Italian Dinner Party Menu with Lovely Friends

This Italian Dinner Party Menu can be served year round for a lovely party.

I love my beautiful girlfriends, especially when they are in the kitchen. It warms my spirit to see their hands busy with food and drink and making everyone happy around them. They recently came together and created the most delicious Italian dinner party menu, for my birthday!

I love experiencing home cooked meals in other homes than mine! So this was a very fun night for me. To be honest, I get really tired of eating my own cooking. So it’s a treat to see how others set the table, use their own creativity and design, and come up with fabulous menus.

Entertaining is a lost art. Period. It’s true, some people still invite guests into their home. But the majority? Nope.

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For some reason, we think I attract those who like to entertain, because my husband and I never get caught in the cycle of “always having the party at our house.” We get invited out a lot, and we feel very blessed to have so many talented and gracious friends.

Lady friends are the ones that really make it happen though. I have groups and pockets of friends all over, and I love how when we are together, we weave special moments of catching up, reminiscing, sharing recipes and talking a lot about our family and faith, and lives.

Recently we all came together in Jenny’s home. But I watched how everyone’s hands were involved from flowers to the food.

Years ago, Jenny and I both bought the same Dollar Tree water goblets. So between us, I think we have about 100 of them. They never break. They are as sturdy as an ox. We also have the same olive green tinted Dollar Tree wine glasses! So pretty!

She and Kristi went searching in our friend’s yard for beautiful flowers to display on her tabletop. (Good idea!) And used the repurposed can method that I’ve written about here on RE.

The party was a milestone birthday for me, so I was blessed beyond words. I sat back and soaked it all in – every word, smile, laugh, tear. It was a perfect night.

What draws me to people is their genuine, authentic spirit, and with this group of friends, even as cracked pots, our flaws and weaknesses, when we come together for a dinner party, we listen and love.

We love, reach down deep for moments in our lives that define us, (sometimes we have to dig deep), and we tell stories of where we’ve been and where we are today.

It’s not the experiences that make us real. It’s the ability to be honest and share our lives with others. Which all comes back to entertaining, and having people around our tables for food and talk.

On this night, I couldn’t have asked for any more than the love that flowed in vast supplies.

It was rich and sweet and warm.

And I was blessed.

Do you think entertaining has become a lost art?

Jenny’s Italian Dinner Party Menu …

Appetizers:
Watermelon Feta Bites
Stuffed Mushrooms
Brie with fruit
Caprese Salad

Main Course:
Several green salads & bread
Meat and Sausage Lasagna
Vegetarian Manicotti with White Cream Sauce
Baked Rigatoni with Artichoke, Spinach and Pesto

Desserts:
Key Lime Pie
Tres Leche Caramel Cake