52 Dinner Parties Project: A Retrospective

For now, we’re consolidating the best of those photos and captions here for your reading pleasure.
One man, fifty-two dinners
I've realized in recent years that few things bring me more joy than planning and hosting special meals for friends. While I really love the logistics of it all, it's about so much more for me than just putting together a guest list, planning a menu, and selecting a china pattern.
Taking the time to slow down and connect with one another is more important to me and to create and serve a meal in one's home is such a wonderful gift to be able to share with friends and neighbors. So in 2019, I decided that I would throw fifty two dinner parties. How I miss 2019.
I'll journaled throughout this process, recording menus and guest lists, cataloguing recipes, making note of successes and failures.
I established just a couple of parameters (no potlucks, for example) but did not want to limit myself. Some dinners were fancy, some very casual. Some had have many guests, while others were just for Bailey and me.
(Now, it's always for Bailey and me.)
Though I am a trained pastry chef, I am not a "chef" chef. I identify more as an enthusiastic home cook with a discerning palate and strong knife skills. I am confident in my strengths and honest about my weaknesses. There is always room for improvement, and this was a way of challenging myself as I continue to hone my skills as a cook, a baker, and most of all as a host!
This is the 52 Dinner Chronicles.
Thank you for revisiting this journey with me.
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