Last year around the holidays, I took the love languages quiz. One of the highest-scoring languages was gift-giving. I almost felt ashamed that the love language associated with material goods was ranking so high on my list. My mind was changed when I read that it didn’t mean buying thoughtless gifts for others, but instead gifts that are meaningful and unique to the receiver. I learned that giving a good gift is one of the most thoughtful things that you can do for others.

Since gift-giving and dinner parties are currently on my mind, I decided to put together this gift guide, specifically for the dinner party host. It came after a conversation that I had with friends about what items make a perfect dinner party, along with some items we wish we had for the parties! I tried to include gifts from women-owned businesses, which I would like to focus on buying from this year.

Dinner Party Cards - I have followed Kenzie Elizabeth online for years and listen to her podcast. I love these dinner party cards from her business Friend of Mine. The stack includes 59 conversation starter cards for dinner with friends. She also just released a book club card set, which I also want!

Striped Apron - This is on my own wishlist because I spill too much on my clothes when cooking!

Diaspora Co Holiday Beverage Bundle - I love hot chocolate in the winter and this bundle looks perfect for a cold day. Diaspora Co is also a woman-owned business!

Brightland Pizza Oil - I’ve heard great things about this pizza oil. It can be used with many foods, not just pizza. I’ve also included their signature olive oils on this list for a more versatile option! Brightland is another woman-owned business on this list!

Maude and May Placemats - I’ve followed the female owner of this company online for many years as well. I love the fabrics that she uses. These placemats would be the perfect setting for a dinner party!

Recipe Journal - If you’re like me, your recipes are scattered everywhere. A recipe journal helps keep it all in one place.

Martha Stewart Cookbook - I loved Martha Stewart’s documentary that was released on Netflix this month. She also published this cookbook recently, which features her top 100 favorite recipes. I’ve also been looking out for her original cookbooks, but they are currently sold out online!

Estelle Wine Glasses - My mom owns a set of colored wine glasses and I’ve always loved them. It’s the perfect way to make sure you never mix up your drink with anyone else’s! I love these pastel wine glasses from the company Estelle, a female-owned company.

MacKenzie-Childs Ice Bucket - I’ve always thought that owning an ice bucket was the true marker of being an “adult”. I still don’t own one, so what does that say about me?

Happy Holidays!

On Friday, I enjoyed my day off and went to Costco with a friend. I bought all of my ingredients for stuffing when she called me over to the dessert aisle. She found a great deal on a pumpkin pie for $5 and thought it would be perfect for me to take to my dinner party the next day. I put it in my cart, not realizing how grateful I’d be for it later that evening.

Around 6:30 that night, I was talking to my mom on the phone and slowly getting ready for my dinner plans at a pizza shop later that night. I started noticing a bunch of messages coming through on my phone about the dinner party. At first I thought everyone was planning ahead for the event, but quickly felt my heart drop when I realized the dinner party must have been Friday evening instead of Saturday like I thought! I panicked - it was too late for me to make my stuffing and I already had dinner plans that I couldn’t cancel. I felt slightly relieved when I realized I could drop the pumpkin pie off before dinner, but still felt incredibly bad that I had messed up.

I realized then that I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with work, overwhelmed with everything! So overwhelmed that I had missed an event that I was looking forward to so much.

Unfortuantely, there’s not a solution to my problem in the near future. I’m still incredibly busy with work and with the holidays coming up, I don’t see much of a relief from my busy schedule. I’m hoping to get back to a better work-life balance soon, but until then, here are some of the recipes from the Friendsgiving that I was unable to attend. I’m so sad that I missed out on these delicious dishes, but I’m hoping that they can provide inspiration to your Thanksgiving tables in a few weeks.

Here’s to a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving to you all!

My stuffing recipe in action last Thanksgiving.

Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

1 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1 tsp poultry seasoning or dried sage leaves, crushed

8 cups dry bread cubes (I prefer to rip them instead of cubing and leave them out overnight covered by a towel)

3/4 to 1 cup chicken broth or water

In a small saucepan, cook celery and onion in margarine or butter til tender, but not brown; remove from heat. Stir in poultry seasoning or sage, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1/8 tsp salt.

Place dry bread cubes in a bowl. Add onion mixture. Drizzle with enough broth or water to moisten, tossing lightly. Form balls of stuffing mixture and place them in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes to crisp the top.

Note: stuffing leftovers are my favorite! I think they taste better the next day. My new favorite hack is to place them in a waffle iron for breakfast on Friday.

My mom’s well-loved copy of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 1989 edition that she received for her wedding.

Bison Meatloaf

2 pounds ground bison

1 cup minced yellow onion

1 cup minced carrot

3 sage leaves

3 garlic cloves

Butter

1/4 cup Pecorino Romano

3/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tsp thyme

1/2 cup tomato paste/apple cider vinegar/molasses/sugar half for mixture; half for glaze)

Saute the onion and carrots in butter with sage leaves. Cool.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine everything except half the tomato paste mixture. Make a loaf and place in a casserole pan. Glaze the top. Place in the middle of the rack.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Remove from the oven, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

5 pounds russet potatoes (cut into 1 inch cubes)

1 bulb of garlic (roasted and mashed)

1 onion thinly sliced

Butter/olive oil mixture (enough to carmelize the onions)

1 tbsp honey

3 rosemary sprigs

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/2 cup buttermilk (or more for preferred consistency)

Carmelize onions with butter/oil mixture, rosemary, and honey. Once done, remove rosemary.

Cut up potatoes and place into a pot of water. Fill enough to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, continue to boil for 15 minutes or until you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork.

Strain the potatoes and place back into the pot. Add the carmelized onions, roasted garlic, buttermilk, and goat cheese and mix/mash. Add more buttermilk for a thinner consistency.

Dilly Beans and Burrata with Frizzled Shallots

From the More is More by Molly Baz Cookbook

4 medium shallots

1 bunch of scallions

4 garlic cloves

1 small red onion

1 bunch of dill

1 8-ounce ball of burrata cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 15.5 ounce cans of black eyed peas or other small canned bean

1/2 cup white balsamic or red wine vinegar

Frizzle the shallots: Line a plate with paper towels. Thinly slice 4 medium shallots. In a medium pot, combine half of the shallots with 1/2 cup olive oil. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring every 2 minutes or so, to encourage the shallot rings to separate and cook evenly, until golden brown and frizzled, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shallots to the paper-towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the oil in the pot. Season the shallots with salt.

Meanwhile, prep and saute the remaining alliums: While the shallots frizzle, slice 1 bunch of scallions and 4 garlic cloves. Finely chop 1 small red onion. Set the garlic aside. Dry and rinse 2 cans of black eyed peas. Return the pot to medium heat and add the sliced scallions, onions, and remaining shallots to the oil. Season with a few big pinches of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until jammy, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar, the beans, some more salt, and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Cook until just warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasioning with a lot of salt. Remove from the heat and transfer the beans to a bowl to cool.

Add the herbs and serve: When the beans are room temperature, finely chop 1 bunch of dill and stir into the beans. Transfer the beans to a serving dish and tear open an 8 ounce ball of burrata right on top. Season the burrata with salt and black pepper.

Top with the frizzled shallots and a drizzle of olive oil.

Those are all of the recipes that I’ve received so far. If I end up getting more, I’ll make a part two. Until then, enjoy!

I returned to college that fall with a growing Instragram account, even though I had no money to buy food. I started to share submissions from followers and grew to 20,000 followers by the end of my college career. At first, I loved sharing my restaurant recommendations, but I was not made for the critical comments that I received on the account. I would post late-night bar food and would receive a comment saying that I ate too many unhealthy foods. What did they expect? I was a poor college student frequenting dive bars. So, I would then share a salad and an influx of comments would come in saying “I didn’t follow this account for healthy foods”. (It really wasn’t that healthy though, because it still had french fries and Ranch dressing on top.) In 2017, I went to graduate school in Virginia and lost many followers due to not being based in my hometown anymore. The same thing happened in 2019, when I moved to Chicago for my first job as a Speech-Language Pathologist. When I finally moved back to my hometown in 2020 (earlier than expected because of global events), I started up the account again and started to share my own recipes, but felt like I was letting my followers down since they originally followed me for restaurant recommendations. I felt lost with the account.

Since I’m turning thirty in two months, I made it a goal to reach 30,000 followers on the Instagram account, as a way to celebrate a new decade and ten years of running the page. However, earlier this year, despite being just 1,000 followers shy from my goal, I decided that I no longer found joy in running the account and wanted to take a break. I realized that I wanted to share things that I enjoyed, not just what I thought my followers would want. I wanted to eat healthy sometimes and have dive bar food most of the time. I wanted to share my recipes without losing subscribers. I wanted to share food from the dinner parties that my friends and I host. There’s a possibility that I might start up the page again, but as for now, I hope to focus my entrance into a new decade focusing on myself and what I enjoy.

That being said, welcome to Supper & Stories! Earlier this year, I joined a group based in my city where I have met a lot of great friends. I go to bi-monthly craft circles with them and have even joined a board game club. In recent months, I started a group for hosting and attending dinner parties. I’ve hosted a few at my apartment and one in the summer was at a small park for a picnic. We’ve all contributed our favorite recipes or items from the store (as the great Ina Garten says - “store-bought is fine!”) and enjoy conversation throughout the night. I started to collect recipes from everyone so that we could share them in our group chat after the party. I decided that starting a Substack would be a great place to share the recipes and photos of the food. It’s also a great creative outlet for me to fill the void from my food Instagram and to share what I want to share!

I can’t wait to share recipes and photos from our first documented dinner party - a Friendsgiving event that is being hosted tomorrow! I’m hoping that by sharing the recipes now, they can inspire you to make them for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. I’m making my mom’s famous stuffing balls!