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I liked this article and I would love to get my hands on the mushroom ragout they made for the potato topping. Double EWWW for a storebought angelfood cake with CANNED frosting. For about $5 - 7 you could have made something homemade and delicious.

I read this article and kept thinking of suggestions for how they could *actually* cut costs, and realized that every suggestion (using seasonal veggies from the farmer's market, braising cheap cuts of meat, using just a little meat as flavor) were all tips I've learned here!

thank you popcorn.for.dinner!

And I was certainly a little underwhelmed by the food - you could do the soup, a cheap pork roast braise, and brussels sprouts for very little, and still have plenty left over for wine. Oh yeah, and a homemade cake, too. (Storebought frosting?!)

But I do like the emphasis on comfort food; "“People love the permission to be comfortable." Good quote.

I think part of the not-so-great recipe action was because they're not really professional entertainers. He described their last party as a red cup/mix your own drink affair. That doesn't necessarily translate into being able to bake a cake.

Oh, and Joanna Goddard on her blog does mention that all the food was also done by the party pro; his chef sent over the baked potatoes.

http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2008/12/we-had-party.html

$30 a person is cheap? I'm kind of appalled by that.

Tiamat -- that was my thought, too! Maybe it's a sign that I'm a poor student who has never made much above the poverty line, but $30 a person seems positively exorbitant. My dinner parties tend to be pretty low key, always BYOB, and run, at tops, about $50-60 for a party with 8-10 people. If I want to dress it up a bit, I'll grab a pretty bouquet of flowers from TJ's and light a few tea lights in strategic places throughout the house.

Totally with you guys. If i'm spending $30 per person (!!!) than i had better be serving something more than baked potatoes for the entree! Did they buy like 5 bottles of wine per person??? ;)

I think (though I'm not positive) that the $30/person included the overall cost of decorations as well. But still...I figure that my guests are coming for food and friendship, not decor, at least not anything much more elaborate than fresh flowers on the table and a nice tablecloth. As for food costs, is serving a mushroom ragout over potatoes that much cheaper than serving it over pasta, with a nice loaf of crusty bread on the side (which seems far more "dinner party" to me)? And as far as a store-bought dessert, I think I'd much prefer a boxed cake mix to a store-bought angel food cake. A boxed cake mixe baked up in a bundt pan and dusted with powdered sugar would look (and taste) better than a dried-out store-bought cake.

I disliked the tone of the article. Feeling as pinched as we are right now, the last thing I needed to read was well-off people marveling at the novelty of playing at being "poor." Ring ring goes the iPhone, it's the party planner calling from this strange, mythical, cheap place called "Kmart." Give me a break.

"...only $100 to spend on groceries,"

For one meal. For 8 people. Clearly I'm not earning enough money because that seems a bit ridiculous, especially considering the main course is potatoes.

I'm relatively sure that, even with inflation and the value of the dollar through the past 80 years, people during the Great Depression would have been overwhelmed by money of that kind and could feed their families for months on it. Comparing a ritzy party for 8 done by a designer who is used to spending tens of thousands of dollars on parties to 1929 and the Great Depression? That's stretching. A lot.

hi :) i totally respect all your comments and opinions. i'm glad to hear them! i just want to point out: the $30/person was for wine, decor and a three-course dinner for a 5-hour party. and of course you can have a less expensive party--a party with beer is totally fun and fine! this story, however, was more about having a party that feels super swanky, totally over-the-top in a fun way--almost like a wedding--for less money than usual. so that's what it was about. but i totally hear you that of course (!) people could spend way less and still have a great time, and the cake could have been homemade, for sure. xo joanna
www.joannagoddard.blogspot.com

i loved seeing the creative - over-the-top, on the cheap(ish) - decor mr monn put together. the room and table looked spectacular. i just felt the menu didn't demonstrate the same industrious, clever use of the budget.

the soup sounds delicious, and in line with the concept. i get the haute comfort food thing, but the potatoes, for me, noticeably took away from swanky feel. like others, i immediately thought of seasonal vegetables and inexpensive roasts and braises (i served a pork roast with fennel at a recent dinner party - very economical and elegant). the cake was just disappointing.

still, looks like it was a lot of fun, a lovely party.

Yes, this article is ridiculous. I feel like most of the readers of this blog could (and have) put on spectacular dinner parties for much less than $30 per person. Oh, what I could do with that budget! And what the hell kind of decorations were they buying? All you need is some bodega flowers, tea lights and maybe a tablecloth from a thrift store. I feel like I could replicate this look for much less.

I don't know anyone who decorates like this for a dinner party for grown-ups, The important thing is delicious food and drink and a fun mix of people. And a nice table cloth and napkins if you want to show off.

Joanna, thank you for stopping by! The budget for that party actually is pretty amazing; food costs can mount up quickly.

We did a response menu here, just out of curiosity, to see how far we could take $100 for 8.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/holidays-thanksgiving/winter-wonderland-dinner-for-eight-on-a-100-budget-071014