ladies who lunch

In my book ladies who lunch actually means ladies who work really, really hard during the work week and like to relax on the weekend by having lunch with some friends.  Given that, on Saturday I asked a couple girlfriends to come over and catch up, and I made them lunch in the process.

To set the mood for such an occasion, I like to take a visual sweep of my home.  Everything should be put away, and all surfaces should be clean.  Next up is creating the mood.  I do this by grabbing a couple bunches of flowers and putting them in various spots.  Never underestimate how much ambiance something like a simple bunch of tulips can add to a room.  I also like to light a nice candle or two and keep them out of the way - they can go in the guest bathroom, or maybe in the kitchen.

Next up is the food.  I always like to have a half hour or so to catch up with the girls before serving the actual meal.  To tide people over, I arrange an appetizer tray.  Not only does it look great, but it tastes great, too.  In this circumstance, I arranged some cheese, hummus, and two types of crackers on a marble lazy susan I got from Boxwoods here in Buckhead.

When serving food to guests, I try and be aware that many people are trying to watch what they eat, so rather than serve a big casserole I like to go lighter and give people options.  I ended up serving a French Mache salad mix tossed simply with olive oil and strawberry balsamic vinegar.  I then gave the girls a choice of putting the chicken salad or quinoa on top.  As a side, I offered sliced fruit tossed with honey and a little bit of cinnamon.  Honey and cinnamon are two food items I like to use often.  Honey tastes great, and cinnamon has excellent health properties.

We ended the meal sipping mimosas (dash of orange juice and a bit of prosecco with a cherry for garnish) and catching up.  All in all, a great Saturday!