I feel fortunate to live in DC in a home with a little garden space given the compact living spaces. I started calling my little space "el huerto". There, I have intimate dinners with the Dutchman, have rowdy gatherings with my friends, or simply spend time alone taking care of my niños (aka the plants). Last weekend, I hosted a farewell party for one of my favorite Marines and best friend, K. Having a cookout can be labor intensive so I came up with some ideas on how to make it a simple yet lovely affair.

Just a simple hot dog party all dressed up

Tip 1: Enlist some help!  I am fortunate to know Mariella from Splendor Styling who I hired to style my event.  Hiring a party stylist may seem like a frivolous expense, but as an experienced hostess I tell you that it's a great investment. She consulted with me beforehand to get an idea of what I wanted.  I wanted to host an effortless party where I can prepare things ahead and enjoy my guests, especially my guest of honor. She also arrived early in the morning to set up the party space and arranged our outdoor furniture and plants to maximize our space. Usually I am running around trying to cook and decorate. This allowed me to focus on the food and have a beautifully arranged space.   

Used Fresh Blueberries and Strawberries for a Summer Pie

Trip 2:  Establish a theme. Parties are always fun when there is a theme. Themes can be applied to food as well. As I was looking for an easy menu, I came up with a hot dog bar. My friend is heading to Bahrain so we decided to do something very American to send her off. We paired the hot dogs with fresh salads such as a kale ceasar, watermelon feta, and a potato salad. For the hot dog bar we prepared homemade chili the night before and all the fixings such as relish, pickled peppers, sauerkraut, and of course mustard and ketchup. For dessert we served pies: a key lime pie and a berry pie, both summery and delicious. 

Watermelon Feta Salad

Tip 3: It's all in the details. Mariella recommended I buy a colored red and white twine from Amazon and we used it for little details such as the mustard and ketchup bottles.  I also covered the outdoor table with gingham tablecloth for an Americana look. We served a signature cocktail: the Moscow Mule. It's K's favorite drink and it make it easy instead of having to manage a full bar. We also served beer and wine and added snacks for those who like to munch while they drink. 

The Bar

I've always loved to entertain at home. I enjoy having good friends over and bonding over food. I am grateful I had the opportunity to host such a lovely party for my best friend. How do you host parties? Any particular tradition you have?

I have previously written about my experience as a Bookalokal host. Many of my friends ask me: "what exactly is Bookalokal?".  The concept is simple: a "host" posts a dinner on the website and you can sign up to come and eat at their homes for a small fee. So far, I have hosted five dinners ranging from Belgian Nostalgia to Around the World Tasting Menu.  However, as much as I love to host, I also love to eat (and not have to clean up).  When the opportunity presented itself to attend a "Make your own bread and spreads" cooking class, I could not refuse. When we arrived to Sandyha's event, we were taken by the warmth and hospitality by both her and her co-host Jackie. We were welcomed with a delicious cup of homemade chai tea at Jackie's lovely Adams Morgan apartment. Before we began, we mingled with our guests which included the founder's grandmother and a twenty-something DC couple. I have to say this is one of the things I love the most about the Bookalokal experience: the guests. It's an opportunity to talk to people who maybe otherwise you do not have the opportunity to mingle with. It's amazing how different we sometimes think we are and how nicely we come together when we share a meal. Aside from banana bread, I have never made real bread before.  I was really curious about the process. I never bothered experimenting with bread making as I thought it may be too challenging or messy.  Sandhya taught me otherwise.  She is a well-traveled vegetarian chef from India who makes you feel at home from the moment she speaks to you.  I really appreciated her patience and level of detail when it came to explaining the process step by step. She taught us to make simple no knead bread and an the Indian naan bread. Not only did she show us the basics, but also shared stories about bread making from her native India. We appreciated how she patiently answered all of our questions. 
She also taught us how to make her favorite spreads. She made a harissa which was my favorite, the spiciness went really well with the naan. I also enjoyed a spread she made of softened cream cheese topped with freshly roasted grapes. We ate the breads and spreads as they came off the skillet and oven and traded stories about food, travel, and life in DC. We left Jackie's place with a pleasant food coma and a very fond memory of the experience. When we thought the experience was over, we got a very nice email from Sandyha thanking us for attending and a copy of her recipes. I am no longer intimidated by bread making! 

I am a big believer if you have a vision and believe in it, the right people will come along to help you make it a reality. I have been a travel and food contributor to SpicyCandyDC and we just made our third video.  It was an amazing experience and this most recent one is very special as we are celebrating Mother's Day. Thanks Carlis, Mariela, and Sebastian for making this happen!  For more details and recipe, click on our post on SpicyCandyDC.  Now the question is.... what would you like to see us cook up next? Let us know!  Bisous!

From El Huerto

I found beautiful Ball quilted jars at Wegmans which I intended to use for entertaining.  I thought it would be nice to use them for their actual purpose.  I found a recipe at the Ball website for the jelly. It was pretty simple and omitted the green food coloring.  I like my food to look natural.  I picked the jalapenos from the plant and proceeded to cut them in my kitchen when I made a BIG mistake: I rubbed my eye with my bare hands!!! Thanks to the internet, I found a great solution to the problem: I made an eye wash with a shot glass and milk.  It really calmed the inflammation. Note to self: wear gloves as the instructions state!

Pretty Ball Jars

The last step, processing the canned contents in boiling water

I did not have all the canning equipment of the pros but I managed to follow the instructions and effectively sterilize the jars in my Le Creuset without getting burned.  Once the content was set on the jars, I placed them in the kitchen until fully cooled.  A few hours later, I started hearing popping sounds, indicating the jars sealed.  The proof came the next day, when I got to try my jelly.  I was very proud of myself!  It had the right balance of sweet and spicy.  I later served it at a party with homemade cornbread bites and gave extra jars as gifts.  Overall, I thought the process was going to be more complicated than I thought, happy that it turned out well.  Looking forward to doing more preserving, especially with the fall and winter fruits.

Ready to be served!

A little while ago, I wrote about my urban garden. As the weather got warmer, my plants began to grow. Every morning, I carefully water them and I'm always looking for a new sign of growth. Little seeds have become large plants with flowers and some have faltered under the DC sun. I find myself excited when a torrential rain hits as the next day the plants are bigger and greener. In the last four months, I have made pesto with my basil, salad with my tomatoes, and seasoned my chicken with my rosemary. What I have found most interesting from this experience are the little things I've learned from my plants.

My herbs...

To begin, my plants have taught me patience. I recall planting tiny seeds into small soil pods on an incubator. Every day, I would take a look through the plastic cover to check their progress. When I returned from a two week trip, I noticed the seeds had sprouted, tiny little green plants were born. As they grew, I transferred them to a pot. After four months, they just began to flower. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I will have eggplant and peppers. One of the things I acknowledge I need to work the most on is patience. It is in those moments when we stop micro-managing (or in my case, micro-observing) that the magical things happen.

Jalapenos from El Huerto

My plants have taught me that sometimes we need to cut excess in order to be abundant. It sounds like an oxymoron but it is true. Take herbs for example. In order to have tasty herbs, you have to cut the flowers from the plant. When I first saw my basil plant topped with flowers, I was thought it was great. I soon found out it has a negative effect on the production and taste of the leaves. In order to have leafy, tasty basil (or other herbs for that matter) you must cut these flowers. From my move from Brussels to DC, I have learned more possessions doesn't necessarily mean more abundance. I have cleaned my closets and given away/thrown out things I no longer needed. The excesses took away from the abundance and flavor of my home and life. My basil plants reaffirmed this.

Waiting for my Eggplants

My plants taught me things can change for the better even when you think hope is lost. I planted two tomato plants in a container. After two months, they produced yummy roma tomatoes. Once the tomatoes grew, most of the plant dried up. I gave up on the plant, thinking it was some rookie gardening mistake, and set it aside in order to throw it away when I returned from my 9 day Eurotrip. Upon my return, I was surprised to see although most branches were dry, there was a long, strong green stem with beautiful leaves. I do not know yet if it will give me more tomatoes, but the fact that it was there standing tall made think about life. How sometimes when we think hope is lost, but we can be pleasantly surprised.

My Basil, all grown up...

This is my first time with a little garden. I find myself every morning on my deck, checking the progress of my plants. I water them carefully, smell the fragrant leaves, touch the soil, and rescue them when the sun has been too rough. At times, we complicate our lives so much with excesses we do not need when just like plants, a little water and sunshine can take us a long way!

Some of my most cherished memories in Brussels are from dinner parties. I love hosting dinner parties at home or going to a friends' home and enjoying great food, wine, and conversation.  Given I have only been here less than three months, I am still working on building a social circle.  In Brussels, everyone lives at close proximity.  Here, at the National Capital Region, it is common to commute 70 miles to work which makes it difficult to connect with friends or colleagues after work hours.  If I commuted 140 miles roundtrip in Brussels, it would more than likely place me in a foreign place, such as Rotterdam, The Netherlands or Aachen, Germany.  However, I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with old friends and making new friends in DC proper.

Toasting to a New Life Life... and Friends

On Friday, I hosted a dinner party in honor of Carlis, my new neighbor and fellow blogger of SpicyCandyDC.  I had to feed a table of 9 and wanted to create a menu both creative and simple to make due to the large group and short preparation time.  My Dutchman is a very good cook and told me of a delicious stuffed shells recipe he learned to make during his time in Italy.  I decided it would be perfect main course.  I wanted to add European elements to the menu while making it accessible to my guests.  I decided to start with mussels, as a homage to Brussels with white wine and cream sauce. It always warms my heart when people drink the whole broth after finishing the mussels.  The ricotta and basil stuffed shells followed with a spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh sweet peppers, and pomegranate.  Instead of a dressing, I just squeezed a lemon and added a few tablespoons of my recent Austrian discovery, pumpkin seed oil.  To conclude, I made a chocolate mousse with Cote D'Or Belgian chocolate which a friend brought to me from the Kingdom and thankfully just discovered it is sold on Amazon. I topped the mousse with fresh raspberries.

These Ladies Can Drink!

 There are many beauties of a dinner party.  It all begins with the preparation.  While making sauce for the shells the evening before, I begin to envision the following evening, hoping my new guests enjoy the menu.  The evening of the dinner, Carlis, Kat, and Grace arrived early to help.  We collectively chopped, tasted, and cooked, making it a party with stories and music even before the rest of the guests arrived.  Finally, we serve the meal.  Sitting in a warm home, trading stories, drinking as much wine as we want (10 bottles to be exact), and feeling the positive energy of talented and diverse women secured the fact there will be more evenings like this to come.  I do enjoy from time to time a dinner at a fabulous restaurant but nothing beats a lovely dinner at home. All photos courtesy of SpicyCandyDC.