The Dinner Party Diaries: I’m Starting Dinner Parties as a Full-Time Traveler

Starting dinner parties has been something my husband and I have talked about for awhile.

We love cooking and we love entertaining, but we’re also on the road full-time.

But we really didn’t want that to stop us from being able to make friends and start connecting over good food.

We’ve loved the times we’ve had people over to our Airbnbs in Mexico for charcuterie and Thai curry, or Portugal with homemade fries and burgers and lots of spicy mayo. And we wanted to make that something we did regularly, not just one off occassions.

Now I was pretty hesitant to start this.

It felt like a bit of a commitment to open up my space throughout the month and hope that the evening turned out well. So I decided to start small.

I’d have a couple people over at a time and just get used to entertaining people on a more regular basis. And on top of that, I’d figure out recipes that people would legit like but wouldn’t take me hours of prep time.

Oh, and did I mention my doctor has me on a very strict anti-inflammatory diet?

That just means no dairy, no gluten, no sugar, no processed foods, and no pre-prepped canned or jarred foods. So I had to figure out dishes that wouldn’t be a bore to my guests.

And it actually wasn’t so hard!

I’ve found being on this diet has made me a lot more creative, and I’ve enjoyed playing with spices and ingredients that would work well together.

Here are a few dinner party dishes I’ve served so far:

• Brown Rice with Carmelize Chickpeas: Spiced with cumin and cinnamon, the satisfyingly crunchy chickpeas were a nice contrast to the steaming fluffy brown rice.
• Sweet Potato Red Lentil Soup: This one was a bit tricky, but not difficult. I had to make my own chicken broth since anything pre-made was a no go. So I just slowly simmered a chicken frame, a whole head of garlic, and salt for a few hours (tastes amazing). Then once it was finished, I put it in a blender with the cooked sweet potato, lentils, and spices and created a smooth and comforting soup.
• Garlicky Spiced Chicken Thighs: Chicken thighs are always a great go-to. They’re easy to cook and don’t dry out easily.
• Apple granita: I got this super easy idea from SauccEats on Youtube, but basically you freeze an apple and then shave it into a bowl as an icy dessert. Then you pair it with apple that’s been cooked with honey, cinnamon, salt, and water, and it makes for this amazing contrast between hot and cold, delicate and dense texture.

And I’m happy to report that these dishes were a hit. I got near instant compliments so as you can guess, this was one of the things that encouraged me to keep going with dinner parties. 😂

While it hasn’t been perfect, opening up our home has allowed us to have incredible conversations, share good food with good company, and start making new friends.

So I’ll keep you updated as things progress with new recipes, new stories, new people and new locations.

Talk soon. ♥️

PS – You can do this too! It’s a great way to meet new people and enjoy incredible recipes.