Dolly Parton Just Dished on Her Dream Dinner Party Menu and Guest List
There's nothing like a pleasant change in the weather to have us dreaming of an alfresco dinner party, and Dolly Parton has left us with plenty of inspiration for planning our own. She recently chatted with Bon Appétit about what her dream dinner party would look like, and it is quite the star-studded soiree.
Seated around Dolly's table would be none other than Elvis Presley, Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr. (oh, to be a fly on the wall). Being the hospitable Southern woman that she is, the singer shared that she would serve each esteemed guest a personalized meal that would make them feel right at home. For Elvis, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, while King would get plenty of the regional goodies both he and Parton love, like collard greens, as the activist grew up in Atlanta, near Dolly's native Tennessee. Dolly admits that she wouldn't know exactly what to serve to Jesus—an O.G. intermittent faster—but she would make sure there was plenty of milk and honey that were prized in the biblical age. We bet she could make some incredible old-school cornbread with fresh homemade honey butter, and he would be thrilled.
However, while the dishes she touts are pretty simple, Dolly is actually a pretty savvy cook. Most recently, her simple yet effective hack for achieving the fluffiest scrambled eggs went viral on social media, and a dinner party with less iconic guests might include one of her favorite recipes: chicken and dumplings, plus a bottle of her favorite red wine. Count us in!
If you were wondering whether Dolly would serve up any sweets to these venerable guests, she said she would have them covered with a fresh batch of banana pudding. She also loves to bake and serve cakes (Dolly admits to eating as much icing as possible when opportunity allows). The singer and songwriter's baking traditions can actually make their way into your home, too, as she recently launched a new line of cake mixes with Duncan Hines—including a banana pudding-inspired offering. If you really want to dine like Dolly, be sure to serve your cake with a big glass of milk, or with a steaming cup of Folgers coffee—her favorite. And you just may want to grab a spoonful of her buttercream icing while you're at it.