Welcome to another episode of Dinner Stories: The Triumphs and Travails of hosting! In this month’s episode, join me for a dinner party inspired by the Wild West, and the beauty of the American Prairie – a Little Soirée on the Prairie!

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This dinner party was inspired, surprisingly, by my trip to Spain and France earlier in June. I’ve traveled to Europe before, but I always miss home. It’s not just the superficial things I like to joke about, such as iced coffee or ubiquitous air-conditioning. But rather, there is something special about America and the people who live here.

I don’t want to get too political, but it’s no secret that our country is facing many, many issues right now, especially regarding immigration. The land we live on originally belonged to the Native American peoples. But the nation of America, for better or worse, was founded by immigrants, and populated by immigrants. And I think a huge point that people miss is that there’s a reason people want to immigrate to America! There’s a reason people risk their lives to try to make their way here. To deny that would be to deny their lived experience. And more often than not, two things can be true at once – America can have many sins to atone for, and many issues to face, but it can also be a symbol of hope and freedom for those who want a better life.

Coming back from Europe really made me reflect on what the United States of America represents, and why I’m grateful to be an American. I’m proud that people want to immigrate to my country. And while my Little Soirée on the Prairie was a light-hearted event, it was meant to honor the intended spirit of America that may have gone astray, but that I still hold out hope for. So without further ado, let’s get into the party :)

THE THEME

While the name of this dinner party is clearly a nod to Little House on the Prairie, I didn’t necessarily garner all of my inspiration from the books / show. First of all, because I’ve never read the books or seen the show :) But second, I had a very specific aesthetic in mind that I wanted to recreate.

When I was about 10 or 11, my family took a vacation out West, where we went to Big Sky, Montana, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, and Grand Teton National Park (among other locales). I have a very distinct memory from Big Sky, as we were walking down a main street going into shops. Even from just being on a road in the middle of the town, I could see so far into the distance. I had never seen a vista like that, and as a child it really felt like the sky was bigger there.

We also got to see the raw beauty of the American West throughout our trip. There was one evening my family did a sunset horseback ride cookout event. We rode horses down into a canyon, and had a cowboy-style cookout replete with cornbread, baked beans, and the like. Then we rode back up into the sunset. I remember so very vividly the orange glint of the sun reflecting on the wildflowers, with rolling hills of tall grass in the distance. That was the atmosphere I wanted to recreate.

THE TABLESCAPE

My plan was for the decor to be a combination of rustic, western, and homey. I’ve never been one to go so far into a theme that it becomes almost satirical, so restraint was key here. It was important to have a cowboy feel, without it seeming out of place in my home. So here’s where I got everything (Amazon links are affiliate):

• Hammered metal vase – thrifted
• Table runner – Amazon
• Napkin rings – Amazon
• Napkins – Crate & Barrel
• Water glasses – Marshall’s
• Wine glasses – Crate & Barrel
• Bowls – thrifted
• Blue floral plates – Marshall’s
• Candlesticks – thrifted
• Candle tapers – Amazon
• Faux Cowhide Rug/Blanket – Amazon

THE FOOD

Figuring out a way to make a menu that was…

1. Authentic to me and my cooking style
2. On theme
3. Actually tasty

…was a huge challenge!! Why? Because American pioneers and the inhabitants of the Wild West back in the day were NOT exactly eating the most delicious food. With food limited to what they could hunt, forage, or grow, there wasn’t a whole lot of culinary genius coming out of the West. So, I obviously did not make recipes that were 100% authentic to that time period.

That being said, I did take care to make things that pioneers and prarieans (I made up that word) would’ve eaten, like baked beans and pie. But of course I had to make my own Well and Full twist on them! So here’s what I made:

APPETIZERS

• Hardtack Crackers and Cheese – oh boy. If you don’t know what that is, you’re in for a ride. Hardtack was a simple cracker made back in the day from flour and water, and salt if you were lucky. As I’m sure you can imagine, it had a flavor similar to that of cardboard or drywall. However, hardtack has a long shelf life, so it was crucial to the survival of pioneers. In fact, it keeps SO well that there is actually a preserved piece of hardtack from THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR in the Pensacola Museum of History in Florida. I kid you not. But I obviously did not want to serve a cracker like that to my guests, so I made a riff on hardtack instead. To water and flour, I added salt, parmesan, thyme, marjoram, and cayenne pepper. While the crackers still came out a little brick-like, they were definitely an improved iteration of the original.
• Strawberry Jam – nothing says pioneer like preserves! I made a “cheat” version of preserves with strawberries, maple syrup, and a little bit of gelatin for that instant jellification.

MAINS & SIDES

• Buttermilk-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes – nothing says English/Irish/Scottish immigrant to America like meat and potatoes. I loosely followed Ina Garten’s recipe here, but added lots of lemon and thyme for extra flavor.
• Baked Beans – I rendered a little bacon with shallots, then deglazed the pan with white wine. I added in butter beans, maple syrup, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper, then baked it in the oven in the skillet. These turned out to be the runaway hit of the evening, to my surprise. Everybody asked for the recipe, so I guess I’ll have to type it up!
• Cornbread – I made a cornbread elevated with a little chili oil, thyme, and buttermilk.

DESSERTS

• Berry Crumble Bars – I made my Strawberry Crumble Bars recipe, but used a mix of blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries instead.
• Blackberry Pie – I made an all-butter pie crust from scratch, then mixed fresh blackberries with flour, sugar and vanilla for the filling. I will say, the pie was my least favorite part. I should’ve made the pie crust with shortening for better texture, though I’m skeptical of shortening. Honestly, I’m not a huge pie person, and I think that came through a little here. But other people liked it, so that was good enough for me! I also served a little ice cream I bought at my local farm stand to go with the pie.

THE DRINKS

Drinks were not as much of a intentional menu item for me this time as they’ve been in other dinner parties. That being said, I know that whiskey was a big thing in the West, so that informed my cocktails. This is what we had:

• Lavender Lemonade – I steeped bags of lavender chamomile tea in water overnight with honey, then added freshly-squeezed lemon juice before serving. It was sweet, tart, and gorgeously floral.
• Bourbon Peach Smash – my dear friend Kevin brought some maple syrup from his sister-in-law’s family’s maple farm, and made some delicious Bourbon Peach Smashes. To make it, he muddled fresh peaches, then shook them with maple syrup and whiskey. He poured the mixture into glasses full of ice, then topped with soda water. They were perfect!

THE STYLE

I love style almost as much as I love food, so I knew I wanted to really lean into the theme inspiration with my outfit. I found the PERFECT flowy, prairie-esque dress from Lucky Brand, that I paired with a Western-style belt (affiliate links). My shoes were cowboy boots I got at a local spot here in CT, and the earrings were thrifted.

THE FLOWERS

To stay with the Prairie theme, I hand-picked wildflowers for my floral centerpiece, that I supplemented with baby’s breath and mums from Trader Joe’s. I found chamomile and wild grass at a local nature preserve, and took the opportunity to snag a few atmospheric shots as I was doing so. Ivy tagged along too, of course :)

THE MUSIC

For whatever reason, I had Taylor Swift’s Cowboy Like Me playing in my head on repeat as I was prepping for this dinner party. The song really exemplified the vibe I was looking for – laid-back, unfussy, and just a little bit vintage. It was an easy choice to be the first song on the playlist. I added in a few country songs from Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, and Lainey Wilson as well. I’m not a huge country music fan, but it felt perfect for the party!

THE PREPARATION

I am proud to say this was (thank goodness) my least stressful, most organized Dinner Story to date!! Here’s what I think made all the difference in having a (fairly) smooth hosting experience –

Write down the ingredients needed for each dish, then take those ingredients and compile them into a shopping list.

This has made a HUGE difference in making sure I get everything I need for each dish. Since I create recipes for a living, I mostly cook off-the-cuff at home. While this is usually successful, the unplanned nature of this practice means that sometimes I forget what I’ll need ahead of time. So, what I do now is make a list of each dish, then write a list of ingredients I need underneath. After I’ve written everything down, I put it all into a Google Sheet to be able to sort it by category (vegetable, dairy, pantry item, etc.). From there, I make the shopping list. I know that sounds like a lot of work for just a grocery list, but I needed ZERO last minute items this time. Score one for me!!

Set the table at least two days in advance.

My husband and I rarely eat at the dining room table anyways, so this was a no-brainer. In May’s dinner party, I forgot to put out silverware until we were all seated at the table. I did NOT want a repeat of that, so I set the table two days in advance to make sure everything worked out.

Another issue I had run into in the past is being unable to set the silverware because I had mistakenly used it during the cooking process. For example, I’d use a few spoons to mix things up, etc., leaving me without the correct number of spoons for the table. Setting the table in advance prevented that from recurring!

Anything that can be made ahead of time, should be made ahead of time.

Again, in my last dinner party, I left way too many things to the last minute. This time, I was determined to do as much as humanly possible beforehand. So, this is what I did:

• One Week Before:
  • Make sure the house is clean!!
• Three Days Before:
  • Clean bathroom and dining room
• Two Days Before:
  • Set the table
  • Create the grocery list
  • Purchase and arrange florals
  • Buy groceries
  • Finish any house cleaning
• One Day Before:
  • Cook any recipes that can be made ahead of time
  • Prep elements of recipes that can be made ahead of time (such as marinades, dressings, etc.)

All of these things combined led to my least stressful dinner party ever! Not to say it wasn’t stressful, but it was LESS so than other ones ;)

P.S.

Thanks for joining me for another Dinner Story! For more plant-forward recipes, dinner parties, 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!