I can't find a place to store ice in the freezer. Can I ask a guest to pick some up on the way over?

Get a small ice chest and store it in there. You can pick one up early in the day when you buy the ice. If someone offers to bring ice, you can go ahead and let them, but I've found things go much better when you have everything ready to go without depending on anyone else much.

Again, I strongly caution you against catering to these impossible restrictions for your first dinner party. I have a "rule for life" that states, "Every task you undertake requires twice as long as you expect plus 20 minutes". I can see making a nice salad that everyone can enjoy, but to take one precious minute away from yourself or your other guests to attempt something you've never tried before is asking for a disaster.

And....not to be rude....it's YOUR party. If I had this many dietary requirements I'd eat before I went to the party, pick at whatever didn't offend my delicate constitution, sensibilities or religious mandates, and plan a healthy snack after I got home. Enough is enough! This individual is only one of 8 other guests (I assume you and BF are hosting) You did not invite her to be waited on by a personal chef.

Good luck with your party Lauren.

Keep On Dancing*

It looks like you've gotten plenty of replies, but I just want to say that the soup could be easily made vegan. Just use veggie stock and (here's a little awesome secret replacement) coconut milk to replace the cream. You can find it in the asian section in a can and it's not very expensive. It's fatty, creamy and rich so it can easily take the place of cream, and its light coconut flavor actually goes REALLY WELL with pumpkin.

Good luck!
K

Goodness, what does this girl EAT in her regular life? I mean... I understand you can do a lot of fun things with veggies, but... There's just SO much this girl doesn't eat.

I also wondered about the 8 weeks in advance. I've never heard of anyone doing that for a dinner party?

Here is how you make cauliflower rice Mendel.

You take one whole cauliflower and use a cheese grater ( or food processor) to make the cauliflower grain like. If you use the cheese grater, I recommend just grating the whole big Cauliflower. I broke it into smaller sections before grating and it was about 10 times harder.

Fill the pan with butter(oil in vegan case) and just fry the cauliflower. I usually add Rosemary, salt, pepper, thyme, and basil. You can play around with the spices to see what you like. It takes a while to get the amounts right, so it doesn't taste like a vegetable! You can always dress it up to suit your tastebuds.

The Cauliflower rice does taste a bit like cauliflower but when you put a sauce over it it takes on the flavor of the sauce. I wouldn't serve it plain to guests, but I usually eat it like rice myself.

I wouldn't use this in a dish if you need the rice to absorb the liquid. Such as a rice casserole.

One more day to go!
I will start on the soup and gravy this morning. I am super excited and nervous at the same time.

Renae I sent them out 8 weeks early because it is Christmas Eve.( For a German family, the EVE is the big day) The gathering consists of family+friends and people in my family usually start planning Christmas in September/October.

^Dear God it is the 23rd and we still don't know exactly what we are doing tomorrow or Sunday much less start planning in September.

Today is the big day! The drinks are chilling, the soup+gravy is already made. I am going to have my brother peel the potatoes soon!

Wish me luck, here is goes!

My dinner party went amazingly well! The crazy thing is that my Vegan guest cancelled last minute along with her husband. ( This guest was an aunt...why in the world do I have a crazy family?) Anyways, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and I got huge compliments on the food. They really loved the roasted vegetables ( thanks panic) along with the other food.

It is before 9 PM and I am already ready for bed because of the stress! All in all, it was a great night. I would love to host another dinner party, but not until at least 2013

Here are some things I learned.

1. DO NOT throw in a stick of butter in a pot that was set on "high". I blackened the bottom of my pot and almost set off the fire alarm!

2. Do not take a metal container out of the freezer with semi-wet hands. This should have been common sense, but the party stress made that fly out the window.

3. If the wine cork crumbles into your wine, you can totally strain the wine into a pretty container without anyone noticing that there used to be cork in that wine.

YumYumDoughnut wrote:

3. If the wine cork crumbles into your wine, you can totally strain the wine into a pretty container without anyone noticing that there used to be cork in that wine.

Be careful with this. A crumbling wine cork (especially if it's a new bottle of wine, ie; not one that's been cellaring for 20-some years), can mean the wine has spoiled. If your wine cork crumbles when you attempt to corkscrew it out, check if the wine smells vinegary, or otherwise foul. This means it has "corked" or been spoiled by a bacteria that has gotten in via the cork.

In an older bottle of wine it can simply mean that the cork has dried out or is starting to age, and the wine can be salvaged if it's not spoiled, by doing as you did and straining it through a sieve or cheesecloth.

Erin.
::righteous babe::

This reminds me of a small party I put together once. One guest was a vegan but did not have other restrictions. Another guest would smoke pot but would not drink alcohol Yet another would drink alcohol but not smoke pot. Oh, help!

Anyway, I did my best, everybody was very civilized and seemed to have a good time. You can only do what you can do. And I really think people appreciate a host's best efforts regardless.

YumYumDoughnut wrote:

The crazy thing is that my Vegan guest cancelled last minute along with her husband.

Seriously? Send her the bill for all the extra efforts you had to make on her behalf AND a whopping big extra charge for the stress!

I'm glad your dinner party went well, well done!

I know I'm way late to the thread, but I just wanted to say kudos for thinking so hard about this guest, and HOW RUDE she was not to turn up after all that.

I'm wheat intolerant, and like someone above said, I don't understand why anyone would choose to 'fake it', it's seriously annoying and if you slip up, ouch, messy.

I think she was rude rude rude in so many ways - firstly she should have said STRAIGHT AWAY. I always say as soon as the word dinner is mentioned.

Secondly, I always offer to bring something I can eat. I know it's a pain, I had to really think hard when I was first diagnosed, and therefore I don't expect my friends to have it sussed. She should have offered to bring something.

Thirdly, as she didn't offer to bring anything, she should have made it clear that she was not expecting you to go to a lot of trouble. If the host says to me that they will cook for me, and not to bring anything, I always make sure I tell them not to go to heaps of trouble, and that I'm happy to pick around and eat just salad/veg etc.

Fourthly, she didn't turn up. Boy, I am mad for you.

I'm glad your party was a success, and you sound like a great host.