And it was so lovely...

We started with crostini in the living room. Roasted beet, grainy mustard, crispy brussels sprout leaves, maldon, and maple syrup.

No one cared that I didn’t iron the cocktail napkins.
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For our first course, I served savory baked apples, which were really something special. Roasted with butter, then filled with a mixture of bacon, pecans, rice, herbs, caramelized shallot, garlic, sharp cheddar, and cranberries, then roasted again. Served atop sweet potato puree and garnished with fried sage.
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Next up was pork loin roast, which was brined overnight with garlic, rosemary, and pink peppercorn (After reading Salt Fat Acid Heat by Ciao Samin, I am motivated to preseason all meat always).

I used the drippings to make a buttery red wine pan sauce and served the pork with mushy peas and roasted carrots with lemon and herbs.

It’s appropriate that this china pattern by Myott Staffordshire is called “Forget Me Not” because this is a meal that we won’t soon forget. 

And of course, dessert

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I prepped everything a day in advance, and the puds dried out just a little bit during the reheating process (if only I had a steam injection oven). So I submerged each one in the pot of hot toffee sauce for a couple minutes so they could become completely saturated. Problem solved.