Something I learnt VERY early on into motherhood is that babysitters are EXPENSIVE and the offers from friends and family members to give you a “night out” on a weekend dry up real quick! So, in order to still see our friends on a regular- ish basis we have become big fans of the dinner party. Here’s the thing though… It can be ALOT of work if you are the one hosting and it can get EXPENSIVE and time consuming if you are doing all the purchasing and are responsible for cooking everything!

Our solution, a Rotating Dinner ! We used to do this as an alternative to going out for dinner with friends, when we lived in the same condo building as them. I can’t take credit for the concept.. it was one of the other couples who suggested it (you know who you are!) but it IS genius, so I’m passing it on.  We no longer live in the same condo, but we apply the same principle, just at one persons home!

The basic Idea is:

Pick a theme, then each couple or pair (works best with 3 groups of two people) is responsible for one course.

One couple/pair  does signature cocktail + dessert, one does appies + salad, and the last does mains. Build- your- own cocktail bars (see below) are also a hit!

Themes can be seasonal, ingredient- based, regional, cooking style or cuisine based. In the past we’ve done themes like “everything on the BBQ”, ” Kale and Bacon (see Green Bean + Bacon Appie below), “Apple and Pumpkin”, “Salsa and Sombreros (Mexican)” and “Inventive Italian”.

It is awesome to see how creative people get with it.. often those you least expect become the most enthusiastic and have the most impressive dishes!

We also include a fun post- dinner “activity” such as a blind scotch tasting (below), a blind wine tasting or a game of some sort (cards against humanity, poker, a putting contest- get creative!)- whoever is the losing team gets to host the next dinner party!

Happy Hosting!

xoR