Everyone seems to be in fall mode already — the fashion media is covering transitional outfits and fall trends (yes, I too have bought a brown suede bag), and at least on the East Coast, temperatures were actually a little cooler last week, which gave me a chance to break out a light sweater or two. But summer is in fact not over — there are still more than enough tomatoes, peaches, plums, corn, and zucchini to go around, so you can still throw a summer dinner party! At least for a couple more weeks — it’s not too late.
my rules for hosting a dinner party
The rules for good hosting are: throw out the“rules”. I am a believer that we should lower the barrier to entry. In an age where there are so many headlines about the loneliness epidemic, our lack of community and social ties, and friendships declining as we age, getting our friends together for dinner in our homes feels really important to me: it’s building community and investing in our relationships and friendships. But often, people don’t want to: they think, oh, my apartment’s not big enough, I don’t have enough space, I don’t have matching plates and silverware, I don’t have room for a big dining table, I don’t have time to cook a multi-course meal, etc etc. To which I say: it doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter if your plates or glasses don’t all match (mine don’t). It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a big enough table — people almost never mind sitting with plates on laps or on the floor at your coffee table. You don’t have to cook everything — make it potluck style and have everyone bring something. Your friends will be overjoyed to hang out and have dinner and wine together. People will remember the fun they had, not the fanciness level of your home.
For more on this, I’d encourage you to read Katherine Goldstein on deep casual hosting and Amanda Litman on how she and her husband have hosted weekly dinners throughout this entire year.
summer dinner party menu ideas
and finally, here are some suggestions for what to serve at your summer dinner party that showcase the best of summer’s produce
Cocktails:
Wine picks (some of my favorite summer wines!)
Any pet nat from Joao Pato
Sides:
Mains:
Desserts:
peach galette (but use Claire Saffitz’s pie dough; I recently made this for the first time and I am a convert; this is the only pie dough recipe I’ll use going forward)
Enjoy!