I usually try and do some sort of dinner party in either November or January. January is usually my 'Blues' theme. But I have done several in November over the years and I started thinking about doing one this past November- I actually started thinking about it last July when I was on the golf course with friends who were going to be invited and I casually started asking them when they would be out of town for 'parents' weekend as I didn't want a conflict and really wanted them to come.
The idea.....
I set up another gmail account and sent emails out to nearly everyone. I signed the email, 'Mystery'. I told them they were invited to a mystery destination in their zipcode. Many people ignored the email. Or, maybe it went to their spam folder? So I sent a snail mail to those who never responded. In the end, there were several that never responded. We wanted to make it feel safe for everyone so we continually added clues that would help/encourage them to respond and become enthusiastic about the evening.
You have been invited to a Mystery Destination Dinner, November 5.
We hope you are free. Please respond to ........
Mad Men theme~
For those who did respond, I had to send them an email often so they wouldn't forget. I decided to base this 'dinner party' on Mad Men. So my first email was: I'm not a blonde but it's a 'Betty Draper' kind of dinner party.
I also asked the guests to submit a clue about themselves. These are a few:
She swears like a truck driver and beats most men at golf.
Her husband thinks she’s coachable
original COKE models
placed second in her first sprint triathlon
Miss Bock Beer
She fiddles, he strums... a new vintage happily paired.
And for the attire:
“What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.”
”You’re the most hireable man on Madison Avenue”
I told them a little bit about the service for dinner ~
'You’ve been axed' ( knife)
'When God closes a door, he opens a dress' ( spoon)
'If you had your way, I’d be stranded in some paperweight with my legs stuck up in the air' ( fork)
'She wanted me to be beautiful so I could find a man. There’s noting wrong with that. But then what? Just sit and smoke and let it go till you’re in a box? '( napkin)
Some of the guests worked very, very hard to find out who was hosting. Some thought it was a spoof. The tricky part was to get them to our house. I told them all that the last email, with directions would be coming the night before the party. They were told to drive down a certain street and look for the 'Welcome' sign. I think the directions were the most difficult part of this event.
The Menu was printed on both sides- one side used Episode titles and the reverse side of the card had the real menu
MENU- Mad Men terms~
Appies-Mad Men titles excluded
Potato Balls fried in Duck Fat
Onion Dip in a Savory Shell
First Course:
The Good News
.Second Course ~
My Old Kentucky Home
Entree~
The Public Relations
Wee Small Hours
Salad ~
Love Among the Ruins
A Small Raise
Dessert ~
The Suitcase
MENU -real terms
Potato Balls Fried in Duck Fat
Onion Dip- in a mini cup
First Course – amuse Bouche~
Fig in Pear Broth with Gorgonzola; Fois Gras
Second Course
Root Soup with Cilantro Oil
Third Course
Caesar Salad
Fourth Course
Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce
Asparagus
Fifth Course
Pumpkin Cookies with Rum Raisin Ice Cream and salted Caramel Sauce
The menu had names for various Mad Men episodes. Name tags were given and the name tag, instead of a name, had a quote from an episode. Not everyone knew everyone else. I thought it was a good conversation starter. It was an interesting mix but I have to say they were all truly the fun, and adventurous friends I like to have surround me/us.
Entertainment
What to do if it was not going to be a fun evening? I passed out Mad Men questionnaires. There was one for women and one for men. There wasn't enough time to read the results so I told the guests there might be a sequel next year.
