the salon challenge: cooking with friends

It's been a little while since I posted my last salon challenge. I figured we all might need a tiny break from entertaining after the whirlwind that is December, but the break is over. As cozy as you might be reading your book over there on the couch, remember that February is coming. I don't know how February is where you are, but here, it is a month that requires optimism. It is a month of bitter cold, dirty snow banks, and grumpy bank tellers. It is a month when we really need friends around us to remind us that the world will defrost, someday.

You can stay on the couch, but put down Tolstoy and pick up the cookbooks. And get a few friends on the phone. For this salon challenge, the theme is cooking with friends. Recruit a friend or two, and throw a dinner party together. If you each invite people that the other person doesn't know that well, you've taken care of the rules already.

This dinner can be as fancy or as casual as you like, as long as it is special. If you are new to the challenge, everything you need to know is here, and there are some (kind of) helpful hints here. Make it happen before the first of March, and you'll be glad you did. And of course, don't forget to come back here and tell us about it.
I can't wait.