Thanks to our wonderful crowd of old friends and new faces who came to the dinner last Sunday night at Zokos! It was so much fun.

Our guests did justice to the spread of lamb meatballs, potato and mushroom fritters, shallot yogurt, tomato cucumber and mint salad, and fresh herb and feta platter.

Thanks to Hot Bread Kitchen for the beautiful barbari bread and nan-e qandi that they delivered early Sunday morning, I’m thrilled to have a local Persian bread baker!

In the process of throwing the party, I got to know the workings of Zokos, the “Kickstarter for dinner parties” website that hosted the event. They have a good system, and one that I’ll use again for throwing a party or event because it’s super easy to use. The only thing that can’t change once it’s set is the RSVP deadline, which is good for the host because it helps guests make a decision earlier than they otherwise might, leaving you more time plan (and in my case, shop for food).

I’m sorry we had to stop accepting guests at a certain point because we were sold out, I would have loved to have you but there was only so much food! That said, because we got such a positive response, I’ll be doing a lot more of these dinners, probably in the spring closer to when the new cookbook comes out.

I’ll be turning in the second edit of the book next week, and I’m really happy with how it’s looking. I’m so excited to share it with you come spring. I’ll be indoors writing this weekend, so please go out and enjoy lots of sunshine for me, and savor these ripe and juicy days of late summer!

Photos: Maanasa Sarabu