Last weekend, we had a relaxed Autumn dinner party. I wanted to share the dinner menu for 10 friends and the recipes. Also, a great everyday necklace, an outfit with burgundy and dark denim and the delicious pumpkin bread that my friend Joy made.
It’s Sunday Faves time with Annie and Cindy!
We had mismatched chairs and wine glasses but it didn’t matter…we still had fun! I set the table the day before.
Casually Elevated: Dinner Menu For 10
It was a team effort with me making the appetizers, salad and dessert (ahead of time), our son Tommy served the made to order drinks (like Old Fashioned cocktails), daughter-in-law Mona lit the candles, filled the water glasses (and took photos) and Howard did the grocery shopping and made the potatoes, roast and wine sauce.
Appetizer: Baked Feta With Mixed Pitted Olives Or Oven Roasted Tomatoes From Whole Foods
I put the baked cheese ramekins on a wooden board to serve outside by the fire pit.
This is a simple four ingredient appetizer that you can whip together and can’t really mess up! I assembled it earlier in the day.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- 16 oz. Block Feta Cheese cut in half and put into two ramekins
- Cover with 2/3 cup mixed pitted olives and oven roasted tomatoes (both from Whole Foods)
- Drizzle each ramekin with 1/2 lemon juice (then place quarters inside), extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp. chopped rosemary
- Bake for 25 minutes and serve hot with baguette toasts
Autumn Salad With Sliced Apples, Pomegranate Seeds And Crispy Prosciutto
I made this Autumn Salad with Lemon Shallot Viniagrette last year and decided to make it again.
Potatoes Au Gratin
Howard uses this recipe for his potatoes au gratin.
You may also like Best Holiday Potatoes: Cheesy Mashed Or Roasted Stacked.
Sliced Beef Tenderloin With Red Wine Sauce
Howard knows how to make a roast beef tenderloin by heart and says that this recipe is basically it. Use about 1/2 lb. per person. We tucked in rosemary sprigs from the garden.
This simple red wine reduction sauce with beef broth and butter is delicious. It’s easy to make and helps elevate a dish. He cooked his a little longer than the recipe to reduce it more.
Nutty Chocolate Sea Salt Tart — Gluten-Free
I shared the recipe to this tart last week here. We served it with vanilla bean ice cream topped with more chopped toasted nuts.
And that was our simple, casually elevated dinner menu for 10.
Winter Outfit — Burgundy And Dark Denim For Everyday
This really soft J. Crew burgundy sweater is 50% off! The rich color is going strong this season and will be nice to wear throughout the holidays.
I’m wearing a small, it’s slightly oversized with a classic white button down shirt from Ann Taylor. Time to stock up as it’s 40% off and comes in Petite, Regular and Tall.
I could wear this Orsay Charm Necklace everyday. It also looks nice layered. You can get 25% off site-wide with code EARLY25 until Nov. 20. Makes a nice gift.
The wide legged denim trousers are on sale (31% off now). I have a durable Mark & Graham navy tote (thank you, Lisa) that is a great size to carry my laptop and/or a light jacket. The chocolate leather boots are from Dolce Vita.
Burgundy “Dripless”Long Lasting Candles
For our dinner party, I put little glass plates under the candlesticks in case they dripped on to the textured runner. But after a long dinner, they didn’t. Here they are now…
So I will buy these long-lasting, dripless candles again!
Joy’s Delicious Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
I love the way Joy wrapped the gift she gave us simply in aluminum foil with a beautiful Fall ribbon.
She got the recipe here and everyone loved it in the morning with coffee. It’s moist with just the right about of spice.
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Cindy Hattersley Design
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Hello Mary Ann,
Soon as I saw the first photo I said to myself thank you Mary Ann for showing the different chairs used. For some reason I loved it. To me it’s real life and I’m sure how most of us entertain. We are used to seeing it looking perfect on Instagram and everything matching. It’s the people we are sharing the meal with that makes the event perfect. The food looks delicious and will definitely be printing out the recipes.
Thanks, Rita. Those little bistro chairs work all around the house!
Thank you for the dinner menu! Just moved to a new community, and I could really WOW them with this over the holiday season! Many are Midwesterners and LOVE their BEEF. Thanks again!
Good for you for putting yourself out there in a new community, Holly!
I love this menu and printed the recipes – yum!
You look fantastic and the sweater looks so comfy. Just a heads up though – it is not cashmere. It’s 56% polyamide/30% wool/10% alpaca/4% elastane.
Oh thanks for letting me know! It just feels like cashmere. I corrected the post.
Happy Sunday, MA! So many good things here … I’m clicking and pinning and it’s hard to keep up. First of all, your dinner … yum. Of course my mind goes straight to dessert and that nutty, chocolate, salted tart is speaking my language. Love your table setting and those gorgeous burgundy candles. Speaking of burgundy, your cashmere sweater is divine and I’m a fan of your dark wide leg denim. I really need a laptop sized tote, and it’s hard to miss with Mark & Graham. Your friend Joy’s wrapping is genius … I never thought to use pretty ribbon over foil wrap … but it’s fantastic. So fun seeing you and beautiful Mona entertaining together! xo
You are so sweet, Juliet.
Mary Ann! Your table looks beautiful, the menu sounds perfect from the appetizer to the dessert! Love that cardigan! And darling photo of you and Mona!
Xx
Thanks so much, Annie. Love your beautiful table.
Your menu sounds delicious! It’s so nice to have friends and family together.
I was surprised to read you have six siblings. I thought there was just the two of you. I was one of five girls. It made for a busy house but fun.
Actually I was one of six kids. FIVE girls…how fun. Like Little Women.
You have inspired me to have a fall dinner party !
Can you share how much tenderloin you need for ten guest ?
Planning on using this menu .
I’m the oldest of six girls so much fun my mom was super women for sure .
He got the tenderloin at Costco. I will ask Howard how much it weighed.
It was 5 lbs and he thinks around $160+ at Costco…so nice for a special occasion..