The Year of the Rabbit

Cinta may be an Indonesian word....

However, that is usually where our Asian "flair" has ended. At least until this last weekend when we pulled off our first Chinese inspired buffet. Two new concepts Cinta hasn't ever really had to tackle before. Buffet. And Chinese.

When first approached with the idea of this dinner both Jereme and I were a little overwhelmed. Cooking for a big group of twenty four is one thing, but to throw in cooking Chinese food and the fact that they wanted everything to be heavy Hors D’oeurves...now there is a challenge. Cooking mini of anything in large quantity is always more work. But I am happy with how the menu turned out. It is listed below…

Chinese Shrimp with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce
Variety of Mini Wanton Cups
Shiitake Mushrooms & Spinach
Tofu and Black Kale
Crispy Beef
Orange Chicken
Hoisin BBQ Chicken Skewers
Shanghai Noodles
Chinese Long Beans with Garlic and Soy Sauce
Sticky Rice wrapped in Banana Leaves
Cucumber Soup Shooters
Egg Rolls
Rice Vegetable Wraps & Rice Shrimp Wraps

Chinese Doughnuts
Chinese Almond Cookies
Pineapple Tarts
Five Spice Peanuts


Over all the dinner went great! We were quite prepared going into the dinner and I felt the prep work we had done was one of the best. We knew this would be a challenge for us, because we normally don't have to such a variety of food, and for everything to be ready to go all at the same time is a big hurtle. What we learned. We seriously can once again never prep too much in advance..we were down the wire, and the last hour was stressful in multiple ways. However, in the end we pulled it off as usual. I’m also happy with how the décor came together. It was simple and although I wish we would have had more tropical “Asian” flowers its hard for me to find them at this time of the year/ without having a wholesaler/ a florist friend. Someday right?

Cinta had a great team to help out as well. With that many people the extra hands is exactly what we needed. Thanks Adam and Alissa! And stay tuned! We have two back to back dinners this weekend! So more pictures and dinner craziness to come :)

A love for love

My dream videographer!

A few weeks ago I stumbled accross this amazing company who does wedding films, Jo Simon Wedding Films ..and they are seriously the best wedding films i've ever come across of. They truly tell the story of one of the best days these couples will ever have. They are fun, touching, sentimental, and just beautiful. Anyways.. the video below is one of my favorites..but thier blog has some great videos as well. Check them out! They are fantastic!

What's been going on in the life of Cinta

Wow...how did we end up in 2011 already?

It feels like yesterday we were thinking about the holiday's and boom here we are looking upon Valentine's Day. Cinta had an exciting December starting with a Surprise 50th Birthday Party as well as it's annual formal Christmas Dinner Party. Since then we have been hard at work on pulling together a Chinese New Year Dinner Party for about 30 people. It is definitely a new theme for us, and neither of us have a ton of experience with Chinese food. But we have put our Cinta touch on things and the testing is going very well. We are very excited to pull everything together for this dinner. Themed dinners are always so fun! We are also in he beginning stages of planning a Valentines dinner. More details to come! For now here are some pictures of what we were up too last month!

Tis The Season

Whether or not I admit it…I am SUPER excited about the Holidays…okay I completely admit I am REALLY excited about the holidays. There is nothing like having the people you love around you, the great food, and getting to decorate. It’s only natural that I am one of those crazy people who kinda has her heart skip when she’s sees Christmas decorations in the store in October….i know…I know.. But I do love Christmas! Now I’m not trying to jump the gun on Christmas but the last couple weeks I have started to think about the upcoming Formal Christmas Party we will do in December and it made me think of Last year’s Dinner. My love for Christmas Party’s is something I am truly passionate about. And last years dinner was no exception. It was by far one of my more beautiful set-ups and it did kind of sadden me that I didn’t get to use this beautiful setting for my friends. None- the less it was a great dinner. The menu is posted below.

Hors d'œuvre: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Cocktail: Cranberry Champagne

Starter: Winter Greens with Anjou Pears and a Vinaigrette

Main: Chipotle Salmon with Blackberry Sauce, Fresh Herb Couscous with Apricots,
accompanied by leeks and asparagus in a white wine sauce
Or

Herbed Marinated Pork Tenderloin with a fruit chutney, Japanese Sweet Potatoes,
accompanied by leeks and asparagus in a white wine sauce
Dessert Trio: Lemon Dream Cake, Mini Lava Cake, Bite Sized Cheese Cake

My mind is already turning about what I want to do with this year’s Christmas party. I saw these deep purple chargers at the store the other day and fell in love with them! I am pretty sure I would design a whole table around them! So we shall see what this year holds. But these formal dinners are my absolute favorite. So much work goes into them and yet the result is always a complete transforamtion.

Cinta: Love

A question we often get is what does Cinta mean? Well not to keep anyone in suspense, but it means Love. It’s actually Indonesian, pulling from my roots. I have always had a love for entertaining and creating events and moments to really remember. And with Jereme’s love for cooking and my love for entertaining we decided it would be a perfect name. Cinta Dinners, a love for dinner parties.

For as long as I could remember I have always wanted my own business. As I child I was all about the best lemonade stands…which turned into kool-aid stands and finally a “mini sale” stand. What is a “mini sale” stand you ask? It is a stand where I obviously sold the traditional 3 different options of kool-aid, and then also had a variety of different handmade crafts and trinkets to sell. Everything from fortune tellers to little boxes made of Popsicle sticks. And at the end of the day everything fit perfectly into a little shoe box…that was wrapped in pretty paper of course, and a big sign that read “mini sale”.

As I got older I was very involved in my high school’s business department. . There I met a teacher who would inspire and teach me the skills that you may not necessarily learn from a book. She taught me the art of delegation :) and how to find the answers when you’ve told someone you can help them and don’t necessarily actually know how. I guess she was the start of my great customer service skills :) I look back, and my energy and passion for business came from the different opportunities I was given in high school.


I have always had a love for great design…and a need for a coordinated room. I loved to make things and clean and bake and had a whole “domestic” side of me starting at a very young age. My mom’s wedding is what really pulled all of my different loves together. My passion and obsession eventually turned into wedding and event design. I am in love with beautiful memories being created in the most perfect settings. I want to create that moment that is glued in your mind forever and that makes you smile when you are alone in your own thoughts. There is nothing like waking up the morning of an event or dinner you have planned and knowing that all of your hard work and preparations have come down to this very day. It makes the sleepless nights and long hours completely worth it.

It’s love. I have a pure love for entertaining and events. And Jereme’s love for cooking comes shinning through in each and every plate we put out. We have so much fun together, and I think that our whole concept and personality really is seen when we come into someone’s home to do a dinner. Let us share our love with you.

Modern Moroccan

Nothing says summer like a refreshing cocktail and great food. Add in a few rugs and pillows on the ground and you almost have a Modern Moroccan dinner party. That is exactly what we did this summer for our Modern Moroccan themed dinner party, however we did do a little more than throw down some pillows.

Now I must admit that about half of the dinners we do have a strong theme, the other half are more of your traditional dinner parties with a simpler take on things. However, a strong theme such as Moroccan is so much fun to cook for and even more so, decorate for. All the more of an excuse for me to pick up little things here and there that inspire me and makes me think “Morocco!” The first piece of inspiration came with a trip to the Fabric Depot in Portland. Wow! I could spend hours in that store, and did spend a good hour or so just in the discount area. I was able to find some beautiful silk fabrics which ended up being the inspirations for colors and the direction I wanted to take things in. I didn’t want things to be too busy, but more elegant with little flairs of Moroccan here and there. The silk later on ended up being used as chair scarves.

The food! I must say that Jereme never ceases to amaze me. Her menu consisted of the following:

Cocktail Hour:
Eggplant Caponata over Toasted Pita
Passion Tea Mojito

Starter:
Ground Beef Pockets topped with a mint yogurt accompanied by a carrot salad

Main:
Baked chicken with Green Olive Sauce
Dried Apricot Couscous
Summer Squash with Herbs

Dessert:
Fresh Orange Yogurt Tart

One word. Amazing! Actually, two words. Absolutely Amazing! This has been one of my favorite menus with such amazing flavors. It makes you wonder why you didn’t want to try the flavors of morocco before! Over all a great dinner party. The wine was flowing and guests were enjoying the Moroccan style seating area for cocktail hour with the beautiful Moroccan music in the background. Cinta Dinners is always about creating the whole experience, not just what’s on the plate in front of you. Another wonderful dinner with a great host! Thanks Donna!

Come Discover the Experience of Cinta!

Welcome to the Cinta Dinners Blog! Here you will find the stories and inspiration for many of our dinner parties! Cinta Dinners was founded by myself, Andrea Friesen, and one of my best friends Jereme Bigalow. Our love and passion for dinner parties has inspired us to share this wonderful experience with the people around us.

Ask yourself this….

Have you ever wanted to Host that perfect dinner party but without all of the stress of planning and menu, décor, and having to then execute everything to perfection? Why not let Cinta Dinners help with every detail while you enjoy the best part of any party, the food… and your guests! Whether you want to host a small wine soiree, simple casual dinner, or a formal sit down dinner Cinta Dinners can ensure a perfect party no matter what the occasion. Let us share our love for food and entertainment with you!

So why not start thinking about throwing a party yourself! Acting as hostess was never so easy! Stay tuned for what we have been up to this summer and what we have coming up. Take it as inspiration and a place to start for your future Cinta Experience!