Welcome to my new series, Dinner Stories: The Triumphs and Travails of hosting!

In this series, I’ll be taking you behind the scenes of the dinner parties I throw in my own home. I’ll be sharing tips and tricks on how to make your dinner parties elegant yet easygoing, with all of my best recipes to make for a crowd. So without further ado, here is the inaugural post for Dinner Stories – Pistachio!

THE THEME

The theme for March 2025 was Pistachio. When I was first brainstorming themes, I had initially thought of Irish food, St. Patrick’s day, etc. Those ideas were all a little too on the nose for me, but I really fell in love with the idea of a green theme. It was after I picked up a pint of Van Leeuwen’s pistachio ice cream that I came up with the idea of having a pistachio dinner party. It was perfect! Pistachio is still green, but also the perfect jumping off point for sweet and savory dishes.

I also decided to make citrus as my sub-theme because 1. citrus are in season right now and SO delicious, and 2. because the sweetness and sharpness of citrus pair exceptionally well with pistachios. Plus, using mandarins as an inexpensive addition to my tablescape was so fun and seasonal!

THE TABLESCAPE

The pistachio tablescape was a healthy mix between thrifted, heirloom, and store-bought finds. I have to say, I was super proud of how everything turned out! The green and orange looked great together, with white and tan accents throughout. Here’s where I sourced everything:

• Green checkered tablecloth – thrifted
• Marble napkin rings – Amazon
• Napkins – Crate & Barrel
• Glass vase – thrifted
• Coupe martini glasses – Amazon
• Wine glasses – Crate & Barrel
• Water glasses – Amazon
• Green serving bowl – Crate & Barrel
• China serving platter – heirloom from my Granny
• Bread bowl – heirloom from my Granny
• Salad serving platter – Crate & Barrel
• Candle holders – Anthropologie
• Candles – World Market
• Green Plates – Home Goods

THE FOOD

Obviously pistachio was the star of this meal, but I didn’t want it to be overwhelming in the menu. With citrus as my sub-theme, it provided the perfect complement to the nuttiness and richness of pistachios. Here’s what I made:

Amuse-bouche: Baguette with Pistachio Honey Compound Butter

Sides: Arugula Salad with freshly-grated parm, lemon juice, olive oil, Maldon sea salt, roasted pistachios, and black pepper. Also served with a riff on my Winter Citrus Salad, this time made with pomelos, blood oranges, and tangelos, topped with olive oil, honey, salt, and roasted pistachios.

Entrée: Spicy Pistachio Pesto Pasta with fresh basil, microgreens, red pepper flakes, and freshly-grated parmesan.

Dessert: Pistachio Cream Tiramisu with amaretto, espresso, and white chocolate pistachio sabayon cream, topped with a dusting of cocoa powder.

THE DRINKS

My husband Jon has been really getting into mixology over the past few years, and he developed the cocktails for the evening. This is what we had:

• Mandarin Orange Martinis with Chopin vodka (our favorite)
• Espresso Martinis with coffee liqueur, decaf espresso, more Chopin vodka, and garnished with roasted coffee beans
• Gulp Hablo Orange Wine
• Francis Ford Coppola Claret (brought by my guests Kevin and Scott)

THE STYLE

I found the PERFECT pistachio green dress by Rue Sophie on Revolve on clearance (such an amazing score!). I paired it with these orange gem earrings from Amazon to complement the citrus sub-theme, plus my Cape Cod bracelet and Coach watch that my husband got me for my birthday!

THE MUSIC

No party is complete without music! I played songs by my favorite jazz artist, Jamie Cullum, all throughout dinner. It provided the perfect ambiance for the meal!

THE PREPARATION

The key for any successful dinner party is knowing what to prepare in advance, and what to make the day of. While this is definitely a skill that can be honed in time, there are several steps a beginner hostess or host can do to plan ahead. First and foremost is – write everything down! Having everything you need to do on one piece of paper helps your brain process the information so much better. And when I say everything, I mean literally everything. Don’t just write down the dishes you’re going to make, but write down the steps or elements of what needs to be done. For example, I made tiramisu for my pistachio dinner party, but tiramisu requires resting time overnight before it can be served. So, I wrote down that aspect of it when planning out the timing.

Another key tip is to write down all tasks that don’t have to do with food. Such as – set the table, finish your mise en place, create a music playlist, etc. Try to think of everything you’ll need to do before your guests arrive, including all of the nitty gritty details. Once you have a list of tasks, you can more easily divide them into manageable segments.

For my pistachio dinner party, here’s everything I did:

THREE WEEKS BEFORE

• Decide on a theme

TWO WEEKS BEFORE

• Plan out menu
• Look for inspiration on Pinterest
• Order/buy dinnerware or hosting items that I need

ONE WEEK BEFORE

• Test recipes that I haven’t made before
• Write down everything I need to do
• Make a grocery shopping list
• Make a task list
• Start cleaning my house
• Tablescape dress rehearsal – I laid everything out on the table as if I was setting it for my guests. This helped me determine what would look best with everything, and plan out the dinnerware I wanted to use.

TWO DAYS BEFORE

• Buy groceries
• Tidy house, vacuum, etc.
• Make sure all dishes are washed and ready

ONE DAY BEFORE

• Buy flowers
• Prep pistachio pesto
• Prep tiramisu
• Juice citrus and dehydrate citrus slices for cocktails
• Last-minute house cleaning

THE DAY OF

• Set the table
• Arrange the flowers (this can also be done the day before)
• Allocate time for one more last-minute grocery store run (it always happens)
• Mise en place – getting all ingredients/element prepared (such as chopping pistachios, cutting citrus, etc.) so that they’re ready to use when my guests arrive
• Cook everything!

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this first installment of Dinner Stories. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, let me know below! See you next time! :) 

P.S.

For more plant-forward recipes and New England lifestyle inspiration, be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok! If you make a recipe, please tag me in the photo and use the hashtag #wellandfull so I can see! I love seeing your creations!