Seven Deadly Sins Dinner

I received several emails this past week from people who liked the idea of the Titanic themed dinner and wondered if I've had any other theme dinners. The answer is YES! This past May, I held a Seven Deadly Sins dinner. I wrote a post detailing that incredibly devilish night. I thought I'd re-post it for you. Enjoy!


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SEVEN DEADLY SINS
A Delightfully Devilish Downward Spiral to the Dark side of Damnation


In other words: a Dragon Dinner Party

Prologue: Inspiration

The idea, like all inspirational ideas, was simple. I was watching an episode of Top Chef, where each contestant had to create a dish inspired by one of the 7 deadly sins. Great idea, right? Except the contestants’ dishes were less than inspiring. I doubt you could get a month in purgatory for what they came up with; let alone eternal hellfire. I can do better, I thought. And not just one dish. Why not do all seven?

And thus the Seven Deadly Sins Dinner was born.



Planning it out: WWTDC (What Would the Devil Cook?)

The first thing I had to do is figure out what these sins even were. This required a trip to Wikipedia. The seven deadly sins are: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Wrath.

My overriding goal was to match the right Sin with the right Dish, slotted in the right Course. I also didn't want to make the “obvious” choices. You might expect Lust to come first, and perhaps Sloth last (as my guests could become slow and lethargic after a full meal), but I felt it would add an element of suspense if my dinner guests were never sure what was coming next.

I wanted to use as many fresh ingredients as possible, and I didn't want overly complicated dishes. I wanted my guests to feel they had been to a special occasion, but not leave feeling overly full and exhausted. I chose dishes that could be served in small portions, which would allow people to take more if they so desired.

My guests for this dinner were part of a loose “foodie” club we had going, meeting at each other’s houses from time to time. They were Kathy, Tim, Greg, Marg and Lynn. In particular, Kathy was a big help ahead of time, as a sounding board for different ideas, and helping me perfect my recipes. I spent about a month trying to decide what I wanted to serve, how each “sin” could be highlighted, and then another month “testing” various recipes and getting ready for the big night.



The Big Night – Showtime!

The night of my dinner, I had everything ready to go. I had the food preparation under control, as I was able to make a lot of it ahead of time. I set the table simply and added lots of candlelight to set the mood. Speaking of setting the mood, I went with the soft and soulful music of Norah Jones and Amos Lee on the stereo. Kathy and Tim arrived early to help me cook and they also brought the wines for each course. Kathy surprised me with printed menus to add to each place setting. At the end of the night my guests would be able to take home a souvenir of our sinful evening.

My guests arrived excited, and a little nervous, as any sinners should be! I took their coats and had them gather around my living room, explaining how the dinner would run, by courses.

“There is one small addition,” I told them with a wicked grin, “something I may have forgotten to mention. For each course, for each sin, you must each make a confession. And, at the end of the night, I’ll decide if you receive absolution for your sins.”

The meal was ready to begin!


Click on each sin or photo below to view the recipes, why I chose
the dish for
the sin and some of my guests' sinful confessions.


Seven Deadly Sins Menu

WRATH
Apéritif – Spicy Sangria


GREED
Amuse Bouche – Herb & Cheese Savory Cookies with Balsamic Syrup


ENVY
Third course – Seafood Salad with Tomato, Avocado and Mango


PRIDE
Main course – Crown Roast of Lamb with Shallots, Mustard and Mint
Golden Saffron Rice
Minted Spring Vegetables


SLOTH
Fifth course – Aged Cheeses, Bread & Spiced Olive Oil


LUST
Sixth course – Luscious Chocolate Fondue with Sensual Fruits & Nuts

GLUTTONY
Seventh course – Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream & Raspberry Coulis
Coffee/Tea


ABSOLUTION
Aprés Dinner - Brandy and Forgiveness




With Love,
Dragon

p.s. You can find out where to buy the seven deadly sins plates and tea set by clicking on their photos.

I would also like to thank my dear friend, Kathy for her help in planning the dinner and for helping me with the photos.

41 comments:

Brilynn said...

What a fun themed party! Everything looks great, well done!

Anonymous said...

This is so much fun!! What a great idea. Very nicely done.

Susan said...

Clever! Starting with the sangria and finishing with the brandy makes it so much easier to swallow all those sins in between. : D

Dragon said...

Brilyn, Kristen & Susan: Thanks, Ladies! It was a fun night.

Jeanne said...

That is one of the very best ideas I have ever seen for a dinner party! Please please can I be invited to the next one?? My only amendment would be to end with Absinthelution next time :o)

Dragon said...

Thanks Jeanne! Absinthelution is a wonderful suggestion. Although, I might have to make it an overnight party then. LOL! That's ok, because the dinner leftovers were great for breakfast.

whall said...

I thought the 7 deadly sins were blogs, tv, wii, ipods, digital cameras, myspace and twitter?

Dragon said...

Well, Whall, those are the "nouveau" deadly sins. :) I'm choosing to focus on the classics.

Karl said...

Sounds like a wonderful dinner, aside from the seafood salad. I don't do seafood. But enough Sangrias and I won't even care that I'm skipping a course.

Dragon said...

Karl: One of my guests didn't like seafood as well. The salad tasted great even without the shrimp. You can still enjoy lots of Sangria though. :)

Rowan: Confessions were part of the dinner, although no one confessed to genocide. That might have earned you an extra glass of wine and profiterole.

Thistlemoon said...

BRILLIANT post!

Laura Paterson said...

An amazing idea - wonderfully executed!

I've had fun reading through all your posts - I'd love to do a dinner like this! :D

Chibog in Chief said...

Ha haha, I must admit you got me there. I got scared at the beginning reading your title..but as the post advance..it was ooh so yummy!

Anonymous said...

Oh interesting and clever! I've enjoyed discovering your blog!

Dee said...

Very witty, Dragon! I've never even thought about having a properly themed dinner, and I think it's high time I do. You know this has the makings of a seven-part blogging event (hint, hint).

My sins are Pride, Lust and Gluttony :)

By the way, I love your dishes - where did you find the pretty tea set?

Maria said...

Wow, what a fun post!! SO creative! I love it!

Deborah said...

What a fun idea for a dinner party! I remember that Top Chef, and wondered where they came up with some of their ideas. Your whole dinner sounds great!

Anonymous said...

My..my..., When is the next party? My favorite is your pride course!!!
you should open a restaurant! :)

Doo Dah said...

I love you dragon. This sounds scrumptious. I am definately going to do this menu and you shall get full credit.

Husband and I are in a Gourmet Club. (who'da thunk it, ME? lol shows ya'll how deep I really am :-) )Perhaps I should post some of the themes and menus for all to see also.

Thanks for the smart menu!

Marija said...

What a brilliant idea!

Anna said...

I love themed dinners and partys! I've got so excited just reading this; may have to steal your idea, I think XD. Love the dishes and cups too, heh.

Thistlemoon said...

This is pure genius, I tell you! Theme dinner rule! :)

Núria said...

Do you hear me clapping all the way from Spain? Bravo, bravo, bravo!!! A brilliant post! With wonderful food, fantastic idea and so nicely and perfectly explained and showed! I have no more words left!

I might copy your idea with some friends!!!!

Anonymous said...

Amazing. The amount of time and energy you took putting this together! You should repost it once a month!!! Next time I want an invite!

Anonymous said...

I sure would like to be on your guest list!

Dragon said...

kittie: It is a lot of fun and if I can do it, you can too.

dhanggit: Didn't mean to scare you, darling. :)

candy: Thank you. :)

dee: Those are the best sins! If you click on the dish photos, it will take you to the site where you can buy them.

maria: Thanks!

ben: Maybe we can organize some sort of mini convention where we get a whole bunch of food bloggers together for a seven deadly sins dinner. :)

deborah: Top chef is addictive, isn't it?

zita: Aww, shucks. Thanks.

doo dah: Welcome back, baby! Thank you. Let me know how your dinner goes. I want to hear all about it. :) And I want to see all the themes and menus from your club.

marija: Thanks!

jen: Yes they do! And thank you.

nuria: I think I can hear you clapping. Thanks you, my friend. Let me know how the dinner turns out for you.

dawnielle: Thank you, Babe! Repost every month? Well that would make my life easier these days. :) I've been extremely busy with work that I haven't posted as often as I'd like.

madam: You'd be welcome anytime, my friend.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

OMG!!!! This blows my mind! I loved it, the names of the dishes and conections, the introduction, everything! Just great!

Bunny said...

You certainly know how to throw a party don't you!! Come visit me I have an award for you.

Natasha said...

Wow, a brilliant idea and such a great meal! although I don't think I could follow it through!

Jeanne said...

I've said it before - I *love* the theme for this dinner. In fact, I think when you origially posted it, this was the first post of yours to catch my eye - and now I'm hooked. :)

Andrea said...

Looks amazing. You did a much better job coming up with food to match the sins than the Top Chefs did! Brava!

Laurie said...

This looks like it was so much fun! I just love your blog...and I was in Waterloo just 2 weekends ago.

Maggie said...

I've always wanted to do a seven deadly themed meal. I really like the aged cheeses for sloth.

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and the page about the 7 deadly Sins dinner! The whole thing is very inspiring! I think i will try it and of course give you credit for it. I will let you know!
Marie in Montreal
PS: I may be wrong but it seems to me that the 7 sins you have used for your theme are Venial sins, not Deadly sins. This way we can all feel no so sinfull!! But then again, all sins can be excused!

Creative Classroom Core said...

I love theme parties! What a fantastic idea!!! So creative!

Jamie said...

Thanks for sending me a link to this post; it is brilliant! Yes, the food looks amazing, but the idea truly is wickedly fun! I guess I need to try harder!

Cheers,
Jamie

Jenny Georgio-who said...

Wow. What a wonderful idea. I just called my husband all excited about this and my husband is so excited to do a themed dinner party like this! I'm going to do this party soon adn then try to come up with my own themed party! This is a great great idea!!

I <3 that I found this blog!

Lynne Daley said...

A wonderfully unique party! Brilliant! Wish I could have been part of it.

Barbara Bakes said...

Wow! I want to come to a party at your house!

Marissa said...

I'm speechless with greed and envy. I want to party at YOUR HOUSE!

Julie said...

Cool idea! Also really enjoyed your Titanic dinner pictures! Gearing up for my own!

 
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