Closing Weekend Olympic Dinner Party

The Dinner Table Before the Guests Arrive

We celebrated the closing of the Olympics at our house this past weekend with an Olympic themed dinner party. Our 10 wonderful guests represented the various top medaled countries, including the United States, China, Australia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hungary, Russia, Italy, France, South Korea, Germany, and Uzbekistan. During the dinner each guests shared a little information about their country and their participation in the Olympics. It was not only fun but very interesting. We also played Olympic trivia. Again, we laughed a lot and even learned a little. 

Of course an Olympic Dinner Party is really a very good excuse for a dinner filed with international food and wine. And this dinner was just that! We served a seven course meal with complementary wines for each course.

OLYMPIC DINNER MENU

• Appetizer: Germany - Sauerkraut balls (2 per guests)
• Wine: Riesling (Greece)

• Soup: United Kingdom - Carrot and Ginger Soup (small bowl)
• Wine: Chardonnay (Australia)

• Salad: Italy (Capri) - Caprese Salad (two 1/4” slices of tomatoes and two 1/4” slices of mozzarella)
• Wine: Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)

• Sorbet: Turkey - Homemade Lemon Sorbet (one small sauce cup)
• Wine: Sparkling Wine (California)

• Main Course: United States - Fried Pork Tenderloin Medallions with rice and a wild game gravy, sautéed mushrooms and asparagus (three medallions & two mushrooms)
• Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile)

• Cheese Course: Greece - Sakanaki Cheese (a 1/4’ slice served in individual bowls)
• Wine: Retzina (Greece)

• Dessert: Russia - Strawberries Romanoff (approximately 5 - 8 berries plus topping)
• Wine: Sparkling Mascato Lounge (Italy)

I tried very hard to control the size of the portions so that everyone could get through seven courses and we limited each course to one bottle of wine to serve all twelve guests, except for the main course and we did manage to open two bottles of the red wine.

Scarlet represented the United Kingdom and Susan represented Uzbekistan

Paul represented Australia

Lacey represented the Netherlands

         

We introduced our countries between the soup and salad and played trivia during dessert. Overall, the party went very well and I can’t wait to do it again in 2014.

Olympic Trivia

When were the first ancient Olympic Games held?

Answer: 776 BC

Where was the first modern Olympic Games held?

Answer: Athens

What do the five rings represent?

Answer: The five continents: Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, & Australia

Where are the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee?

Answer: Switzerland

Where are the 2008 Olympic games held?

Answer: Beijing