HOLIDAY DINNERS ROUND ONE - THE ADVENT VESPERS SOUP DINNER!

Each year on the first weekend of Advent Augsburg College here in Minneapolis holds its annual Advent Vespers Concert.  This amazing event has kicked off the Holidays for over 30 years, and is the beginning of my holiday entertaining.  

The concert takes place at Central Lutheran Church, which is a wonderful neo-Gothic structure that was built in 1928.  The church seats close to 3000 people and the acoustics are fantastic, thus making it the perfect location for this concert.  

Five performances are given over the course of two days with a total attendance of over 10,000 people.  There are more than 300 participants including choirs, instrumentalists, readers, and a full liturgical party, which adds to the grand scale of the event.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the kick off to my Holiday entertaining, and each year, for the past past six or seven years, I have organized a group of friends to attend the concert followed by dinner at my place.

This is usually a soup dinner, and my table is set with what I refer to as my “soup china” (those are the only pieces that make up the set - a large plate, a soup bowl, a dessert plate, and a coffee mug).  I make two soups ahead of time that are left warming in crock pots while we are at the concert, so all that is left to do when we return is to prepare a toss salad, cut up the bread, and set out the dessert.

This is always a wonderful evening of great music, sumptuous food, and amazing conversation.  It’s the perfect way to begin the Holidays and I look forward to it all year long.