What's a trendy dinner party menu?

first, a ginger-carrot soup would be great, especially if its cold. you have to pure the carrots in a special way to get the right texture though. if i could find the recipe, i would send it to you.

for a salad, try lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, avacado, slightly roasted pine nuts, and uncooked ramen noodles with a dressing of 1 third olive oil, 1 third wine vinegar, salt, pepper, a sqeeze of half a lemon and sun dried tomatoes.

on to the main dishes. i cant find the recipe anywhere and ive been looking frantically for a few weeks. its called chicken marbella and its chicken, cooked at 375 degrees with olives, apricots, capers, and i have no idea about the liquid parts. you can also try a spiced brisket with a good, peppery rub and pour the chicken gravy on it for a spicy and sweet combination.

for dessert, i would suggest making baclava. it does require a few days preparation because the sweets have to drain tthrough to the bottom. another possibility is to make french toast souffle. you take thick slices of challah bread and lay them out, possibly with blueberries in between, and pour honey mixed with a little bit of cinnamon powder and a bit of mint would be nice. let it soak through over night, and put it in the oven while eating the salad, and check up on it throughout the meal. if the bread is stacked correctly, it should be puffed up when it is ready with a golden brown tint. this takes practise and its hard to explain it without showing you. my mom is a pro at it.

im getting hungry so ill stop now. as you can probably tell, this is based upon sweet and spicy that some people love, and others wont appreciate as much. good luck!!

For summer, how about a chilled soup (perhaps some version of a gazpacho), a salad of fresh tomatoes (I like to mix heirloom types), thin slices of fresh mozzarella alternated on the platter with the tomatoes, a light drizzle of good quality EVOO and a chiffonade of fresh basil. Then for the main course you could bake an Italian torta. After that, I want someting light. Light but elegant. How about two or three layers of chocolate meringue with fresh raspberries on each drizzled on top with a chocolate glaze.