Progressive Dinner

If you like fun people, incredible food, and creative cocktails, you should live in my neighborhood.  

There is little privacy, blurred boundaries, and lots of sharing.  Forget about a quiet night sipping a glass of wine in the backyard with your husband- the neighbors hear you, smell your wine, and typically open the gate and grab a glass from the kitchen.  Okay, not ALL the time, but often enough, and we like it that way.  We spend an unbelievable amount of time with our crew in the 'hood and they have become like our family.  Our kids roam back and forth with a freedom not known to many in this day and age and the parents lean on each other for fun, friendship, support, childcare, and quite often, food.  

Yeah, you read that right.  

Food.  

We all enjoy eating, cooking and creating meals together and our children are often the lucky recipients of neighborhood breakfast bars before school (seriously), afternoon snacks, and many weekends that stretch from lunch to dinner (and quite often into late night nibbles- you know who you are "Mr. Two Dozen Scrambled Eggs in my Kitchen at 2 am because it's a German Tradition" fellow) and we wouldn't have it any other way.   

So, to mix things up a bit we decided to do a progressive dinner with five families and it was seriously impressive.  And it might up your game just a touch when a professional chef is part of the mix.  Anyway, I had to share the results because these peeps knocked it out of the park and it was so delicious, so fun, and I was blown away by the effort that was made.

Here's a peek...

Stop #1

Our House

Truffle Mac 'n Cheese and Martini's

Stop #2

Chef Mark and Elizabeth's House

A crazy shot of Jager and Redbull to start things off

Empanadas (see description below- amazing!!)

St. Innocent Pinot Noir

Stop #3

LME's Crab Louie with Belgian Endive

I mean, look at that!!!  

Two colors of endive?? 

 It was a seriously gorgeous dish.

Stop #4

The Howell's House

The Main Course

Cedar Plank Salmon, Couscous, and Sweet Baby Carrots

And I was so delighted to see one of my favorite wines being served- Talbott Pinot Noir, named after one of my all time favorite families on the planet.  This wine is not only incredibly delicious and pairs beautifully with salmon, but it brings back sweet memories of our dear Miss Sarah Talbott, her family, and the time we spent living in Monterey County, California.

Cheers to you "Miss Sah-wah"!  We miss you!

Now, where exactly are the food pics, you ask?  Right before the meal was served I had to run a bit of kid interference so I sat down a few minutes late and missed the photo opp, but trust me, this plate of food was gorgeous!

The cedar smell, the perfectly cooked salmon, the presentation- all perfecto and I was so bummed I missed the plating, but kid conflict called.

Bravo to The Howell's!

Stop #5

Dessert!

Chocolate cake, Strawberries, Homemade ice cream

 Prosecco

Bonus Bonfire and 80's Dance Party in the Driveway

Don't you wish you lived in my neighborhood?

I do!!

(FYI- no pictures of the dance party will be revealed.)

Does your neighborhood do this type of stuff?  I would love to hear from you!