To Celebrate a Book

Entertaining can be so much fun! I’d like to chronicle here a few of my dinner parties, in hopes that it may inspire others.  I’ll explain how I choose menus and decorations to suit the occasion.

To start with, I’ll tell you about a luncheon I gave for a good friend who just had a book republished.  His book, The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:  The Titanic Tragedy can be purchased here.

It’s fun to start with a theme.  Of course, the two obvious themes here are Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic.  So that is where I started.  I knew I wanted to have a formal menu and setting.  Here’s the menu I came up with:

Menu

April 21, 2012

Mushrooms stuffed with Lobster

Deviled Eggs with Bacon

Delmas Blanquette de Limoux Cuvee Berlene 2007

Creamy Carrot Coconut Soup

2008 Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris Reserve

Gravlax with Cucumber Salad

2009 Cedergreen Cellars Chenin Blanc Old Vine

Grapefruit Star Anise Sorbet

Roast Lamb with Mango Chutney Sauce

Wild Rice Pilaf

Minted Peas

2010 Airfield Estates Runway Syrah

Salad de Menthe

2010 Willow Crest Pinot Gris

Maple Star Anise Mousse with Fresh Strawberries

2005 Chateau d'Arche 'La Perle d'Arche' Sauterne

I like to make individual menus for each person.  They can become a keepsake, and also help to dress the table, as you will see later.  Here’s the menu I created.

 

When I think of the Titanic, I think of the colors red, black and gold.  So that became my color scheme for the menu.  The pen nib and cogs I found in the scrapbooking section of my local craft store, and help to add a bit of a steampunk feel.

Tomorrow I’ll show you the table setting and other decorations, then I’ll take you course by course through the menu.