I am so excited to help you kick off your Valentine’s Day plans today with the FIRST Fraîche Table Series! This year-round series of posts was created as a way to help inspire you to do more of what makes my own heart sing: feed others and entertain in simple, (almost) effortless style.
Let’s face it, entertaining isn’t always a piece of cake. And for the record, I would know! I recall dinner parties when I was trying to ice a cake for a birthday party hot out of the oven as guests poured in the door (massive fail… of course) and others where I served food that the guests couldn’t eat because I forgot to ask if they had dietary preferences (not uncomfortable at all lol). Sigh, learning the hard way is a valuable life lesson!
At any rate, I wanted to bring some of my favourite recipes together for you in this year-long series and offer you a full guide to hosting an epic dinner party that saves you from some of the headaches I’ve experienced! From a printable menu, table-setting suggestions, time saving techniques, what to wear and a work-back schedule to help keep you on track (and not serving appetizers in your PJ’s), we have you covered! To me, there are few things in life as enjoyable as feeding my friends and family food that is hand made with love over nice wine and a simple beautiful table setting.
THE TABLE
To set table we used a soft pink stripe tablecloth (purchased from Homesense) layered with lace-trimmed cotton napkins, white dinner plates, mini white Staub cocottes, wine glasses, gold-rimmed champagne coupes and loads of fresh flowers from Bylands. We chose a combination of spray roses, garden roses, wax flowers, seeded eucalyptus, silver dollar eucalyptus, white hydrangeas and anemones, all in white and pastel hues. Watch out for the tutorial later this week on how to create your own similar table centre piece!
As far as entertaining goes, here are my top 3 pointers that I can share with you to help you look and feel like a pro:
- Plan ahead. I’ve prepared a work-back schedule for this menu to help you tackle this specific menu, leaving little to do when your guests arrive (ideal). I highly recommend trying out any new recipes in advance, or at least getting familiar with the recipe before the day arrives so there are no surprises.
- Prepare and purchase anything you can in advance. This includes setting the table, prepping dishes and picking out your outfit (don’t be afraid to get dressed early – you can easily be cooking in front of your guests if pressed for time but it’s another story to be in your PJ’s when they arrive, right?).
- Ask your guests. Do they have food allergies or preferences? There’s nothing more awkward than cooking an amazing meal that your guests can’t eat. Trust me.
SHOP TABLETOP
THE MENU
This Valentine’s Menu was designed for 4 people but could easily be scaled down for 2 if you’re looking for a more romantic vibe to your dinner! We kept it light, beautiful, healthy and filled with dishes that can easily be prepared in advance. We created two sample menus to print off (see the end of the post for the second more simple menu if that’s more your jam): we recommend choosing the option to print 4 per page in your printer settings (choose ‘copies per page – 4’) and using a thicker paper stock when printing to make the menus fit nicely on the place settings.
The menu below highlights dishes that are easy to prepare in advance, not too heavy (it’s Valentine’s Day after all), and bursting with flavours that all work together to create an extraordinary meal. The menu starts with Smoked Salmon Mini Quiches followed by a healthy Creamy Roasted Tomato Pepper Soup and an entree that can be completely prepared in advance, Fish en Papillote. The grand finale is a light and completely adorable Strawberry Sweet-tart (again, 100% made in advance).
SHOP KITCHEN ESSENTIALS
[pdf-embedder url=”https://fraicheliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pink-Bordered-Floral-Wedding-Menu-Wedding.pdf” title=”Floral Valentine’s Day Menu”]
Appetizer: Mini Smoked Salmon Quiches
Suggested Wine Pairing: Chardonnay
First Course: Roasted Tomato Pepper Soup with Heart Shaped Croutons
Suggested Wine Pairing: Pinot Gris
Main Course: Fish en Papillote
Suggested Wine Pairing: Pinot Gris
Dessert: Strawberries & Cream Sweet-tart
Serve with tea or coffee
SHOP HOSTESS LOOKS
THE HOSTESS SCHEDULE
TWO DAYS BEFORE:
- Buy Flowers (we buy ours from Byland’s)
- Pick out wine (we used Sandhill)
- Grocery shopping
- Strain yogurt (for the tart)
- Iron linens
- Pick out your outfit (fun!)
DAY BEFORE:
- Prepare spiralized vegetables for Fish en Papillote
- Thaw fish and refrigerate (if frozen)
- Cut parchment for baking the fish
- Cook potatoes for Fish en Papillote
- Make Roasted Tomato Red Pepper Soup (refrigerate in a covered container)
- Make Heart-Shaped Croutons (store in sealed container at room temperature)
- Set table
- Linens
- Plates
- Glasses
- Candles
DAY OF :
- Morning:
- Assemble Fish en Papillote and refrigerate
- Make Strawberries and Cream Sweet-tart and refrigerate
- Chill wine
- Afternoon (2 hours before guests arrive)
- Make Smoked Salmon Mini Quiches (served at room temperature)
- place on a platter for serving
- set out cocktail napkins & appetizer plates
- Make Smoked Salmon Mini Quiches (served at room temperature)
- Guests arrive:
- Just before guests arrive, light candles.
- Place tray of Fish en Papillote on the counter to bring to room temperature
- Serve quiches
- Heat soup & serve
- preheat oven for fish before serving the soup
- Bake Fish (once soup is nearly done): serve in packets on plates once finished
- Serve tart with tea or coffee
Whether your Valentine’s Day plans are big or small, I hope you have such a fun time celebrating what the world needs more of… LOVE!
xo
Tori
How GORGEOUS!!! Ahhhh! I absolutely LOVE everything about this! The decor and table is perfection and the EVERYTHING on the Menu looks delish! All the heart shaped garnish is super cute <3
PS… Your insta stories that involve Max and Peaches are hilarious!! (probably not for poor Max) but his reaction of sheer terror to the tiny pup is too funny!
This is so great!! As a type A personality and someone who loves to cook and entertain, this could not be more helpful! I’m so looking forward to the rest of the series through the year 🙂
Great post! I love the menu and love that every step is so detailed! This certainly makes it all so much easier! My husband and I love to entertain and we will certainly be using this. Hopefully, there will be many more posts like this to come 🙂
I love hosting but can never get everything done in time – these types of blog posts are SO helpful!! It just helps to know what to do on each day so you’re not scrambling at the 11th hour – or still grabbing things on my way home from work at 6:30 pm. Thanks so much <3 and I hope you post more like this!
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback Katherine I appreciate it!! I absolutely will continue with these posts, so great to know that it is helpful!
Hi! What size heart shaped cookie cutter did you use to cut the strawberry hearts? I love them!!
Hi Emily, it’s about 1.5″
Great Post!! Everything looks so beautiful and the menu is to die for!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Jennifer that’s really sweet of you!
Love this and look forward to your series!
Thanks Ashley!
Love this Tori! Will be following along in anticipation for what’s coming up, can’t wait!
Veggies option would be appreciated.
Great suggestion, thank you Shannon!
what an exciting series!! if all the rest are as amazing as this first one, it is going to be a fun year. I love entertaining and always prep before so I can enjoy my company…this will make it even easier.
I LOVE this so much!!! Thank you for the beautiful inspiration and for simplifying the hardest part of entertaining- the planning. I can’t wait to recreate this for my loved ones!
Thank you so much Amy for the lovely feedback it means a lot! Tori
This looks perfect! Great idea for a series!! So looking forward to following along with this dinner series.❤
This post was so well done!!!! Im very impressed and inspired. Beautiful inspirational photos paired with step by step instruction to ensure entertaining success, you completely nailed it! I can’t wait for the floral tutorial. Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you Jasmin that means a lot!
Great series idea! Love the options to shop the look and print beautiful menus.
Thank you Christina!!
Hi Tori , what an inspirational idea !! Love everything you do . I would like to offer my floral services/ product knowledge if there is anything I can help you with . Perhaps offering alternate floral price points , how to harvest from your own garden or even sourcing out local/ native species .
Thanks again
Kathy Neufeld
OC Floral Instuctor
Landeau Kelowna
Thank you so much Kathy! There absolutely may be an opportunity that sounds like fun let’s stay in touch. Tori
What a great idea to a new series – can’t wait to follow along for the rest. Happy ♥️ day!
Thank you Linsey I appreciate you following along and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Great idea! Love this. It’s so helpful.
This is the best❤️
What a great idea ToriI am looking forward to what’s coming for the rest of the year. This is so inspiring ❤️
Thanks so much Maddie!
Amazing! I look forward to a year of your dinner series!
Thanks Andrea!
This is so amazing!!!! I absolutely love everything about this!!!
Oh I love this post!! I have a feeling I’m really going to love this series ❤️
Thank you Madii!!! Tori
A perfect table setting and perfect menu! It’s so hard it’s a weeknight again this year, we always push our celebration the weekend as two professional people
It’s hard to arrange all this during the week💕
Such a good point Ashley, it makes it tricky to entertain during the weekday for sure!
Love Love Love this series! The workback timeline is perfect!!! Great job!
Thanks Jamie!!!!
Love this idea! You make everything look so beautiful and simple. ❤️ The time line breakdown is amazing.
Hi Danielle, thank you so much for the comment! Tori
This is so inclusive and amazing. Thanks.
Thanks Nancy!
Tori, I absolutely love this. Down to every detail, you have it all planned out. Can not wait to host a party now with this ♥️
Thank you Brianna!!!!
This is perfect for Valentine’s Day! Thank you for starting this series. I’m very excited to see what’s next!
Thank you Jamie! I appreciate the feedback!
Hi,Tori!
Love this!!!
Everything looks perfect and delicious!!!
Happy Valentine’s Day (and dinner)for everyone!
(From Brazil)
Thank you Richele! Happy Valentine’s Day to you too and thanks for following all the way from Brazil!