The Secret to Throwing a Spring Dinner Party
Let spring be spring
I’m not sure if it’s the increased daylight hours, the festive food spreads, or the hope of summer produce, but I’m feeling excited about spring! I famously dislike spring. Its extreme temperature swings, unpredictable rain, and the dread of summer heat make me just hate it usually. But, this year I feel a little lighter heading into spring. I feel excited about the flowers popping up and the longer daylight making a post-dinner walk more feasible.
One of the people I admire most has been asking and pushing me/us to think about gratitude. It’s not to ignore the bad things happening or the breaking down of everything around us, but to take opportunities daily to be thankful. I’m not at the daily part of this practice yet, but I’m getting better and better at appreciating what is right in front of me. I’m grateful for the things I used to dream of and wish for like a home, a loving partner, a garden, a steady job, travel, hobbies, and a supportive joyful circle of friends.
Through this consistent practice, I’m also finding myself grateful for the way that spring keeps us on our toes in the Upper Midwest. How each spring seems to be different than the one before it. How it pushes us to be nimble, adaptable, and responsive while perennial plants pop up in the midst of longer and longer days. There is a lesson in there for me, especially, since I famously love predictability.
Now onto the food of spring: When I look at “What’s in Season” style posts and illustrations that come up on my algorithm, the Deep North is always a month or two behind. A quick search shows posts that include rhubarb, radishes, peas, lettuce, and fennel for March and April but up here we won’t see those things until the end of the month or in May. Where I live the agricultural zone is 5a, a recent shift! We used to be 4b and it was big news in gardening and farm circles when our zone changed.
What this means compared to the rest of the country is that we have a much shorter growing season compared to the rest of the country, and our locally grown seasonal produce is slightly delayed. This past winter was colder than the last two (bless) so the ground was frozen further down, and takes longer to warm up to grow plants. We got our first CSA box for spring this last week, and there wasn’t much springy produce yet because the ground was too cold. Our farmer (my roommate in college and friend) did all of us who got spring boxes a solid and gave us the last of the storage vegetables from the fall, some cornmeal, and a huge bag of greens that managed to grow in the hoop house.
For a person who is excited about the prospect of spring and the produce, it’s hard to wait for these things when food media is a month or two ahead of where we are in terms of seasonal produce. Fortunately, I can engage with all the food content from the warmer parts of the country, and then plan seasonal dishes to my heart’s content for a couple weeks in the future.
About a month ago I started a Spring Dinner Party Pinterest board, and what a joy it’s been to scroll through and add pins to the most happy board on my profile!
The Big Secret: Mostly Monochrome
If you’re having a party with food this spring, the most striking theme is to make everything monotone. Choose a color and really go with it! From table linens to florals, to food, this approach is not only visually striking but very fun to plan! The best thing for me creatively is restriction, not too much, but just a little. If I could make anything for a spring dinner party, I would feel so paralyzed by seemingly infinite options. But give me a little boundary and I thrive. Spring in the northern hemisphere is the celebration of things sprouting and growing, so green makes sense, but pastels and bright colors after a dull winter would be so perfect too.
As with most parties, it’s smart to give guests a task when they come as you’re finalizing everything. I love to make my parties more of a group effort, especially at the end of prep. Once people arrive they can do the finishing touches on garnishing drinks, lighting candles, taking photos of the setup, or arranging something on a platter. If you’re a person whose friends insist on bringing something to a party, a monochrome theme is so easy because you can assign guests to bring various things on theme: orange fruit or pink flowers or green dips.
If green, pink, or orange aren’t for you, lavender and butter yellow would be perfect themes for the spring dinner/brunch party of your dreams too!
One color can push aesthetic and culinary creativity in a fresh, fun way as we all welcome more sunshine, flowers, and growth for the next couple of months.
Things I Like
These sandals for summer. I’m not ready for sandals that separate my toes to come back in style yet!
Kicking off my knitting hobby by committing to making socks. If you know me in real life, expect a pair of socks coming for your next birthday or holiday. Please act surprised.
Jello shots are on the brain (both boozy and N/A) after seeing a few TikToks from Solid Wiggles.
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣
The delayed spring [blossoms, produce, all the things] is so real here in Minnesota! My March Substack was full of SO much more green than we had here locally. Love this idea to add some color to spring ourselves with a monochrome dinner party!