2021 Fall Dinner Party

Sharon and I have made it a tradition to host a fall dinner party [2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003]. We skipped last year due to the COVID pandemic. We did hold a fall dinner party Zoom cocktail hour last year, but it was a poor substitute for the real thing. With the Sanborns moving to South Carolina and Janie moving to Oklahoma, we decided to go with a smaller group this year. The group included the Larkins and the Gainsleys.

With the smaller group, we used the Garden Room for dinner for the first time for a fall dinner party. Sharon is planning to use the tablescape through Thanksgiving.

The theme this year was Adventures in Oregon. While we have typically organized the fall dinner party around a trip we had taken. This year was unique. We sourced a number of the ingredients for the dinner as we traveled Oregon on our anniversary trip. This included the wine, cheese, hazelnuts and pork.

We started the evening with a blind vertical wine tasting of Anderson Family Vineyard Chardonnay. Sharon put together a great meal. It included hazelnut crusted salmon, wild mushroom soup, butternut squash ravoli and pork loin chops. The full menu is here.

After dinner, we ended up watching episode one of season one of Ted Lasso. This was followed by Dinner For One. Everyone was clammoring for the Lonely Plant skits, but I couldn't find them on the AppleTV. Like two years ago, I was got a little flatfooted trying to tee up this content.

It was just about 11 pm when we walked everyone to the front gate to catch an Uber. With the earlier 5 pm start time for the dinner, it was a long evening!