“The cocktail party has a simple function in modern society. Its basic purpose is to pay off social debts.”
Today is cold and rainy. I even had to close a couple of windows. Last night a heavy wind was the opening act for this rain which didn’t start until after I’d gone to bed but has been steady ever since. Tonight I have company coming for dinner, and we’ll have to eat inside, and they’ll miss the loveliness of an evening on the deck. I took an inside shower this morning, the first inside one since early June.
Today isn’t like a summer rain, the sort which falls gently and cools the day a bit. It feels more like an autumn rain with a hint of the colder weather to come. When I was a kid, my mother used to make us stay in on rainy, chilly summer days like today. I never minded. It was always a favorite sort of day when I could nestle under the covers with my bed lamp lit over my head and a good book in my hand. Most times I wasn’t bothered. My little sisters often played in the cellar with their dolls and doll carriages, and I don’t remember where my brother went. I got to be alone with my book.
This is a busy week for me. The last plays are this week for both my Wednesday and Friday theaters, and on Saturday I’m having a cocktail party. I know it sounds really fiftyish, even to me. I picture women in puffy skirted dresses and men in suits and ties all carrying martini glasses complete with olives on toothpicks. The table has several cheese balls, some covered in nuts, and a variety of chaffing dishes. I think one must have cocktail franks and maybe another has Swedish meatballs. Is that a fancy jelly mold with suspended fruit on a plate beside the cheese ball? I can even picture the groups of men standing and the women sitting. Most are smoking. The men discuss sports and the women discuss their kids and maybe even other women.
That is not my party. Dress is casual, and there won’t be a single cheese ball or cocktail frank.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
August 23, 2010 at 1:54 pm
The only coctail parties I´ve seen has been on films. I don´t think we have them over here at all. But I do also get that picture in my head 🙂
I do like those rainy days when I have a good book or two, but not if they come to often like they have these last weeks. We´ll have one tomorrow again but this time I´ve decided to re read my Harry Potter books. Like them a lot and they are so much better than the movies.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
August 23, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Christer,
I went to one a long time ago, and it was dressy. We all stood awkwardly with our glasses in hand and munched daintily. I hope mine will be comfortable and fun. I even have live music!
I just reread the last Harry Potter and will probably give it another go just before the movie comes out.
August 23, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Hi Kat,
I’m nestled on the couch with the dog, the laptop, my Kindle and knitting. I need not stir for anything on this cold and rainy day. Maybe tea. The rain is alternating between sideways drizzle and straight down drizzle. Very good for the lawns.
I can’t remember ever going to an official cocktail party. Non-dinner parties were usually referred to as pickie parties. The term “cocktail party” conjures up similar images for me. Stiletto heels, little black sheath, cocktail napkin and drinks glass held in one hand while the other hand holds a delicate munchette on a cocktail stick. 🙂
Have a great party.
August 23, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Hi Caryn,
I had to do a bit of shopping, and I got soaked. It is break time for me then back to dinner preparations. I have meat which needs to be barbecued so I’m in a quandary. I guess I’ll get my big umbrella from the car and cook outside anyway.
My friend and I gave a cocktail party before the theater years ago, and that was the only one I remember. All the women wore dresses because we always wore them to the play. It was far different back then.
I’m having this catered. I’ve hired a bartender and another person to fill the dishes and bring the dirty ones to the kitchen. I’m also having live music: a guitarist and bassist. I’m pretty excited!
August 23, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Kat,
Don’t forget the Shrimp! No cocktail party is complete without shrimp and hot sauce or several sauces. I actually went to a only Martini party and never like them regardless. The one a old New Yorker made with two olives and small onion was rather delicious. The second one tasted funny.
August 23, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Z&Me,
Shrimp is on the menu as are lobster rolls. No party is complete without shrimp.
I have never been able to drink a martini. It tastes too much like alcohol. I like my drinks disguised.
August 23, 2010 at 5:49 pm
As a little girl, I loved when my parents had cocktail parties. It was interesting watching adults who I had viewed as a bit “up tight” turn into adults that were just “tight!” LOL For some reason, I remember plates of deviled eggs, interspersed with olives and pickles. I miss my parents and all their wonderful friends. Do you think there is a “cocktail party in the sky?” HAHAHA
August 23, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Rita,
My parents had lots of parties with lots of cocktails. I remember dips were big and there were bowls of chips, and my mother did have chaffing dishes with meatballs.
I know there’s one!
August 23, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Perhaps just one cheese ball,the kind with really sharp cheese and covered with nuts? I can’t pull myself away from those at parties. And will you be serving highballs? It’s a word I recall from my childhood. It sounded like a combination of classy and racy, but was perhaps so named because it was served in a tall glass.
August 23, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Bill,
My parents always drank highballs, and you’re right about those tall glasses. My nephew is coming, and I asked what he drank so I could make sure I had it. He told me whiskey then said, you know, highballs. I think my parents would have loved hearing that!
August 23, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Paying off social debt is certainly important in some circles, but not so much amongst friends.
I found the following site and immediately thought you might be interested in it also. Even though they don’t list my favorite stand, and I didn’t see a one listed in the Greenfield there are lots of appealing ones here.(I suppose they are not old or maybe picturesque enough).
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/maic2.html
Carl
MT C
August 24, 2010 at 11:58 am
Hi Carl,
I hope all is well in your corner of the world!
One of my favorite stands is here: Four Seas in Centerville. It is a bit away from here, but the ice cream is scrumptious.
Thanks-I do love my ice cream!
August 23, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Cocktail parties are my favorite from every point of view. Enjoy yourself.
August 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Thanks, Rowen
I’m pretty excited about this party. The weather is supposed to be great so that’s a relief. I have my flow chart-the best guarantee for success!