Host Galentines with Me

The time has come for me to enter my hostess era.

Up to this point, I’ve been pretty successful at coming up with excuses for why I can’t host dinners or get-togethers with friends. Don’t have my own place, don’t live in the states, don’t have enough space - I’m sure I could come up with a few more reasons that rhyme but let’s move on. I have officially lived in my own apartment for over a year, and even though I have officially taken care of the ‘own place’ and ‘live in the States’ excuses, I still have only hosted a friend or two a handful of times, and never for what you might all a party.

One of the most enviable things I see on TV or in movies is the cozy dinner parties with good friends. Think the Hannukah party in The Holiday, the after-dinner girl talks in Meryl Streep's enviable kitchen in It's Complicated, the rooftop celebration in Julie & Julia. What do all of these scenes have in common? They are intimate gatherings, informal yet still put together, focused on good food, good friends and good conversation. That is the vibe that I strive for, creating a place where friends and family can gather together.

Though my current apartment still lacks suitable space and adequate seating, I'm done waiting around for the 'right timing' to start living my life how I envision it. Too often, I feel stuck in a rut, convinced that once the stars align, I can then start living. The perfectionist in me doesn’t want to attempt anything unless I can be sure I won’t fail, but life doesn’t wait for you to have it all together. It just keeps moving forward. I have a very clear vision for what my next year looks like and I want to THRIVE in 2025. Even if I don't feel like every piece is in place, I want to go for what I want. I’ve made a jump into the unknown before when I decided to play overseas, I know I can do it again.

For my first foray into hosting a small group, I started off with something easy - Galentines. I mean, the theme pretty much takes care of itself! So, the first order of business was deciding on an activity. I knew I wanted to do something crafty and appropriately cutesy, but I didn’t want to invest in something that would hardly ever get used and just become junk we had to store. Cookie decorating would be a great way to get creative with the added bonus of having a yummy treat in the end. With a heart-shaped cookie cutter, a few tubs of frosting and some red food coloring, we were in business. I prebaked the cookies the night before (For ease and efficiency, I used the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix, though I usually prefer making my cookies from a recipe like this).

I then headed to Michaels to source some appropriately lovable decor. With only two weeks until Valentine’s Day, I wasn’t sure what the selection might be, but I was pleasantly surprised to find everything on my wishlist. From the patterned tablecloth and themed sprinkles to the heart-shaped ramekins for my charcuterie board, I was in party planner heaven. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that instead of a full dinner, we would be snacking on a custom charcuterie board? Taking some inspiration from Platters and Boards, I curated a smorgasbord of tasty vittles. Check out my menu below!

Makena’s Char-CUTE-rie Board

Cucumbers, bell pepper, and pretzels with hummus

Castelvetrano olives and grapes

Truffle goat cheese

White cheddar

Assorted crackers, salami and Iberico ham

Whipped ricotta

Dalmatia strawberry spread

Fresh made tomato-thyme jam (courtesy of Platters and Boards)

And for a little something sweet, strawberries in white chocolate

I also prepped two signature mocktails for the evening which would be served in my favorite Lunette champagne flutes by Crate & Barrel. A Love Punch, featuring raspberry sorbet and lemon-lime soda, and the Gal Pal-oma, a fun infusion of grapefruit and lime juice with club soda. Thanks to a little help from Canva, I created an adorable menu and itinerary to tie the whole tablescape together.

A lot of the prep and decorating started the night before; baking the sugar cookies, setting up the decorating station and organizing my board with sticky notes so that I could see how all the charcuterie elements would fit. What can I say, I'm a perfectionist. I wanted everything to be executed as close to my vision as possible, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anything hiding in the fridge during the stress of cooking the next day.

When it comes to charcuterie boards, they are usually pretty easy to assemble with minimal cooking required. Historically, I have never been a big fan of cooking, though I’ve been working on getting more comfortable in the kitchen. That’s why I decided to make two elements of my Galentines char-cute-rie board from scratch; a whipped ricotta spread and a tomato-thyme jam. The whipped ricotta came together in about five minutes - it was so easy, needed minimal ingredients and was a great way to use some leftover ricotta from a previous recipe. With it’s light & fluffy texture and delicate flavor, it paired well with everything on the board.

It can be rather daunting to debut a new recipe you've never tried before to guests, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous to make the tomato-thyme jam. The recipe calls for 10 Roma tomatoes, cored and quartered, to yield about a cup of jam. I was worried my mini Cuisinart wouldn’t be up to the task, but by splitting up the tomatoes and blending in two separate batches, I was able to liquify all 10 tomatoes easily. The process start to finish probably took about 30 minutes and despite my earlier fears, it reduced beautifully and created a yummy spread that was the hit of char-cute-rie board.

Note: there is about a cup of sugar in this recipe, and the jam will taste very sweet when its finished reducing. I seasoned with salt and pepper to make it more savory for the charcuterie board.

With my board prepped, cookie station staged and Ella Fitzgerald crooning on the stereo, my guests started to arrive for a Galentines fete. We snacked, we drank and we learned that a cookie decorating competition against a food scientist who bakes in her free time is ill-advised. All in all, it was a great night with my girlfriends and a successful start to my hosting journey. Now to just find a few more chairs...