Fancy dinner party.

I got such a hugely positive response when I made dumplings that I thought it would be fun to share the wealth and have a fancy, springtime dinner party. I have been completely swamped with work from my 5.72 different jobs, but with my dearest friend, Neelima, coming to town, I figure it was as good a time as any to get everyone together for a nice evening of food and drink. I don't entertain often, so I really wanted to put some effort into this dinner. It was a ton of work, but I enjoyed planning, cooking and organizing sweet little Asian snacks in symmetrical patterns on a platter. Though my neck and shoulders are still tense from wrapping 300+ dumplings. Why do I do this to myself...

I'm sorry I wasn't able to have all of my NY friends over at once due to space constraints.  I'll have an encore party one of these days, I promise :)

The white plates are my everyday dishes, the blue-rimmed ones were hand-me-downs from my former roommate, Wendy, and the soy sauce trays were only $.95 from Chinatown!


I contemplated whether or not a seating chart would be a good idea, and Peter suggested having everyone sit with strangers. I was hesitant at first, but the mix of old and new friends ended up producing some really hilarious conversations.

I made 4 kinds of dumplings:

Scallop & chives

Pork, shrimp, & chinese celery

Tofu, mushroom, & shrimp

Spinach, tofu, & mushroom

For dessert we had sticky rice balls covered in sweet sesame powder, mango mochi, and the most amazing fresh mango I've ever eaten.




Thanks to all my lovely ladies for facilitating a rapid and efficient clean up effort. Thanks to Terry for the music, and thanks to everyone for coming! It was an exceptionally lovely evening and I can't wait to do it again.