Jennifer welcomed guests with ouzo and Greek appetizers
It is a real thrill to have a progressive dinner when everyone lives within walking distance. What better place for that than downtown?
At the end of this post, we’ll share some tips we’ve learned about how to have a great progressive dinner. But first, come along to a downtown version a bunch of us had just last Thursday. Cheers!
Our theme was Greek food. We started at Ryan’s Row, across the street from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, at the home of Jennifer Holder. We met there at 5 p.m. for ouzo (or wine, if you couldn’t handle ouzo) and Greek appetizers.
It tastes like licorice. Yuk! But some tried it.
From left: Bill Lyons, Hannah Parker and Michele Hummel get the evening off to a good start
Almonds, stuffed apricots and stuffed grape leaves were among the appetizers.
Hannah arrived with a cute new haircut!
Gay had a serious corkscrew, which was put to good use!
The orzo salad was fantastic
Tzatziki, which features cooling cucumber and yogurt, was wonderful on bread
Bill introduced us to Caesar, a very big (and sweet) tabby cat
Baklava and other sweets
Mickey lived in Greece for two years. She said this was a very popular dessert: cut-up fruit, yogurt and honey
I loved Mickey's glasses. Of course we had more wine!
Gay gives Bill the look of love over dessert!
Our dessert hostess
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Have a theme. This was our second downtown progressive dinner. Last time our theme was French food. This time it was Greek. A theme helps hold the evening together. But it doesn’t have to be a country. When summer comes, we are planning to have one that requires all courses to feature food from the Market Square Farmers’ Market. Holidays are good themes, as are seasons.
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Limit the number of courses. We have found that we like to keep the evening to three courses on a week night and four on a weekend. We like our pace to be leisurely. On the Internet, we found recipes for progressive dinners running as many as six courses, but some of the stops lasted as few as 20 minutes. We think that’s too frenetic. We like to stay each place about an hour.
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Make the evening walkable, if possible. This was the most fun of all. You get to really know your neighborhood – in this case, downtown. You also don’t have to worry about having a designated driver.
We’ll probably have another progressive dinner in a couple of months. Please post any suggestions or tips you have discovered – especially if you have any suggestions for dishes or recipes that work well for being held until guests arrive.
Photo credit: the last two photos are by Jennifer Holder. Thanks!
Looks like a fun and delicious night!
Love progressive dinners, and this one looks like it was big fun! We hired the downtown trolley once for a special progressive dinner. Eliminated our concerns about progressively drinking more wine. Gay, I’d love to have that orzo salad recipe. It looks seriously yummy.
Can’t wait for the next one. Tips for holding dishes until “your” course: a warming drawer is helpful, and the microwave is a handy place to hide ourzo salad from a cat. Caesar will be so excited to be in the Blue Streak. We’ll tell him when he wakes up from his mid-day nap.
It was a great time. Lots of terrific food and fun with good folks. Can’t wait for the next one!
Melinda–here you go.
Orzo Salad
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
About 3/4 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette (below)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.
Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.
Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired.
Thanks, Gay! I love The Blue Streak!!!
It was a great evening. Can’t wait for the next one.
Downtown does this better than anywhere. So many stages, so many themes, and good company.
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