Dinner Diary 32/52

Week 32 of Having People Over, and this week we celebrated baby Felix!

Felix is my younger brother Cole’s son, and at 3+ months old he is already very much accustomed to being the center of attention, which he’s handling with an effortless grace that very few babies possess. This little guy is so calm and chill! He almost never cries. After a baby blessing at our Sunday service, we gathered for a luncheon to mark the occasion properly.

One fun detail that made this particular gathering feel extra special: Cole’s wife Hannah grew up in our same community and neighborhood. The very one we live in now. Cole and Hannah currently live in New York City (the same neighborhood we used to live in, Upper West Side!), and we ended up here in our neighborhood by coincidence. So the fact that Hannah’s childhood community overlaps with our current one is one of those small things that catches me off guard when I think about it. She’s been away for years, and there are people in the neighborhood who have known and loved her since she was a kid. We haven’t really gotten to know many of them yet, so having Hannah as the connector for this luncheon felt like a gift in both directions: she got to come home for an afternoon, and I got a warm introduction to a whole pocket of our community I hadn’t reached yet.

That’s one fun surprise this resolution is delivering: Community I didn’t know I had access to, connected by the most unexpected people.

For the menu, I leaned into the kind of hosting spread that works beautifully for any luncheon occasion: baby shower, bridal shower, book club, Sunday afternoon with people you love. This has been on my list to properly develop for a while now, and Felix’s special day gave me exactly the right occasion to do it.

The anchor was Waldorf Chicken Salad served on croissants, which is the kind of thing that sounds simple and then completely wins over the room. Creamy, a little sweet, a little savory, endlessly crowd-pleasing. Served alongside a Classic Italian Pasta Salad, the Lemony Arugula Basil Salad that I can’t seem to stop making, and my Berry Salad with Lemon Cream, which continues to surprise people who underestimate a fruit salad. Mini chocolate chip cookies to finish, because they are the right size and the right call every single time.

Everything held up beautifully on the table, and felt light and summery and right for the occasion. This is officially my go-to shower menu and I’m so glad I finally have it dialed in.

Felix was a trooper and handled being passed around the room like a seasoned veteran. He even slept through large portions of it. Everyone wanted a turn. Nobody wanted to give him back. I completely understand. I was the most guilty party!

It’s been a beautiful stretch of family time these past few weeks, and I’m not taking a single Sunday of it for granted.

Always happy we hosted.

See you next Sunday at 5.

xo, Kelsey