hey! that's pintastic!

linking up with AP for another round of hey! that's pin-tastic!



**warning!! this is a picutre and link heavy post!!**

last thursday i hosted my first real dinner party :) i had the staff from the church and work at and their spouses over. all in all there were nine of us for dinner, nothing crazy. not only was it my first dinner party, it was my first pinterest dinner party. everything, the decor, the appetizers, main course, side dishes, heck! even my outfit came from pinterest!

 

here is my dining room before:

the floor under the north window was STILL home to left over wedding goodies

the built in hutch (part of the reason i chose to rent the place) with a wine rack, a sparkly winter wreath & candles, and assorted mail & craft projects waiting to be dealt with

the table with the fall runner down the middle and meal planning supplies at the far end

 

and after being 'pinterest-ified':

the hutch/buffet being used for it's intended purpose!! happy girl right here :)

the table with an upgraded fall runner, plates & napkins

i moved all of our wedding goodies into another room- but don't worry, i didn't do anything with the yet, just moved them. and i moved the bench that we got at the church rummage sale last spring into the dining room

 

the fireplace & mantle:

i moved the lights around a little from my 'project pinterest' post a few weeks ago- i like it much more this way. and it's all lit up for our guests. i love 'lighting' the fire place :)

the hostest with the mostest:

my outfit was inspired by this pin

but i found my jean jacket to be to heavy so i opted for my new chambray top

if i wear this again i'll pick a different necklace- this one got eaten by the girls all night long :)

but other than that it was a good outfit

 

center piece/table runner:

i searched for a while on pinterest but didn't pin anything. shocker i know! i just wandered around wal*mart for a while, picked out some fall-ish things, then went home and combined them with things that i already had and kept moving them around on our table until it looked right and this is what i got:

i've got candle sticks from target, some plain glass cylinders from wal*mart, some mason jars from who knows where, tea lights from ikea, un-popped popcorn, candy corn, pine cones, wine glasses, real pumpkins, fake pumpkins, some good smelly stuff (potpurrie?). and yes- we are 2 chairs short- we had to borrow folding chairs from the church.

i did use this pin to get the melted candles out of my mason jars, but the candles had epsome salt underneath them & it was a big mess. the mason jars still aren't clean. i don't know if it was the salt or if the pin just doesn't work as nice as it sounds like it does.

 

pumpkins:

the mr brought home 5 pumpkins for me early in october. up until last thur they had just been sitting on our front steps. no paint, no carving, nada. i had some painting ideas but they just never happend. but- since we had people coming over they had to happen.

naked pumpkins

address pumpkins

and more naked pumpkins

with the two infront after seeing this pin and this post from AP about stacked and painted pumpkins, i knew i wanted one with polka dots and one with chevron stripes

dots- not a problem

chevron- huge problem

i did not learn from AP to tape my pumpkin off first.

so i wiped, and taped

oh my goodness y'all- that takes for.ever.

then i had to paint it in 1/2's because you can't paint the bottom when the top is wet & vice versa.

and here is the finished product:

you should have seen the disappointment on my face.

the paint worked it's way under the tape and then the tape peeled the paint off with it.

this sad guy is now on our back steps.

and our front steps look like this:

the food! ok friends- i was really really really bad about taking pictures of the food for you BUT i have links and reviews.

appetizers:

parmesan garlic artichoke dip

this was ok. people liked it. i don't know if i will make it again.

but the website is super easy to follow and explains things really well- i would totally use it again

blue cheese bacon dip

oh my gosh! so good! i made this on tues (2 days before the party) and i needed to make a second batch to serve at the party.

then i had to make a third batch because the mr and i wanted more. it's so not good for you (sour cream, mayo, blue cheese, & bacon) but it's soooooooo good.

our guests liked it too.

 

main course:

baked chicken parmesan

after reading reviews and seeing this all over pinterest i had high hopes.

i was let down.

it was ok. but not amazing.

the crutons don't stay as crispy as they claim to.

and my chicken did not cook evenly- the stuff on the outside was nicely done and the stuff in the middle needed to be put in the microwave to finish cooking before we could eat it. how embarassing for your first dinner party!!

 

italian potatos

i don't have a link or a picture for this because it's from my pampered chef cookbook that i got with my deep covered baker. if you have a deep covered baker and you'd like to make them here's what you do:

slice your potatos really thin (i used the thinnest setting on my mandolin; one potato per person)

put the potatos in the baker

add some EVOO, a few passes around the dish- you don't need a lot

1 tbsp butter per potato

italian seasoning & fresh cracked pepper to taste

bake at 350 for 45-60 mins

easy and yummie.

only non-pinterest thing of the evening :)

 

i pinned this caesar dressing in hopes of making my own- it was a pinterest dinner party after all!

but that pin led me to a different link for Anne Burrell's Eggless Caesar Salad on the food network website. Anne's sounded easier.

wrong.

my dressing turned out to be a thick paste that tastes like EVOO and parm cheese. blech.

so i bought hidden valley caesar dressing. sorry pinterest.

 

red lobster cheddar bay buscuits

so good. big hit.

 

dessert:

caramel apple cheesecake

(pinterest won't open the link anymore, dont' know what happened in the past week!)

this was the first time i had made cheesecake totally from scratch and it was so good!!

this one i did take a pic of!!

 

take home:

everyone got a little soemthing to take home with them.

my guests 'little somethin' is curtesy of the lovely shannon dew. they all got the pumpkin spice muffins that she turned me on to.

hers

mine

closer

i like using the mini choco chips as sprinkles on top- so cute!

 

so there you have it! my pin-tastic dinner party!

love, mrs. k

 

come back next week to see my pin-tastic halloween!!