Wine Cellar Dinner

*newly engaged, she couldn’t stop looking at her ring, can’t blame her*
*Booie did all the flowers, put the red roses on the sideboard, and glittered the orange roses*

While we’re all basically at home it’s fun to move the dinner venue around. Husband’s Covid project has been installing a wine cellar and tasting room in our basement, and recently I hosted an intimate dinner down there, even though the project is on-going. (will Covid ever end?)

*I made short ribs over polenta, added Pellegrino as the cooking liquid instead of tap water for best-tasting polenta ever*

*simple green salad and scratch bread. lots of white votives*

*chocolate cake with champagne, always a good combination*

There were seven of us, so we moved chairs, linens, flowers, candles, speakers, even small serving tables downstairs. The chocolate cake was staged on a small table. I cooked and plated everything in the kitchen proper, short ribs over polenta, simple green salad.

With Valentine’s Day on the weekend horizon, I’m all about eating dinner in, and maybe throwing a curve ball with where the table is laid. Short ribs are a perfect make ahead entrée, as is chocolate cake.

*Ethan and Lindsey had just become engaged*

*Elizabeth turned twenty-two, Will serenaded her at the piano*

*Sarah was interim creative director and put together a great little playlist*

The night you see here we had so much to celebrate, Ethan and Lindsey had just become engaged, it was New Year’s Eve, and Elizabeth’s twenty-second birthday. Dinner in the wine cellar was just the thing to make it all feel special.

*Bill has been working on this room since last year, slow work in progress, worth every minute*

*Peanut doing a little tasting while home for the holidays*

*three of the girls at the tasting table*

*Ethan and Bill sharing good conversation* *at the tasting table that we transformed into a romantic little dining room for the evening*

Table could be anywhere, the bedroom, the living room, or outdoors on a blanket, weather permitting. It’s simply about adding a touch of novelty, a small hint of surprise.