Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Darlington Dinner Party

Several weeks ago I received a telephone call from a dear friend of mine with the news that he and his partner were planning on spending the weekend with mutual friends who live near us in the country. Rather than agreeing to meet at a restaurant in a nearby town I suggested that we would instead prefer to have them over to Darlington for an informal dinner.  Since we eat out so often in the City during the week we prefer to eat at home in the country, and thought it would be more pleasant for everyone to have them over rather than meeting elsewhere.

For parties larger than six we usually arrange to have someone in to help with the serving and dishes, but given that this gathering would be but six, and good friends at that, we decided to take care of it all ourselves.

The dining room before our guests arrived

Boy took charge of the preparations and set the table beautifully with a simple, rustic country arrangement of cream-ware plates on brown linen place-mats surrounding a row of myrtle topiaries and brass candle-sticks marching down the center of our mahogany dining table.  It was lovely.

The evening’s menu was sublimely straightforward, befitting the first snowy evening of the winter: we started with a simple lemon-and-olive-oil-dressed arugula salad, followed with a main course of braised short-ribs served over polenta and roasted brussel sprouts, and then finished off with a dessert of hot apple crumble made that afternoon and brought by our guests, liberally garnished with ginger ice-cream. Delightful.

Well-fortified with delicious food and liberal pourings of wine throughout the meal we repaired to the drawing room for after-dinner drinks and several hours of enjoyable and spirited conversation that culminated in the reluctant leave-takings of our guests and commitments on all sides to reunite shortly thereafter.  We all had a lovely time.

Boy then stumbled off to bed with a sleepy Pompey in his arms, and I repaired to the kitchen to wash the dishes accompanied by late-evening music on our local public radio station and fortified with a tumbler of gin on the rocks.  I enjoyed myself standing at the sink while the gorgeous music played, washing and drying the silver, plates, and glasses, and I felt fortunate indeed to have been able to spend such a lovely evening with such dear friends.

The same view the next morning

Photos by Reggie Darling

17 comments:

  1. Very lovely-all. Especially like the table and placemats-tablecloths can get "skirty". Classically elegant-glowing at night, bright cheer the morning after. G

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  2. Lovely room and lovely menu, but Reggie, I'm afraid you lost me at the mention of the roasted brussels sprouts! If only my hosts would stop
    inflicting that side dish on us~and as a guest, one is instantly aware of their pervasive smell wafting through the rooms long before seeing those shriveled sprouts on a dinner plate. Really they ought to be banned from civilised gatherings....

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  3. Hello Toby Worthington,
    I'm surprised at your vehemence regarding brussel sprouts. I adore tham, and our guests tucked into them with glee. My only disappointment was there were no leftovers for the next day! Thank you for posting, do come back often...
    Reggie

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  4. To be perfectly fair dear Reggie, there actually WAS a recipe in a back issue of Gourmet Magazine that made the sprouts from Brussels palatable, and though I cannot put my hands on it there was a lemony
    bechamel sauce flavoured with celery seed~the sprouts were enrobed in this heavenly sauce, and all was forgiven.

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  5. I had my first Brussels sprout only last year BECAUSE I grew up hearing how loathsome they were. How surprised was I to find them super yummy! I could eat them everyday. Roasted that is. Boiled - probably not.

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  6. Myrtle topiaries oh how lovely. I have always loved the idea of myrtle groves in Ancient Rome. Your table is spare but lovely. By the way we British tend to boil our Brussels sprouts into the stone age. Or did when I was young.

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  7. I love the warm color of your dining room walls (I have the same color in my living room...). I too am a fan of brussel sprouts -- detested them boiled, dense and soggy as a child, so did my dad who claimed to my mother that brussel sprouts would stunt our growths. But I rediscovered them roasted. Delicious! Except TW is right, the smell tends to linger. Watch out opening up a tupperware container full of them the next day. p.u.

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  8. What a charming evening! I had a similar menu Saturday when I had an impromptu dinner party for lost city souls Saturday night (all restaurants were closed due to the snowstorm!). Nothing is more relaxing than washing the silver and china after a dinner party (and brussell sprouts -my FAVORITE!).

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  9. Hello AD,
    Lost City Souls would be a delightful name for a club of kindred spirits that meets regularly to discuss topics of mutual interest, such as the Society of Dilettanti, a group I would have longed to belong to...
    Reggie

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  10. Your dining room is lovely! And 'one' obviously has never had "roasted" brussel sprouts via my dear Ina..... a smell to die for!!
    joan

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  11. How brave to wash up after the dinner. Unfortunately in our house - like yours by the sound of it - the china and silver doesn't go in the washing machine, so it gets a rinse. The glasses get left on the table and are dealt with the next morning. It seems as though you did the same thing, but with most of the debris gone, it looks quite manageable. The house looks divine, and I shall come back and visit regularly.

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  12. Hello Columnist,
    Thanks for visiting. You are correct: very little of the table-wares we use go into the dishwasher and therefore must be washed by hand. That usually falls to me, as I am the resident scullery maid. Fortunately I also wear other hats from time to time, so it isn't too much of a bother.
    Reggie

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  13. Gorgeous dining room and I love Brussels sprouts also. Now about getting outside help for more than six people...just how spoil are you?

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  14. Hello Sky Princess:
    Thank you for your comment. If you knew how much china and silver we had that cannot go in the DW you'd understand why one requires staff when the table seats more than six!
    Reggie

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  15. Oh but I do understand Reggie Darling, darling. I wash all my china and sterling by hand also, and I rarely let anyone help. However, I am just jealous. I would love someone to serve the dishes, help with the cooking and clear the table. You are inspiring me!

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  16. Hello Sky Princess: It is relatively easy to find someone to help out at a dinner party, and relatively inexpensive, too. I find that having someone to help out lets me enjoy the party and my guests rather than having to work at it. Paying someone $15 an hour for four hours, plus tip, is well worth it, I believe.

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  17. I think you are right, plus what a help to the local economy.

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