a march menu

This past weekend Honey and I hosted our very first dinner party! His folks were headed home from North Carolina and decided to plan their halfway home rest stop in Baltimore so that they could see our new home. Rather than go out to dinner and have the "We'll pay" "No, we've got it" back and forth that parents and grownup kids always have when the check comes, I decided that I wanted to cook for the two of them. I wanted to impress them and let them know that their first born was being taken care of by an awesome gal... plus I love cooking for people, getting to their hearts through their stomachs.

I thought long and hard about what I would prepare. It had to be something comforting since they would be arriving after a long day of driving, but nothing too filling since they had the other leg of their trip early the next morning. It needed to be nice enough that it didn't appear thrown together, but not so nice that it looked like I was trying to show them up or be fancier than I am. Most importantly, it had to be layered - no, not like a 7 layer dip, but layered as in many complimentary flavors and tastes and textures. I decided that my theme would be March, and here is what I came up with.

spring salad - frisee, mache rosettes, radishes, mustard vinaigrette

uborkasalata (Hungarian cucumber salad)

homemade spaetzle with nutmeg tossed in brown butter

creamy paprika chicken

kale and hazelnuts sauteed with shallots and hazelnut oil

red and white wines, preferably from Hungary or Austria

You may be asking yourself how on earth this menu reflects the month of March. Let me tell you - You know that old adage 'in like a lion, out like a lamb/in like a lamb, out like a lion'? Some people prefer their light, Spring salad before their hearty, spicy entree and some prefer it the other way around. Voila! The menu is march and march is the menu. I'll be back tomorrow with more details and a few recipes for you. Until then, feel free to bask in my awesome menu cleverness and let your mouth water thinking about how tasty our supper was!

the source of my inspriation