With Halloween falling on a Wednesday this year, I didn’t really feel like throwing a festive Halloween party for grownups like I did a few years ago when it fell on a weekend. It’s a lot of work to host and clean up after a party on a worknight! Plus, my friends all have schoolchildren and would need to be home supervising trick or treating, so it was unlikely they could attend.
So instead, I decided to throw a Magical Evening of Fabulous Women party – my second time hosting this type of gathering in three years. I chose a pre-Halloween October Saturday night. I invited eighteen interesting, intriguing, kind and enchanting women to the party, giving them four weeks notice to find room on their busy calendars.
I have a very, very small dining room here in my Woodinville home, so when I throw dinner parties that need to seat more than six people, I have to improvise. I set up two folding tables upstairs, and one downstairs, and covered them with colorful autumn tablecloths. (At the last minute I realized I didn’t own a second burgundy cloth, so improvised with an orange damask Halloween tablecloth from Target. I decided to act like the garish color combination was on purpose!)
I reluctantly set up some folding chairs (ugly and uncomfortable) and brought in my Pier 1 turquoise outdoor wicker chairs to fill in. I brought out as many beaded, sparkly, glittery placemats and napkin rings as I could find, and used my antique Hazel Atlas amethyst plates mixed in with modern gold ones from Z Gallerie.
Since I don’t have matching dishes, linens, or wine and water glasses for such a large crowd, I purposely mixed and matched things, hoping I was giving off a colorful Bohemian, whimsical, fanciful vibe.
I displayed the evening’s dessert – an autumn harvest themed swirl cake from a local bakery – on the orange tablecloth upstairs.
After guests arrived and got a look at it, I whisked the cake back into the fridge for a while so the frosting wouldn’t melt in my warm, fire-lit living room.
I’d planned to pair the cake with DeLille’s 2017 rosé, but a guest arrived who doesn’t care for white or red wine, so I opened the bottle to pour a glass for her, and then several other guests asked for a pour too. There went the bottle!
I planned to request that my guests move to a different table for each course. That way everyone could meet new people at the party, rather than sit by the same five other ladies all evening.
Our menu included the best potato leek soup I’ve ever had; an autumn harvest salad; a chicken dish for the meat eaters and portobello mushroom for the vegetarians; with a pumpkin panna cotta served in martini glasses for the dessert course.
This required a bit of work to carry everyone’s silverware, water and wine glasses to the next table, and not all guests played along and moved. (I think a few ladies felt too comfortable by the fire!)
I selected Sparkman Cellars’ “Wilderness” and Martedi’s incredible Sangiovese for my downstairs guests’ first pours.
I knew my guests would be quite thirsty as the meal commenced and the night wore on, so I also set out wine from Lord Lion (Woodinville’s newest tasting room), from Market Vineyards, and reluctantly prepared to open and give away my 2014 Barbera from Martedi.
I used unscented candles on my tables so they wouldn’t compete with the food and wine.
My upstairs guests at the gold and purple table began with a Grenache from Tertulia Cellars, and luscious red wines from Beaumont Cellars and Sightglass Cellars.
I pulled out some other Woodinville wine bottles to save for the ladies who would come downstairs during the entree course. I planned to serve a Pinot Noir from Panther Creek, and Isenhower Cellars’ Jongleur.
Panther Creek is one of Woodinville’s newest tasting rooms (along with Ryan Patrick/Milbrandt and Lord Lion Winery). They are an Oregon winery specializing in, of course, Pinot Noir wines.
For the ladies who arrived at the party first, I poured glasses of Market Vineyards’ Red Mountain 2013 wine.
Isenhower’s Jongleur is a 2015 Petit Verdot. Not everyone appreciates a Petit Verdot, so I tried to pour it just for ladies with a more developed wine tasting palate.
I wanted to remember to mention that the caterer I used for this party (and for all my dinner parties!) was Green Apple Catering. They do such a fabulous job, are super easy to work it, priced fairly, and my guests rave about the food they serve us. I also appreciated the owner calling me and taking time to develop a special autumn harvest menu that took our vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free guests into consideration!
Happy holidays,
-Carrie
