Self-love dinner party: ‘I love my food, I love my earth, I love my self’

I recently invited six of my closest Sistas over to experience an evening of love for food, earth and self.

To create an atmosphere of relaxation and intimacy, I scattered flowers from my garden around the house and lit tea candles in various jars and glasses I had scoped out from thrift stores. The walls were adorned with affirmations and my Tibetan prayer flags hung loosely above the dining table to carry their spiritual vibrations.

We began our evening in the lounge, soaking our feet in warm, rosewater infused petal baths and nourishing our bodies with a spread of vegan nibblies. I had made basil pesto, raw cashew cheese and cumin spiced nuts for the occassion, and had bought a wheel of raw spicy brazil nut cheese from my local farmer’s market. I decided to gourmet it up with the crudites and provided whole baby carrots, snow peas and lightly steamed asparagus.

While I got on to preparing the main course I handed each Sista a piece of coloured cardboard with their name on it. We then proceeded to carry out the oh-so-corny but extremely heartening activity of writing what we love about each other on each person’s card. It worked beautifully – each girl had a piece of the evening that they could take home to remind them of their own worth.

Main was then served at the dining table, which was decorated with candles in jars, flowers and shells. We feasted on mushroom quinoa risotto, thyme and oregano roast root vegetables, and a broccoli and flaked almond salad. The entire menu for the evening was vegan to show respect for our earth and nature. I loved watching the girls enjoy the food I had prepared. After all, it was prepared with love.

After dinner I was presented with a final opportunity to express complete love for my Sistas – with chocolate! An absolutely delightful raw coconut and chocolate ganache tart provided the perfect end to the perfect evening.

Practicing self-love involves recognising why to love yourself, and this can be difficult to achieve on your own. So get your closest Sistas together. Pamper yourself. Nourish yourself. Remind each other of how amazing each of you are. And allow yourself to carry the consequential feeling of self-recongition and worth outside of the gathering and into your life.

xxx