Today I'm sharing a menu perfect for entertaining friends for lunch. I love having guests over for lunch more than dinner. You can check off any last-minute to dos in the morning and still have your afternoon free after guests leave. My mom has a group of girlfriends with whom she plays the card game Bridge. Every week, someone hosts the rest of the group at their home, offering a light lunch while they play Bridge. I love the idea of having a weekly lunch group, which inspired today's menu. This would also be great to serve for Easter lunch. [Disclaimer: while I'm calling this "ladies" who lunch, my dad would happily eat this meal, especially the cheddar and dill scones - ha!]
As is typical for most entertaining guides I post, almost everything can be made ahead.
Schedule:
Day Before:
Arrange flowers.
Set the table.
Make scones. Refrigerate cut out dough.
Brew tea.
Wash and dry salad greens. Refrigerate in paper towel-lined bowl.
Make the soup and refrigerate. (Reserving the creme fraîche.)
Day Of:
Brush scones with egg wash. Bake.
Reheat soup slowly on the stove top. Stir in creme fraîche.
Mix vinaigrette. Pour in bottom of serving bowl. Top with salad greens. Toss right before serving.
Ina Garten's fresh pea soup tastes like spring in a bowl. It's surprisingly easy. 5 steps and you have a hearty and healthy soup. This would make a great weeknight dinner. Serve hot with a dollop of creme fraîche and a sprinkle of fresh chives for an elegant lunch your friends will love.
Get the Recipe: Barefoot Contessa Fresh Pea Soup
My friend made Ina Garten's cheddar dill scones to take on our girl's trip last year and I've been obsessed with them ever since. I didn't have a square cookie cutter, so I just used a sharp paring knife and eyeballed 8 squares, then cut the squares in half. This won't give you uniform-looking scones, but no dough will go to waste.
Get the Recipe: Barefoot Contessa's Cheddar-Dill Scones
Y'all are probably sick of me posting about salad greens with a simple vinaigrette, but I love a simple salad as a side, especially when entertaining. I tossed in some leftover dill from the scones and loved the brightness it added to a classic vinaigrette.
Dill Vinaigrette
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons minced shallots (2 shallots)
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, shallots, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the dill and set aside.
Iced tea is a staple in the south. I always like to have some on hand for guests. I'm partial to the Luzianne tea bags that are specially blended for iced tea. Steep 4 family size tea bags in 4 cups of boiling water for 16 minutes, then pour over a pitcher of ice. Add more water, if needed, to make 2 quarts. You could add sugar if you like it sweet, but I prefer mine sugar-free with a squeeze of lemon.
Get the Look:
I love the look of these Monique Lhuillier lily of the valley napkins against my everyday white dishes. I kept the rest of the table simple with some white ranunculus from Trader Joe's and some French wine glasses for iced tea. The milk glass vase is my grandmother's vase from the 60s.
Thanks for reading!
- Sam