Fall Dinner Party

Komi-style dates stuffed with mascarpone and Greek yogurt
Butternut squash soup with creme fraiche and chives
Cheddar-bacon-green onion souffles with salad
Roast pork tenderloin with apples and onions, roasted red potatoes with thyme, green beans
Pear-ginger strudel with ginger custard sauce

Guests: Nicole, Sullins and Brian

The dates were awesome. I bought maybe half a pound and could have used twice that. I may go buy some more to use up the extra filling. Beth found a great finishing salt at Williams-Sonoma with nice flat flakes that made the perfect sprinkle.

Creme fraiche is very nice in the soup. Sour cream works, but it's nice to spring for the extra creaminess.

The souffle recipe made what seemed like an awful lot of cheese base. I made a recipe and a half, expecting eight people, but the five of us ate half of that (so 3/4 of a batch) quite comfortably. Of course, that was as one course among many, so the larger serving might be better if it's the main event. The souffles did not rise to quite the towering heights I had hoped for, but I was a bit rushed so I may not have whipped the egg whites quite long enough. For individual souffles I kept the temp at 375 but dropped the cook time to 20 minutes.