Are you ready for a party?

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For longtime friends Peg and Mark Mattison and Becky and Dave Carpenter, kicking off the fall football season with a party is a tradition.

This year, they asked chef Julia Krelo of Julia’s Catering to prepare a fall-inspired menu to get the season underway. The cool early fall evening couldn’t have been better for tossing a party. Guests nibbled on a variety of scrumptious appetizers, toasted the season, and spent a great evening together that started outdoors, with everyone heading indoors for the game. “Entertaining at home is so much more intimate and casual,” says Becky.

Chef Julia’s idea – to serve fall apple martinis – complemented the pre-game appetizer buffet with a bit of seasonal zest. Friends were treated to a light dinner as they huddled around Mizzou football (the games  are the “center” of the party line-up). Hostesses Becky and Peg could not have been more pleased with the reaction to the evening’s mouth-watering buffet. “Everyone cheered for the martinis!” they remarked.

During the game, a yummy fall-inspired meal was a big hit.  A colorful salad with pomegranate seeds and spiced pecans, cheese soufflé, and butternut squash and pear soup lined the menu.

“The season inspired this colorful, fall-infused menu,” explains Julia. “Foods like roasted peppers work well in helping a party to make a nice transition from summer to fall, and the pumpkin mousse with pumpkin brittle epitomizes the harvest season.”

The couples, who have been getting together for 15 years, love to celebrate the season with close friends. “Sometimes we have chili or rib ‘cook-offs,’” says Peg. “We look forward to weekends, getting together with friends and watching football.” The hostesses recommend sending guests home with Trapp and Company scented candles from The Gifted Gardener or, relatively new to the market, ornamental peppers from Ahner’s Garden & Gifts as a reminder of the colorful fall get-together.

And with party music filling the air – Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66 – the mood was lively and celebratory in advance of the always hopeful ‘‘big win.” It this case, everything worked out superbly for a winning and memorable evening.

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FALL PARTY MENU

Created by Chef Julia Krelo of Julia’s Catering

Appetizer Buffet
•    Danish Blue Cheese and Champagne Grapes with Praline Bacon
•    Baby Portabella Mushrooms with Goat Cheese Mousse and Roasted Red Pepper Relish
•    Warm Pear and Fontina Cheese wrapped in Prosciutto
•    Pumpkin Mousse with Pumpkin Brittle
•    Fall Apple Martinis

Light Fall Dinner
•    Butternut Squash and Pear Soup
•    Cheese Soufflé
•    Mesclun Greens with Pomegranate Seeds, Green Onions, Spiced Pecans & Pomegranate Vinaigrette