Learn-to-Cook Dinner Party Menu

The husband and I recently hosted our first dinner party; well, other than having family over for Thanksgiving, that is. When we bought out condo over a year ago, we chose our floorplan for the reason that it is a great home to entertain in. When we were renting a home, the husband and I used to tour model homes for fun, and we'd often stop by the condo community we now own in and visit "our" model. I'd sit on the couch, wistfully looking at the huge entertaining kitchen and cute patio, and tell the husband to buy the condo for me. He'd sigh and agree that it was nice, but that we probably couldn't afford to buy since we live in the sky high real estate market that is Southern California. But then the market tanked, real estate dove off a cliff, and we needed to move; fate smiled upon us and we became home owners.

Well, it's been over a year, and like I said, other than hosting Thanksgiving for both of our families this year (which went so well!), we haven't entertained the way we planned when we bought our home. So when a friend from work asked if I'd teach her to cook, and wanted to do it at my place, I jumped at the chance. The one-to-one cooking lesson quickly turned into an 8 person dinner party, with the invitation of 2 more co-worker friends and all of our husbands. I was nervous planning the event, but the whole thing worked out really well and everyone raved about the food. I also got to play with my friend's adorable two-year-old daughter, which was a highlight of the evening for me. :)

Anyway, being that I was trying to teach people to cook, while also get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour, and be a good hostess, I forget to take any pictures of the event itself. Don't worry I did get some shots of the food, but none of my friends and I workin it in the kitchen. :( I did however create a packet of the evening's recipes for each girl to take home and re-create in her own kitchen; it's the teacher in me.

The following is the evening's menu; I will be posting each of the recipes throughout the week:

Apps
Hot spinach and artichoke dip
Hummus with pita chips (Store bought)
Sliced veggies
Guacamole
Chips and salsa (store bought)

Dinner
Oven-roasted cauliflower & broccoli with mushrooms
Red, white and bleu mashed potatoes
Cous Cous
Parmesean stuffed chicken breasts

Dessert
Chocolate cupcakes