Like I was saying on Monday, my dinner party started out like this:

And ended up like this:

Just for reference, I’ve planned an outdoor dinner party twice and it has rained exactly 100% of the time, despite the weatherman promising perfect weather. I feel very sorry for myself.

Anywho, I didn’t have time to cry because all my stuff was about to get ruined and I had only precious minutes to get everything inside. I managed to save everything but the lanterns. Sadly, they died.

Even though I couldn’t use most of the big fancy things I got for the outdoor party in my tiny apartment, I still had my Gipsy Kings Pandora station and some delicious food. Food that I almost died making, but that’s neither here nor there. And one of my gurlfrenz brought over her calavera to contribute to the decor. Add that to Cat Robinson’s beautifully designed menu and we had a fancy dinner party once again. (She’s such a talented graphic designer and so great to work with!)

We started with a yummy bean salsa and mojitos — both of which were gone before I thought to photograph them. Whoopsies!

Our next course was a watermelon gazpacho that was pretty good, although we all agreed a serving half this size was more appropriate. And maybe I would use less onion and garlic. I also think I might give the whole thing a quick whirl in the food processor to smooth out the chunks. While beautiful, this recipe was a bit to salsa-esque for my taste.

After the gazpacho came the tilapia tacos with corn and jicama salsa. Yum!

And then my masterpiece: the flan that almost killed me (but DID kill a spatula, a saucepan, a cake pan, a food processor, multiple towels, and basically my entire kitchen). It was a huge pain to make BUT! It. Was. Dee. LICIOUS. I highly recommend this recipe — and having someone else make it for you so you don’t have to deal with it.

All in all, I think it was a successful evening… But I’m definitely eating takeout for the next 57 days.