Lobster-Fest at Home!

I used pieces of red ribbon to tie the paper napkins. You'll through a lot, so paper is the way to go.

Centerpiece flowers

Lobster Bibs as Place Mats

All put together

A few weekends ago I had a craving to have a good old fashioned dinner party. I love cooking and try to have friends over as often as possible to eat, drink and be merry, but for this particular dinner I wanted to try something a little different and turn up the volume a bit. For Valentine's Day my boyfriend and I had a lobster FEST at home. We got 3 huge live lobsters, covered the dining room table in newspaper, whipped up an excessive amount of clarified butter (which is 100% necessary), busted out the crackers, and proceeded to have the best time, and most delicious valentine's day meal EVER. It was so much fun that we wanted to re-create it with our friends, and that's exactly what we did. As I mentioned, I wanted to make it a little special, and what a better way to do it then add a tablescape into the mix. First, I ditched the black and white newspaper... instead, I walked (without shame) into Sur La Table and asked them for a few sheets of their wrapping paper (you know the white paper they use in excess to wrap anything fragile). Usually they'll give it to you without question. For this instance, I had to bat my eyelashes a little, but came a away victorious. For the place mats, I used plastic lobster bibs, and reserved extras for their normal purpose (you can find them at any kitchen store for around $2.00 for 4). For the flowers, I had a completely different idea in mind, but when I visited my corner market, they had a special on these roses, and I couldn't pass it up. The little white flowers are Wax Flowers and they last FOREVER, and of course some daisies. Spring has hit NYC, so the yellow and white came together perfectly!

The menu for this evening was fairly simple and consisted of:

{LOBSTER FEST MENU}

Live Lobsters 

(As many as your guests can handle. We steamed ours in a huge pot, but find your favorite technique and go with it. If you have a problem with the whole "live" part, them my suggestion for you it to have a big glass of wine and exit the kitchen...leave it up to the volunteers. Trust me, it's worth it.)

French Potato Salad 

( I used my own recipe. Similar found here)

Steamed Broccoli 

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

(I'm addicted to these)

Clarified Garlic Butter

(Recipe here. Just add chopped garlic and flat leaf parsley right before serving)

Looking back on the evening, it more than exceeded our expectations. Even if the lobster theme is not for you, there is nothing better than an amazing meal with great drinks and close friends in your own home. There will be many repeats to come!