Inspired by Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand, this six-part series imagines the weekend I would host if I gathered friends from every season of my life around one table.

From welcome gatherings with Champagne and homemade fried chicken to leisurely brunches, coastal-inspired meals, and beautifully simple dinners, each recipe celebrates the joy of intentional hospitality. Along the way, I’ll share entertaining ideas, tablescapes, menus, wine pairings, and the little details that make a weekend feel unforgettable.

This isn’t about recreating the book—it’s about celebrating the spirit behind it: friendship, good food, meaningful conversation, and the belief that life’s most memorable moments happen around the table.

So pour yourself a glass of something bubbly, pull up a chair, and join me as we romanticize the art of gathering, one beautiful meal at a time.

The Welcome Gathering

“The best weekends don’t begin with a perfectly planned itinerary. They begin when the first friend walks through the door.”

One of the things I loved most about Five-Star Weekend, the book by Elin Hildabrand, was that it wasn’t really about the destination. It was about bringing together women from different seasons of life and letting food, conversation, and shared experiences do what they do best—remind us who we are.

As a longtime Elin Hilderbrand reader, I’ve always admired the way she writes about food and hospitality. The meals aren’t just meals; they’re part of the story. They create the setting where relationships deepen and memories are made. It’s one of the reasons this series felt so natural for me.

Like Hollis Shaw, I’m a food blogger and cookbook author. I genuinely love planning menus, cutting flowers from the garden, setting the table hours before guests arrive, and fussing over all the little details that most people probably never notice. To me, those details are part of loving people well.

So I started imagining…

If I hosted my own Five-Star Weekend, what would I serve when everyone first arrived?

Not a formal dinner.

Not an elaborate cocktail party.

Something comforting.

Something beautiful.

Something that immediately tells your guests, “You’re in for a wonderful weekend.”

The Welcome Gathering Menu

Every menu in this series has a purpose, and this one is all about helping people settle in.

When guests first arrive, some have known each other for years. Others are meeting for the very first time. The last thing I want is for anyone to feel like they have to balance a tiny hors d’oeuvre while trying to introduce themselves or navigate an overly formal meal. I want people to grab a plate, pour a glass of Champagne, find a seat, and let the conversation unfold naturally.

So here’s what’s on my welcome menu:

Fennel-Brined Fried Chicken

Crispy, comforting, and just a little unexpected. The fennel gives the chicken a softer, more delicate flavor than the spicy version I usually make, making it feel right at home alongside Champagne.

Potato Salad from The Vineyard Table (my cookbook is available for purchase via the link)

Every great gathering needs a dish that can be made ahead and served at room temperature. This potato salad is one of my favorites because it’s familiar, crowd-pleasing, and only gets better as the flavors mingle.

Recipes are below in pdf form for print out or to be saved on your laptop or phone

Champagne

Or any sparkling wine you love. The bubbles make the whole weekend feel like a celebration from the very first sip.

Fresh Garden Flowers

Not technically on the menu, but every bit as important. A few stems clipped from the garden remind guests that someone was excited they were coming.

It’s a menu that’s meant to feel effortless, even though we all know the best hosts have thought through every little detail.

Fried Chicken and Champagne

There’s something wonderfully unpretentious about serving fried chicken with Champagne.

It’s unexpected, a little playful, and somehow feels just as celebratory as caviar. The salty, crispy chicken paired with bright, lively bubbles is one of my favorite combinations. The acidity and effervescence of Champagne cut beautifully through the richness of the fried chicken, making each bite taste just as exciting as the first.

This isn’t the spicy fried chicken my family usually requests.

This version began with a recipe from The Lost Kitchen, but over time I made it my own. I wanted something softer and a little more feminine, so I leaned into fennel seed in the brine. It adds a subtle sweetness and gentle herbal note that feels elegant without trying too hard.

Alongside it, I’m serving my potato salad from The Vineyard Table. It’s the kind of dish that belongs on a table where people are helping themselves, filling their plates, and settling in for a weekend together.

The Champagne

If I could choose any bottle to welcome friends, it would be Champagne.

The bottle I poured for this gathering comes from my dear friend Sophie and her husband, who own Paul Déthune in Champagne, France. Every sip reminds me of the incredible people we’ve met through food and wine over the years and the friendships that continue to grow around a shared table.

Of course, you don’t have to serve Champagne.

Any sparkling wine will do.

The point isn’t the label.

It’s the feeling of saying, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Friendship Looks Different for Everyone

One of the things I appreciate about Five-Star Weekend is the idea of bringing together different chapters of your life.

I’ve never actually hosted a weekend quite like that.

But in a funny way, I’m about to experience something similar.

This fall, when I travel to Italy, one woman joining me is a friend from elementary school, another is from high school, and another is someone I know from this season of my life. I’m excited to see those worlds come together around one table.

Unlike some people, I don’t have lifelong friendships that have stayed close every single year.

My family moved several times while I was growing up, and long before social media made reconnecting easy, people simply drifted apart. It wasn’t until around 2009 or 2010 that I found many of those friends again.

Sometimes I wish I’d never lost touch.

But moving also taught me something invaluable.

It taught me how to make friends.

How to walk into a room where I knew no one.

How to begin again.

And maybe that’s just as important.

Whether your Five-Star Weekend includes childhood friends, neighbors you’ve only recently met, sisters, daughters, or women you’ve collected along the way, I hope it reminds you that friendship doesn’t have to look one particular way to be meaningful.

Romanticize the Weekend

You don’t have to rent a beautiful house on Nantucket to create a weekend that feels special.

Invite friends over.

Set the table.

Buy the flowers.

Open the good bottle.

Cook something everyone can eat with their fingers.

Stay up talking longer than you planned.

That, to me, is the real Five-Star Weekend.

What We’d Do After Dinner

On the show, there’s a dance party.

I wouldn’t be opposed to that.

But if you came to my house, we’d probably curl up on the couch with another glass of Champagne and watch either It’s Complicated or Something’s Gotta Give. Both have that effortless Nancy Meyers warmth that feels perfectly at home alongside this weekend.

Shop My Five-Star Weekend

Because I couldn’t stop at the menu, I also created a Five-Star Weekend Shop on ShopMy.

Inside you’ll find the pieces that bring this weekend to life—from the clothes I’d pack and the skincare and makeup I’d wear to my favorite serving pieces, linens, paper napkins, glassware, and all the little details that make entertaining feel beautiful without feeling fussy.

After all, half the fun is imagining the weekend.

The other half is inviting people to the table.

With grace, grit & gratitude,

xx, JeriLynne