Here’s How To Host The Perfect Autumn-Inspired Dinner Party
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Fall is the best time to put your hosting or partying skills to good use. It’s getting cool out and the idea of getting your friends together inside for all things apple cider sounds pretty tempting. You can head to the bars, but you can also say f*ck it and spend some well-deserved time with your favorite people at home. Caramel apple mimosas, pumpkin-glazed turkey legs and ricotta pumpkin gnocchi? YUP. Let’s do it all. Load up on red wine, Cards Against Humanity and all of the wool socks. Here’s how to host the perfect Autumn-inspired dinner party.
Setting The Scene
You don’t need to spend your whole paycheck when it comes to designing a dinner table, but you can add some fall-inspired decorations to set the mood. Depending on how crafty you want to get, making candles out of apples adds a charming touch to the table and you can use any leftover apples that you bought, but didn’t end up eating. Here’s how you can make an apple candle in a minute.
You can go to a fabric store and buy some pieces of yellow, orange and red material and make some easy and cheap homemade napkins to wrap your silverware. Now that it’s getting colder out, you’ll probably see mini pumpkins for sale outside of your local markets and grocery stores. You can spend $10 and buy enough pumpkins to spread out across your table. If you go to the dollar store and buy cheap holiday lights, you can add a little mood lighting to your table and spread them around that way.
Drinks
Start out the meal with some caramel apple mimosas or caramel apple sangria. A Moscow Mule — a cocktail made with crushed ice, vodka, spicy ginger beer and lime juice — tastes even better with hard apple cider, ginger beer, citrus vodka, lime juice and a little cinnamon.
For anyone that usually goes for a martini, try this version of a cidertini with a cinnamon sugar rim. For some non-alcoholic fall-inspired drinks, try this recipe for fall punch or this one for a slow cooker cranberry apple cider. For a rich dessert drink, make a batch of this red wine hot chocolate concoction. If you’re in the mood for something carbonated, here are some of the best hard ciders to try this fall.
Appetizers
If you want to give your guests something to munch on before the main course, give these rosemary chips a shot. Quesadillas will usually win over a crowd and fall is the perfect time to pack in all of the pear, brie, caramelized onions and balsamic with these crispy appetizers. Sweet potatoes are a great source of Vitamin A, packed with beta-carotene and dietary fiber. It also helps that they’re delicious. Go with these sweet potato rounds topped with goat cheese, candied walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon or try some butternut squash or pumpkin hummus. Apple fries are always a good choice for a sweet appetizer or for dessert. You can’t go wrong with baked acorn squash, whether you stuff it with meat, veggies or a combination of the two.
Main Course
Depending on the weather, you might want to warm up your friends with some slow cooker apple cider chili. If you’re looking for a few protein-packed ideas, try creamy rosemary dijon chicken, roasted garlic chicken with asiago gravy, pumpkin-glazed turkey legs or hard cider lamb chops. Honey garlic shrimp will take no time to make and it’ll fit right in with your all of your autumn vibes. For a vegetarian dinner option, make a big pan of butternut squash and spinach three-cheese lasagna. For some inspiration on an Italian-esque fall dinner party, pumpkin ricotta gnocchi with sage brown butter or pumpkin ricotta gnocchi with shiitake cream sauce are both right up your alley.
Dessert
There’s no better way to finish up this fall meal than with cider donuts or cider donut holes. They’re a little crispy on the outside with just the right about of soft, pillowy cinnamon sugar and apple flavor on the inside. When you want to go a little further than cider donuts, you can make chocolate chip cookie bars with real pumpkin puree, salted caramel apple hand pies and dutch apple pie cheesecake bars. You can’t go wrong with an autumn-spiced pear cobbler or a cinnamon pie
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