POM Wonderful Dinner Party Recap!
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how cool it was that I got selected to be one of 100 people across the country to host a POM Dinner Party. Two crates and 40 pomegranates later, my dinner party was a wild success, and the guests are still talking about the menu – and the crazy apron POM sent for me to wear.
Let’s get started on the party recap, which includes….drum roll please…..a how-to pictorial on opening a pomegranate, and lots and lots of photos of our seemingly endless stream of pomegranate inspired platters!
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| Dinner Guests Abby, Theresa, Me, Amy, Linda |
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| Dinner Guests Abby, Theresa, Me, Amy, Josie |
For some reason, and I’ll blame delirium after spending about 10 hours straight in the kitchen, we didn’t think to set the camera to snap a photo of all of us together. Hence, the two group shots – one with Josie, and the other with Linda. So, there were a total of six of us – a girls’ night in, pomegranate extravaganza!
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| Beautiful Fresh Pomegranate Arils |
The table decorations themselves morphed out of things I already had at the house, as I had decided to make my meal as local, sustainable, and frugal as possible. The evolution of the table-scape can be seen below:
Next up, the menu – served family style at the table, with as many local “farm-to-table” ingredients I could get my hands on.
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| Pomegranate-Citrus Glazed Roast Chicken stuffed with garlic, onions, lime, lemon, orange, thyme, sage (chicken is local, free-range, organic, farm-to-table) |
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| Acini di Pepe Vegetarian Pomegranate Salad pomegranate arils, mint, flat-leaf parsley, slivered almonds, minced garlic (mint and parsley courtesy of Truffula Seed Produce) |
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| Pomegranate Dipping Aioli -roast potato accompaniment- pomegranate juice, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, sour cream, thyme (Thyme courtesy of Truffula Seed Produce) |
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| Roast Potatoes blue/Yukon gold,/fingerling potatoes, green onions, thyme, garlic, sea salt, cracked black pepper (potatoes, green onions, and thyme courtesy of Truffula Seed Produce) |
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| Fall Simple Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette pomegranate arils, sliced almonds, arugula, field greens, flat-leaf parsley (parsley courtesy of Truffula Seed Produce) |
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| Pomegranate Cosmo vodka, triple sec, fresh lime juice, POM Wonderful juice |
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| Pomegranate Swirl Orange Scented Cheesecake with Pomegranate Citrus Reduction |
Lastly, as a parting gift, POM Wonderful sent me eight canvas bags to give out to my guests, stuffed with a how-to guide to opening a pomegranate, a coupon for a free bottle of POM Wonderful juice, and a set of recipe cards from their 2010 Chef Series. In addition to that awesome swag, I included a pomegranate and:
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| Pomegranate Sugar Cookies Yarn dyed and spun by Abby of Folktale Fibers |
The night ended with full bellies and lots of laughs, but before my guests left, I made sure to show them (step-by-step) how to open and de-aril a pomegranate:
And there you have it! My successful POM Wonderful Dinner Party – so much fun!
Last Updated on June 4, 2015 by Liza Hawkins
Liza Hawkins
Hi, I'm Liza, a self-proclaimed word-nerd who loves getting sucked into whimsical stories and epic movies. I have laid-back, practical attitude towards life, and as a foodie at heart, I relish the chance to both cook and eat. (No picky-eater here!) Always on the hunt for good eats, easy recipes, binge-worthy shows, relaxing road trip destinations, the perfect mojito and time to finish my novel!
11 Comments
Valentine
Love the filter you used for the photographs. The food and decor look great – well done! I hosted last night but running out the door for work for the week … hope to get them up soon!
erica
You MADE all of that? Looks divine, but I am assuming you never want pomegranates ever again!
Liza
@Valentine – can’t wait to see everyone else’s party recaps!
@Erica – I made all of it, and yes, I’m pomegranated out for now. 🙂 Good thing they’re only in season for a short while! Very versatile though…
Jackie (WritRams)
WOW. This was an AMAZING post. I felt like I was reading–and looking at pictures from–some upscale foodie mag!
Cool pics on opening the pomegranate. Had no idea!
I can really appreciate that you made it as local as possible. Looks super fun AND YUMMY!
PS–LOVE LOVE LOVE the centerpiece. Beautiful!
Liza
@Jackie – Thanks!!! I love the photo technique too…think I’m going to continue that for future posts. 🙂
Mia Love
quite simply – Yum!
Wendy
Your party came out lovely…especially drooling over the cheesecake! What are you doing w/your leftover poms? I have 20+ left and have been sharing with friends and family. Going to use some for Thanksgiving next week. Good luck…your party came out great!
Liza
@Wendy – I have no pomegranates left; only a small bag of arils in a baggy in the fridge. After the party was over, I still had about 20 left. Gave them to my sister who de-ariled them, and froze the arils for use throughout the year. Smart!
Kathy Gori
I love your giant POM centerpiece and that cheesecake, OMG! What a feast you prepared.
Kelsey
Fun!! I loved reading your recap — as I just posted mine. Absolutely LOVE the POM sugar cookies!!
Liza
Kathy and Kelsey – Thank you! The cheesecake and sugar cookies were both sooooooo yummy, and really quite simple! I’ll be continuing to post the recipes over the next week or so. Stay tuned!