This image from Livet Hemma looks exactly like a Strawberry-Rhubarb Milkshake I devised years ago when I was monkeying around with rhubarb and strawberries, which are full-tilt right now. It got me hankering for one, and reminded me what an unexpected and delightful dessert they make for dinner parties. So I thought I’d share how to make it…
Read Moremanny howard’s dinner party, a hurricane sandy antidote
Yesterday had us jumping all over the web checking out reports of Hurricane Sandy, including the startling report on Manny Howard‘s startling FB page about a Brooklyn chicken coop being mauled by the storm. (As you may remember from My Empire of Dirt: How One Man Turned His Big-City Backyard into a Farm, Manny’s fledgling chicken coop was…
Read Moredinner party goody bags
Recently, I was a guest at a dinner party hosted by architect Page Goolrick. She not only designs beautiful spaces, but lighting (for Nessen) and cool desk accessories (for MOMA), and shawls (for Takashimaya). At the end of an evening being wonderfully fed and welcomed by Page, each guest received a goody bag filled with treasures…
Read Morethe thrills and miracles of ‘mystery’ wine dinner parties
It’s exciting to open mystery wines that promised to be great once but have languished so long, it’s impossible to know if there’s something delicious inside. When one proves to be lovely, it’s like a little miracles has arrived.
Read MoreItalian Pot Roast (Fast, Freezable, Perfect for Dinner Parties)
The Italian pot roast I had many years at a dinner party has haunted me ever since, lurking in my memory as pure deliciousness. It is perfect for entertaining: it can be made ahead only has to be reheated to be wonderful. It you call it by its Italian name, it tastes even better.
Read MoreStage a Rooftop Party with Modest Means
When Ikea’s Livet Hemma posted this compelling image of rooftop party preparations, we ran the Swedish description through our language translator to discover that Ikea’s copywriters left out the best parts for DIYing a rooftop space.
Read MoreMystery Wine Dinner Parties + an “Off” Wine Improv
When friends ask, “What can we bring?” to my dinner parties, lately, I’ve been asking them to bring the “mystery” bottles of wines languishing in their “wine cellars”. Those are the bottles that promised to be great —once; since they’ve languished for years, it’s impossible to say if there’s something delicious inside, or a wine that’s past its…
Read Moresummer tubing party: out-there al fresco entertaining
This photo of members of the Seattle Tubing Society in full float made us WANT to be invited to a tubing party. If we were near a river or lake, we’d give one ourselves…What could be more delightful than lazily bobbing along with friends on a warm summer day? It seems that tubing parties…
Read Moreformula for cheap, fab, chic dinner parties
Wine writer Anthony Giglio, who entertains a lot and gives some of the BEST dinner parties we’ve ever been to, alerted us to Broke and Chic Projects “The Top Ten Rules for Throwing a Thrifty & Super Fabulously Chic Dinner Party Every Time You Entertain“. In his email, Anthony wrote: “Number 5 being the quote…
Read MoreMagic Trick: Divine Ice Cream Made In a Plastic Bag
At a dinner party New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield attended last summer, one of the hosts served ice cream that had the mind-blowing effect of a magic trick. Here’s how, with a recipe.
Read MoreEase and Many Pleasures in a Cookbook Pot-Luck
Our clever friend Fran Black’s brilliant innovation of the traditional pot-luck dinner party model where guests are asked to bring a dish to forge an entire meal, yielded a to-die-for party that felt like Sicily.
Read MoreEarl Gray Tea (and Other) Butter Cookies
When I want a dessert for a dinner party, I often turn to this recipe for delectable, melt-in-your-mouth cookies fragrant with butter and the caramel flavors of light brown sugar and Earl Gray tea, with its citrusy-floral scent.
Read MoreSublime (and Easy): Seven Hour “Spoon” Lamb
One of my favorite chilly-weather dishes is also the homeliest-looking. But a leg of lamb cooked seven hours unattended when I’m home working elicits sighs and raves at a dinner party that night, and sublime leftovers in the days that follow.
Read MorePlum and Cherry Tart with Thyme + other fast tart improvs
Ellen Silverman, who LOVES to improvise radically on my recipes, recently posted her iteration of my Improvisational Fresh Fruit Tart Formula on Instagram: a sensational Plum Cherry Tart with Thyme. She said it was a huge HIT at her dinner party. Made with lush summer fruits, freeform fruit tarts are the perfect summer dessert (though you can make it all year round). Here’s the simple formula:
Read MoreOilcloth (Not PVC) Makes a Surprisingly Cool, Wipe-Clean Tablecloth that Protects Your Wood Table
When the mid-century wood table I set up for dining and work took a hit from a spilled glass of water, I cast about for a protective everyday solution that wouldn’t look like plastic. I found it in old-fashioned oilcloth…
Read MoreSea Change Can Be Contagious (Susan Dworski, W.S. Merwin)
In posts and emails, I shared the questions fueling Improvised Life’s new architecture and many changes. Among the deeply affirming messages I received from readers, the most interesting was from long-time contributor Susan Dworski. She wrote of the contagious aspect of this sea change.
Read MoreWines to Drink with Junk Food from Chitos to Pork Rinds (Anthony Giglio)
Wine writer Anthony Giglio was the first to really consider what wines to drink with the junk food so many secretly love. So we compiled a list of “the best of” his solid pairings, and the illuminating thinking behind them.
Read MoreHow to Do Almost Nothing on Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend is the real start of summer in our minds. And our minds are full of ideas for simple pleasures and ramblings, whether home or away.
Read MoreSimple Best: Brown Sugar Lightning Cake
About the simplest and best cake recipe I learned in my long cooking career is “lightning cake”: eggy, tender and fragrant with a fine texture that belies its ease. Recently a reader shouted out: “Hey Sally, why don’t you post the Brown Sugar Lightening Cake on Improvised Life?”, so here it is.
Read MoreWrite Guest’s Names On Their Glasses (And Save Your Sanity)
One of the simplest, hottest tips for holiday entertaining can be done with what you’ve got on hand and will cut down on busy work and stress.
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