We hosted a dinner party at our house last night on behalf of our kids’ school. It was a day of prep and cooking, and we couldn’t have done it without Jim’s nephew, Robert, who was a tremendous help.

Here is our dining room:

dining room

We served the following:

Thai Pumpkin Soup with Homemade Gougeres (unfortunately, all I have is a photo of the gougeres) plus a lesson learned: forgetting to set the timer results in seared gougeres, which are NOT edible (fortunately, I made a double batch):

Dungeness Crab served on top of Un-Crab Cakes (the un-crab cakes are made with hearts of palm), and another lesson learned when you marry a Washington state native–Dungeness crab is the best crab in the world:

un-crab crab cakes

Asian Duck Cassoulet served with Asian citrus salad

Asian duck cassoulet

and, finally, Chocolate Pots de Crème served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream

Chocolate Pots de Creme

We had a really fun time cooking the meal. (Straightening up the house enough so that it was fit for company wasn’t quite as entertaining, but it was necessary.) All in all, I think it was a successful dinner!