Tapas Party

It seems another week has passed and all I can plead is summer.  It has been an especially busy one, probably just like yours! I promised more details on the Tapas party and here they are.  Now in retrospect, I would never try this for 30 people again, at least not in a small cottage kitchen with limited space to prep and clean up.  We were running to get each course ready and we were blessed with 4 very capable volunteers.  Having said that, one of the great things about this kind of party is that almost all of the foods can be prepared ahead of time and just put on the plate.

 This first course consisted of grapes, almonds spiced with paprika and fresh rosemary, marinated olives and mushrooms, toasted whole grain baguettes and herbed olive oil for dipping the bread.  Super easy.  We served four courses and we tried to include different flavors,( sweet, savory, pickled), and different textures in each course.  Recipes were found on Pinterest and can be found by following the links in the description.

I didn't get a photo of the second course that night, once again, running! but I did find a photo on my phone from trying this out at my daughter's house to see how it all went together. They loved being our guinea pigs:) The second course consisted of an assortment of cheeses including manchego, brie and goat cheese with wild blueberries (Costco!), an assortment of cured meats including prosciutto, summer sausage and salami, assorted crackers, dried cherries drizzled with honey, sliced guava paste, and pickled beets.  I know that sounds like a lot, but each board served 4 people so there are only a few bites of each thing for per person. One of the reasons we felt the need to try it out was to see if these small bites would be enough. They were! You can, of course offer less choices, maybe just one or two different things with a little more in each serving.  It is a menu that can be anything you want it to be!

The third course was Pork empanadas with thyme, melon skewers, dilled green beans, and those little forks sticking up in the middle were dried figs stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with lavender and thyme infused honey! Oh my goodness, so good.  The recipe I found actually called for fresh figs and I couldn't find them anywhere. Maybe they aren't in season this time of year? But the dried figs worked fine and were so delicious, we loved the infused honey too.

The final course was small servings of lemon cheesecake with lemon curd and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake with raspberry sauce and chocolate ganache...and a teeny scoop of raspberry sorbet.  No photo because by then we were all beat and surrounded by dishes.  I have my limits.  It was all served outside on a perfect, warm evening with candles and flowers on the tables and good friends laughing and trying new things.  The best thing about this type of party is the slow way it is served, one course at a time, which leaves plenty of time for conversation and relaxing around the table.

If you are interested in checking out the Tapas board and the pins I used for inspiration and recipes you can find it here.

We find summer to be the best time to entertain. With a very small house and a very large yard and garden, it's just easier to have as many people over as we want to.  How about you, do you prefer to entertain inside or out?