My husband and I belong to a Gourmet Dinner Club and it's such fun to rotate to different homes each month. Last night it was our turn to host!

Hosting together was a blast! He loves to plan and so do I. I love to make things beautiful and he loves to make things taste incredible. We make a good team and it's always fun to find things to do together that we enjoy!

It was a blast preparing the table scape as well as the menu.

I created this menu on Microsoft Publisher and printed them on card stock. The turquoise print matched one of the leaves on the tablecloth. The menu was a bit of fun added to the table and made for great conversation as the guests were seated.

Casa Roca is our house name.

Fresh flowers always make a nice statement on a table. I bought the small vases about a year ago and hadn't used them yet so it was great to pull those out.

I made the napkin rings out of ribbon and they added a pop of color and interest to the table!

I had this beautiful round tray and it happened to coordinate with the tablecloth so it was in the center of the table. I placed all the flowers on the tray and I think it really made a nice centerpiece and smelled divine.

My girls enjoyed helping me set up so it became a family affair. Of course they didn't want to have anything to do with the thousands of dishes that were in sink after the party :(

We had Bruschetta for the Starters as well as hot crab dip. We tried to prepare as much as possible ahead of time so we weren't too frantic when our guests arrived.

Everyone was served champagne as they arrived with a raspberry floating on top :)

We served a wedge salad with blue cheese or ranch dressing as our starter.

Visit Pinterest to get the recipe I used.

The main entree was roasted carrots with shallots and thyme.

Visit Pinterest to get the recipe.

English roasted potatoes. These are my absolute favorite and growing up I was the one who had to make them each Sunday after church.

Visit here for a great recipe!

Rib Eye Steak with Devil's Sauce cooked to perfection.

Visit here for the recipe.

The sweet raspberry jam in the sauce made it divine.

We then had this chocolate delight for our dessert. I made them in individual glasses so it was easy to serve out on the patio with coffee.

Visit here for the recipe.

Ruthie's Party Tip: Plan as much as you can in advance. You want things to be fresh but things you can do ahead of time make it less stressful for you. You want to be a good host or hostess and not be frazzled to the max when you guests arrive. We always allow for about 20 minutes before the party to sit and just relax before everyone shows up. We put it on our "to do" list for the party day. I even have the coffee ready to brew so I don't have to think about that later either.

The best part of the whole evening was the conversation, laughter and time shared together!

Hope your week is filled with beauty! Remember I can help you with your next party. I offer a party consultation that helps you walk through all the details of planning a party and how to "use what you have" for the setup. It's money well spent and lots of stress relieved on your part.