Okay so last night! My goodness I’m behind.
As mentioned, last night was my roommate Nicole’s birthday celebration. It was a fun, fun evening with lots of wine and lots of delicious food. I have pictures galore, so let’s get started.
We began the evening with champagne and cheese, courtesy of Nicole. We had gouda, brie, and homemade red pepper goat cheese (which was divine.)
After the cheese “course” was over it was time for me to get in the kitchen and cook! I had everything prepped beforehand, so it didn’t pull me away from the action for too long.
Vanilla Bean and Butternut Squash Risotto was my contribution. Many have asked for the recipe, so here it is! A Giada De Laurentiis original. It was my first time cooking one of her recipes and I’m certainly impressed. Not too difficult or time consuming and absolutely delicious. It contains a whole, real vanilla bean which gives off the most amazing scent ever as it cooks. Very enticing :O)
While the risotto was cooking, Allison was busy prepping our salad. It was spinach, cranberry goat cheese, orchard apples, walnuts and burgundy poppy seed dressing.
And then, dinner was served!
The salad was fab! The risotto was so good I had seconds. Served with my favorite wine, Cabernet. All in all, that meal rocked my world :O).
So at this point, we were down a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine. Everyone was feeling very chatty and everything became a whole lot more hilarious. Which makes for a perfect time to bring out dessert!
Beth’s (other Beth’s) homemade pumpkin pie with whip cream and dessert wine. Again, amazing. I’m impressed with our collective efforts :O).
So to be truthful, this is not my piece. Mine was first out of the pan and was a bit messy, so I used Allison’s for the photograph’s aesthetic quality. And then I complained her whip cream looked too measly. So she did this:
And ate it just like that :O). hehe.
Suuuper good, super delicious night of roomie bonding. Clearly what began as a classy evening faltered a bit 3 bottles of wine later but what matters is togetherness and fun. And we had a lot of both :O).
I hope you enjoyed the recap! Back tomorrow to share our work Thanksgiving feast and my contribution to that. Here’s a preview!
- Beth
everything looks extremely yummy~~~
The table looks so pretty…how fun to set the table and decorate and have a wonderful dinner on a week night!
It all looks delish and I’m stealing the salad ingredients for my turkey day contribution!!!
Courtney
Adventures in Tri-ing
that is a TON of whipped cream!
and thanks for teh comment! hahah sometimes i feel like i have NO stamina!
That pie looks soooooooo good! And so does the risotto
I’ve bookmarked that risotto to try. Sounds (and looks) like a winning combo.
hahah i love the whipped cream portion. thats usually what happens to my desserts post photography
and AH that risotto! and that grande brie wedge!
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Looked like a lovely evening and delicious dinner. I am looking forward to trying the Risotto. And Beth—what could be classier/more roommate bonding than 3 bottles of wine???
Nothing! :O)
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