dinner party need ideas?!

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Double this if appropriate, but it's very good.

Pork Chops in Creamy Wine Sauce

? 1 tablespoon olive oil
? 4 pork loin chops (about 5 ounces each)
? 1/4 cup chopped shallots
? 2 teaspoons dried thyme
? 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
? 1 cup dry white wine
? 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
? 1 cup milk

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork with salt and black pepper and add to hot pan. Cook 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove pork from pan and set aside. To the same pan, add shallots and cook 2 minutes, until soft.

Add thyme and tarragon and cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add sparkling wine and cook 1 minute.

Whisk flour into milk and add to pan. Return pork to pan and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, until pork is cooked through and sauce thickens. Serve 4 pork chops with all of the sauce.

Roasted duck with licorice-Pinot noir sauce

Ingredients
3 tablespoons honey
2 tangerines, sliced, seeded
1 1/2 cups Pinot noir
1/3 cup stock
8 small licorice jelly beans, halved
6 large duck breast halves, about 1/2 lb each
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Method
Heat oven to 350°

Simmer honey in medium saucepan over moderate heat 1 minute. Add tangerines, cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Strain honey into another sauce pan; reserving citrus.

Add wine and stock to honey. Cook over moderate heat until reduce to about 1/2 cup, about 25 minutes. Add halved jelly beans. Remove from heat; let stand until sauce has developed licorice flavor, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the duck breasts. With a sharp knife score top of each duck breast in diamond pattern. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat skillet, add 3 duck breasts, skin side down. Cook over moderate heat until skin is deep brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Spoon off fat as needed. Turn duck, cook until browned on bottom about 3 minutes. Transfer duck to baking sheet covered with foil, skin side down. Discard remaining fat from skillet. Repeat with remaining breasts.

Bake duck until medium rare, or when an instant read thermometer reads about 160°, about 12 minutes. Transfer to carving board, skin side up, cover with foil. Let rest 5 minutes.

Remove licorice from sauce; heat to boil. Remove from heat, whisk in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Thinly slice duck breasts; arrange with honeyed tangerines on plates. Drizzle with sauce.

Now days a lot of people are vegetarians, vegans or have food allergies so I always serve a tossed salad that has lots of vegetables in it in case someone shows up that won't eat meat or dairy products.
I use hearts of romain
spinach
tomato
green onion
broccoli
celery
cucumber (with seeds removed)
green and black olives..
I leave the olives whole so people can pick them out if not liked.
to go with it I would serve Pork loin ( 2 loins for 6 people) seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, salt , pepper, and Mrs Dash seasoning, season 2 hours before cooking, then cook on 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done. Fresh green beans would also go perfect and it's easy to make
1 lb fresh beans for 6 people,bring pot of water to boil, insert beans cook for 4 minutes remove and drain.,place beans on towel and pat dry,.,.put 2 tbs of olive oil in large skillet on med high heat, add dried beans and stir, then add 2 pinches of salt, black pepper and 1 tsp of minced garlic..cook for 4 minutes and serve..

You can buy pre seasoned pork loin at any local store. I think the BBQ one is the best. I always add bbq sauce to it and top it with red, green, and yellow bell peppers and onions before I bake it. You can make all different kinds of sides.

- potatoe salad
-baked potatoes
-baked beans
-green bean casserole
- apple stuffing

--Good luck..hope this helps..