#dinner-party

#dinner-party

Emily Carter is a restaurant server and self-proclaimed "wine nerd" who lives in Lanier Heights with her cat, Hufflepuff.She's been in her one-bedroom, one-bath, 650-square-foot rental for a little over a year.Carter's space is filled with plants, peel-and-stick wallpaper, and art."I wanted a space that was a direct reflection of myself and a way to express my personal style and who I am," she says.

The market report from where I am (Los Angeles): Winter citrus is here, hallelujah.Stalls are piled with mandarins, many with stems and leaves attached.Satsumas are back, easy-peeling and sweet-tart, as are their cousins, the miniature two-bite Kishus, amazing little fruits.And oranges.Juicy navels are in full swing, and blood oranges with their flesh and skin the color of a sunset, their red juice almost tropical have finally arrived.

The way I entertain is to find one dish I can prepare and stick with it for 10 years.In the '60s, it was ravioli from Raffetto's on Houston Street, which I liked because somebody else made it.In the '70s, it was cold curried chicken with oranges, which could be made in advance.I am not much of a cook and even less a confident one.

Niche Niche is closing at the end of January, after nearly four years as a dinner party-style restaurant, and will be replaced by one of Rome's hottest destinations, Roscioli.The MacDougal Street restaurant from Ariel Arce - behind Tokyo Record Bar and Air's Champagne Parlor - invites new hosts daily, pulling in wine heavy hitters from places like Frenchette, Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, and Ci Siamo - up to 300 a year - with a goal of connecting New Yorkers to new and often unusual wines, and each other.

The key to a great dinner party isn't just an amazing host, and excellent food, sometimes it can be a bunch of impressive barware as well!Picking the right barware is always a task - since it needs to be elegant, functional, sophisticated, and yet super practical.And this is where the award-winning product design company Sempli swoops in!

How and why did Katherine Mansfield provoke such violent extremes of admiration and hostility, both during her life and after it?Fifty years after her death, the BBC television series A Picture of Katherine Mansfield gave a fair example of her reputation in 1973.Tall, intense Vanessa Redgrave played Mansfield; short, baffled Annette Crosbie her devoted dogsbody friend Ida Baker (known as LM), with Jeremy Brett as Mansfield's husband John Middleton Murry taking off his glasses whenever he had to express emotional inadequacy which was frequently.

What were once markers of sophistication, devils on horseback have fallen out of favour.But the evocatively named dish of toothpick-skewered, bacon-wrapped prunes has a history stretching back to the 19th century.Variations exist in France, England and the US, from spiced oysters in place of fruit  angels on horseback; to pastry-wrapped wieners  little pigs in blankets.

A stunning main or side dish, this whole roasted cauliflower is tender, delicious, and simple to make.A quick harissa sauce adds bold flavor.Let's make a whole roasted cauliflower!This veggie "roast" might be my all-time favorite dish to make for a dinner party or a holiday meal.It's simple (the oven does most of the work for you!), it can pass as a main dish for some folks and as a side for others, and it looks so impressive at the center of the table.