I can’t believe that a year ago I was just getting back from my first visit to Louisville and prepping for my first try at throwing a Kentucky Derby Party! While this post may be a tad bit late, we couldn’t resist sharing some of our favorite Kentucky Derby recipes and our gorgeous tablescape! Since it was just a small get together, I decided to stick a few dips for starters, a main course, dessert, and of course some Kentucky inspired drinks!

For the dips, I decided to go with two Kentucky Derby classics: pimento cheese & benedictine spread. We served them with some Rice Thins and Rye Triscuits. They were both extremely delicious and have definitely made a few appearances at parties since then!

It’s really not the Kentucky Derby without a delicious Kentucky Hot Brown. You can’t beat the perfect combination of bacon, turkey, and tomatoes with the yummy mornay sauce (think the creamiest cheese sauce ever)! We used this recipe from Bobby Flay except since we were only making a few we used two cast iron pans instead of a baking sheet.  They were almost as good as the original from the Brown Hotel!

As we all know, desserts are definitely my favorite part of any meal so I had to come up with something new for the party. I decided to make bourbon blondie bites with mint buttercream for a fun and sweet play on the mint julep.

It wouldn’t be the Kentucky Derby without a Mint Julep. We decided to put a fun twist on the original by making a flight of Mint Tea Juleps using different types of bourbons & whiskeys. It was fun seeing how different they all were and which ones we liked the best. I was partial to the Bulleit and its spicy rye notes. Since not everyone was big on mint juleps, we also picked up one of my favorite Kentucky beers, Barrel Aged Kentucky Ale, and all the fixings for Kentucky Mules.

Overall, our mini Kentucky Derby party was a great mix of class and fun and the perfect way to celebrate the race! We can’t wait to celebrate again this Saturday. How will you be celebrating this year’s Kentucky Derby?