fancy meal for the 'rents

So, I have decided to spontaneously invite my parents over for a fancy dinner (they don't know it's going to be fancy... but it is. They may have figured it out though since reading this post). Anyway, the fancy dinner is tomorrow night.

I have never planned a fancy dinner before, but that's the point of this whole trying-new-things thing. :)

So... here is what I have planned. Will post after the whole shindig to say what I found works well, and what doesn't.

I purchased two tapered candle holders from the thrift store, as well as two tapered candles (red, so they match the decor of the house). I fully plan to have a candle-lit dinner for them, ready for when they arrive.

First, I plan to set a salad. A fresh, spring salad (well, as fresh as a store-bought bag of salad can be... hey, I'm trying to save some money here!) with baby lettuce, some various greens and radichio (I have no idea what radichio is but that is what is in the package). No iceberg, folks! Going fancy! On top of that, I will have salted sunflower seeds and dried cranberries, finished off with a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Springy, sweet and fresh salad.

Accompanying the salad and meal will be a sparkling white grape juice... in stemware, if course!

The meal will be a delightful (I am hoping, never made it before!) Minnesota wild rice soup that I found in Betty Crocker's Casual Country Cooking book that was lent to me by a coworker.

I am omitting the dairy and adding potatoes to the recipe, which will be a little bit of a challenge as I will have to change how I am cooking it in order to make sure the potatoes are fully cooked. With the soup, I will have fresh bread purchased from the local bakery, and warmed gently in the oven.

For dessert, I am making the apple pie I made in the previous post.

And afterward... games! Hopefully. Yahtzee or Scrabble or something like that.

Will post how everything turns out! Pie is in the oven now... no epic failures yet. lol. :)