Entertaining 101
If you’ve never thrown a dinner party before — or if you’ve given it the old college try, and could use a refresher course — here are six ways to pull it off with ease and avoid winding up stressed in the company of friends (or neighbors, or coworkers, or strangers-to-be-impressed).
Setting the Dinner Party Table
It’s not about pretension — the most expensive serving platter, a high-priced wine, or even whether you serve filet mignon or skirt steaks. It’s more about the way you offer the meal that can ease guests, giving them everything they need in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Victuals & Vittles: The Humble Weblog
Quick recipes and ideas, wine notes, and random musings from the HG staff. This blog is updated several times a week, so please come back and visit in between our monthly editions.
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Underground (Guerrilla?) Restaurants
0 comments | August 27, 2008
Butcher a boar? Sample a four-course meal crafted with local ingredients in the comfort of a stranger’s home? Meet like-minded foodies? In the “anti-restaurants” cropping up around the country, you can do just that, a NYT piece explains.
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Paul Jacqueson Rully 1er Cru Pucelles 2006
0 comments | August 22, 2008
To shed some light on a father-and-son team that has spent the last 70 years toiling the earth and ending each day with good food and wine: Why can’t we extend the same luxury to ourselves?
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Your Vote Matters: Which Comfort Food Should Food Bloggers Dish Up?
11 comments | August 18, 2008
I’ll be facing off with 4 other Washington-area food bloggers in Battle Comfort Food — and we want to know what dish YOU think is the perfect fit.
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Tackling the Tomato
1 comments | August 14, 2008
I’ve been kicking it with the tomato like Bruce Lee.
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How to Avoid Food Poisoning While Traveling
2 comments | August 12, 2008
I travel quite a bit to random and far-off places, and I am proud to state that the only time I’ve had the misfortune of food poisoning was from a bad chicken wing in DC.
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Sylvain Pataille Marsannay Clos du Roy '05
0 comments | August 2, 2008
I imagine most of you are on some extravagant vacation and care little to hear about the business of wine at this moment, but for the diligent ones who want to ensure their fall meals are amply enriched by perplexing aromas, tune in.
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Episode VII: Beer and Pizza: It's Not Just for Frat Boys Anymore
0 comments | August 1, 2008
Three choices for a beer-pizza love affair: late-night mischief, a quick afternoon slice ‘n’ pint, and a homemade grilled pizza with company.
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The Wine Leading the Blind: All Things Burgundy, and Kir Royales
2 comments | August 1, 2008
We’d be remiss to leave out mention of the region’s famous kir and kir royale, widely served as a gratis aperitif cocktail in restaurants across Paris and Dijon.
In This Issue:
Humble Gourmand Recipes
- Green Beans with Compound Butter
- These lemony, lip-smacking beans were tested on the most discriminating of audiences: small children. The result? Clean plates.
- Apple Tarts with Honey and Chocolate Sauces
- Pears would also work swimmingly in these delightful, rustic tarts.
The Wine Leading the Blind
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- Trapiche Oak Cask Malbec '05
- A versatile wine to deliver to your host
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- Chateau de Chasseloir Muscadet Sevre et Maine '06
- Dry, briny, refreshing, simple…
The Humble Reviewer
- Romero Restaurant (Amman)
- The Jordanians know what they’re doing with food
- Belga Café (DC)
- The incredibly popular Capitol Hill joint gets high marks for an afternoon of savory and sweet
- Bice (DC)
- The shiny new Italian spot, with its pleasant culinary offerings, needs a little work