a small dinner to welcome Caitlin to San Francisco. She starts a fancy new job today. Yay, Caitlin!

The only pictures I took are blurry, a testament to the strength of the cocktails. (I made a big jar o'cocktail with St. George's gin, soda water, simple syrup, rosemary and cucumber. After dinner I added Campari and called it a digestif.) See?

I wanted to share the menu despite my lack of gorgeous food and tablescape photos because most of the dishes were delightful. I've gotten pretty good at prepping my ingredients over the few days before a party so that the day-of isn't insane, but I'm still working out some kinks on actually prepping my house for guests. I bought a few strings of pretty lights that I had plans to hang, but handing early arrivals a hammer, some nails and minimal instruction is a recipe for broken glass, it turns out.

The company couldn't have been better - it's nice to remember where the phrase "busting a gut" comes from every once in a while - and I think we sent Caitlin off to work with some good juju behind her.

Hors d'oeuvres:

• raw oysters with lemon
• baked ricotta with lemon and chives
• homemade bread - my first attempt, a boule, and it came out well!

Appetizer:

• cauliflower soup with fresh sweet corn, tarragon oil, and arugula from our garden

Dinner:

• grilled sausages (from Bi Rite - so good) with grainy mustard
• roasted vegetables with brown butter and lemon
• orange pan-glazed tempeh

Dessert:

• lemon olive oil cake (inspired by this one) with fresh whipped cream

The weekend also included a readthrough of a friend's screenplay in the park, a housewarming bbq, and an A's game. I am all kinds of sunburnt, but it was worth it.