Baby's First Dinner Party

Guys, I've taken a very big step in the development of my womanhood.  I (co)hosted my very first dinner party!  My friend Sydney was housesitting for a friend all month, and to return the favor, he green-lighted a girls' night at his place.  Now, Sydney calls me her "domestic role model," so needless to say I laughed when she suggested we have a party with food. "I'll make the drinks!" she piped, her mind already on sangria. Shrugging it off, I agreed to make dinner.  As the party neared, however, I panicked. Reading MarthaStewart.com with great fervor, I was inspired by a grilled white pizza with arugula.  It reminded me of a similar pizza at one of my favorite DC restauraunts, Cafe Deluxe.  It was simple and summery, which was important because Sydney had already sent out an invitation declaring the dress code to be sundresses.

Before you get too excited, though, I'll tell you I didn't actually grill the pizza like Martha said.  I packed up my pizza stone and peel in a grand effort to finally master it.  (I realized that last time I just didn't heat the stone long enough or at a high enough temperature beforehand.)  I didn't do the toppings exactly like Martha either because I thought it might be fun for everyone to make their own pizza.  I tried hard to keep the toppings unconventional and creative, though.  In addition to Martha's suggested fontina and arugula, I got different colored bell peppers, fresh basil, goat cheese (huge hit), prosciutto, salami, and I even sliced up a sweet potato.  No one was terribly excited about the sweet potato, but that actually tasted pretty good, too.  For the crust and sauce (which we only used on some pizzas) Sydney and I went to our favorite neighborhood Italian deli, Vace.  They make everything there (even pasta!) so we just got a bunch of homemade dough, plus the imported meat.

All in all, this meal was a success.  The food was good, the company was good, and the whole ordeal was surprisingly stress-free.  I'm definitely feeling more confident after completing this rite of passage.  All I need now is a big-girl job, and I'll be a real woman!

Read more about Sydney, and her reviews of DC's best happy hours on her blog, The Bottomless Mimosa.