Gentle Readers, the moment we have all been waiting eons for has come. It’s finally time to kick off a new season of Bridgerton! For the premier, I put together an Elegant Cocktail Pajama Party for myself and a friend, where I picked out 2 appetizers and a cocktail from the Official Bridgerton Guide to Entertaining to enjoy while we watch episode 3.1 “Out of the Shadows”. For more info on the cookbook, check out my last blog post. There will be spoilers, so read at your own risk.

Episode 3.1 Recap: Out of the Shadows

We begin at the start of another debutante season. To summarize, Penelope (Pen) is still the sad lurking wall flower—extra sad, because Eloise is suddenly besties with mean-girl Cressida. Colin has returned from his travels as an insufferable flirt who hits on any woman not related to him (except for Pen of course) and needs to show off his abs while changing in a carriage–so we can all be reminded that he’s hot now and the romantic lead of the season. Francesca I-have-no-fucks-to-give Bridgerton is going to make her debut and head into the marriage mart, even though all she wants is to be left alone to play the pianoforte. The Featheringtons remain in a precarious financial situation, which will require one of the Featherington girls to give birth to a male heir posthaste before Portia’s subterfuge with financial documents is discovered. Kate and Anthony are having all the sex, all the time, and that’s all they want to do. They even decide that it’s better if Lady Violet stays and continues with viscountess duties just so they have more time to bang. And because we don’t have enough story plots going on at the same time, Naomi and Will Mondrich’s son inherits a title, and they move to a large estate. It’s not at all like Shonda Rhymes is trying to drive home the point that male heirs inherit everything.

Pen quickly realizes that her married sisters will be worse to live with than her mom (since winner takes all after they pop out a baby boy). She knows it’s time to jump on that marriage band wagon. Cue the makeover that my 90s girl heart has been waiting for. Hands down, the best moment of the episode is Pen standing at the top of the stairs at the Danbury ball, while the orchestra plays abcdefu by Gayle.

I can hear the instruments punctuating on the F-U, and there is a roaring in my head of applause from every girl who has stood in the shadows of a dance, or a ball, or a party—overlooked and forgotten. It’s a moment for all of us. But then in true wallflower fashion, Pen gets the male attention she wanted and has no idea what to do with it. How do you learn how to flirt when no one has flirted with you before?

After she scares off a group of male suitors by talking about books, Pen commiserates with Francesca who wants nothing to do with this event. Then, Penelope has a promising encounter with Lord Debling—who, unlike Colin Completely-Fucking-Clueless Bridgerton, doesn’t need a giant flashing billboard pointing to Pen to notice that she is the most compelling woman at this shindig.

And in true 90s makeover rom-com fashion, we need a bully to ruin the heroine’s moment. Cue Cressida who “accidentally” tears Pen’s dress then gives her a snide comment about cheap material. Penelope runs out of the ballroom, fighting tears, and Colin, somehow, actually notices. He stops talking to the other guys about his intimate European escapades and follows her out. When he finds her, we finally get Penelope calling him out on what she’d overhead last season–the dreaded “I’d never dream of courting Penelope Featherington”. Jackass. She says that she knows she embarrasses him and that she’s a laughingstock of the ton, then runs off. Pen is more broken-hearted and beaten down than we’ve seen her, so she turns to the only comfort she has left–Lady Whistledown. She writes some things we all know she will regret.

We get a glimpse into why Cressida and Eloise are friends, and frankly if they’re trying to redeem Eloise for me—they are going to have to work a lot harder. While I certainly feel like Eloise has a right to be upset with Pen, she wasn’t a particularly great friend to her. She never truly paid attention to Penelope, never realized how difficult or challenging her life was. Never noticed what her friend was really saying or trying to do. She was almost as oblivious as Colin. And let’s not forget she was all about fighting for women’s rights, until she had to pay the cost for it. Once it got too hard to stand up for her beliefs, she cowed down. Eloise would never have lasted an hour in the life Penelope lived, but now she’s sagely advising Cressida to be a better person? Maybe take your own advice.

Colin seeks out Pen in the gardens for the moment we all know is coming.

“It pains me to see you upset,” says Colin.

“Then perhaps you should not have come.” says Penelope.

Damn straight, girl. You. Tell. Him.

“I’m not the man I was last season,” he says.

Lemme translate – he means “I’m even more clueless, but I have abs now and know how to flirt.”

He proceeds to tell her all these things that basically equal “I love you” and ends it with “I am proud to call you my very good friend.” Does anyone else hear a screaming in their ears? Flames shooting out of their head? Just me? I want to shake this man until he hears the words coming out of his mouth, but I think my fucking arms would fall off.

Then, in spectacularly stupid fashion, Clueless Colin offers to coach Penelope on how to find a husband. “There is nothing more I want than to earn back the favor of the one person who has always truly made me feel…appreciated.” This won’t go wrong at all. Totally won’t backfire in this handsome idiot’s face. They shake hands as “friends” in the least “friends” way we’ve ever seen.

This whole episode gave me flashbacks to the movie “She’s All That” in the best way. And all the pieces related to the failed makeover storyline were great. Unfortunately, I thought we had way too many other extraneous plots muddying the waters. While I think Francesca’s story complimented Pen’s rather well, we could have waited for the unneeded Kate/Anthony interjections and the Mondrich storyline. And while I appreciate that they wanted to shed some light on the Eloise/Cressida relationship and it was related to Polin, I think more of it might have been better saved for later. This is Polin’s season, and this episode felt a little too cluttered. I think Colin, in particular, could have had some more moments that show just a little depth. It was all flirting and bragging, then a couple worried looks about Pen. Maybe a hint at there being more to him then the shallow end of the pool he’s currently swimming in.

I know I’m already going to be hella annoyed that this season is broken into two halves, but I’m still excited what’s to come in the next 3 episodes and hoping it’s Colin being made to suffer when he realizes how incredibly stupid he is.

So what did you think of the first episode?
Was it what you expected?
What did you think of Colin’s apology?
Do you think Eloise will be redeemed?

RECIPES

In true Bridgerton fashion, we’ll give these a diamond rating:

When I was looking over the cookbook, two of the potential pitfalls that jumped out at me were that many recipes seemed too complicated with too many ingredients that were expensive or difficult to find. I opted to start with ones that seemed more accessible and for which I already had some ingredients. I included an ingredient list and included prices for what I needed to purchase. I also scaled the recipes down since tonight’s party was only for two.

Honey & Goat Cheese-Filled Figs WITH Hazelnuts & Mint

from Chapter 5: Lady Danbury’s Den of Iniquity

Ingredients:

• 1 lb small ripe, fresh figs (16-20 total): $5.99
• 1 Tbsp. honey (plus more for drizzling)
• 1/3 cup creamy goat cheese (chevre): $9.99
• Kosher salt & pepper
• 6 large fresh mint leaves: $2.50 (Same bunch used for all recipes)
• 2 Tbsp. Coarsely chopped, dry-roasted unsalted hazelnuts: $5.99

Total Cost for purchased ingredients: $24.47

Did you know that hazelnuts are called Filberts? I discovered this when hunting them down in my grocery store.

The goat cheese filled figs were easy to make and tasted fine, but not particularly compelling. I think the addition of mint overpowered the more subtle fig and honey flavors.

If I made it again, I’d omit it and add a tiny bit of very finely diced crispy bacon instead. I think it would add a smokey component that would complement the other flavors. I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be finger food. It seems like it should be, but it’s messy and a little large/awkward to eat in one bite, but also strange to eat with a knife and fork. If it’s not going to be a one bite food, it would be easier to top some goat cheese with fig jam, honey, and hazelnuts and add it to a platter with some crackers or small bread slices.

The hazelnut/fig/goat cheese combo was nice, but I think there are better ways to do this and for the cost of this dish, you have plenty of other appetizer options. On the positive side, these were able to be prepped ahead of time, then just taken out and brought to room temperature to serve.

Seared Scallops wITH Minted Peas & Browned Butter Walnut Sauce

from Chapter 2: The Queen’s Lawn Party

Ingredients:

• 12 large sea scallops/1 lb (I scaled this by half so purchased 6 scallops): $6.37
• 5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 8 oz – frozen petite green peas: $2.39
• ¼ cup – water
• Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup raw walnuts
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 – 2Tbsp vegetable oil
• 12 large fresh mint leaves: $2.50 (Same bunch used for all recipes)
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh tarragon (forgot to add this)
• ½ a small lemon

Total Cost for purchased ingredients: $11.26

This recipe really surprised me. I wasn’t sure how the flavors would come together or whether I’d like the puree. But despite forgetting the tarragon, the flavors were nicely balanced, the dish was fresh and interesting, and unlike the figs, the mint suited the dish. I was surprised how well the browned butter walnut sauce paired with the scallops. The bit of richness and crunch added sophistication. I made the puree in advance, then reheated and it worked beautifully, making this dish really easy to pull together. The scallops cooked quickly and the components made a lovely presentation. I think this same recipe would pair really well with shrimp or another white fish to make an affordable entrée.

Peach & Bourbon Smash

from Chapter 4. Dinner at the Featherington Ball

Ingredients:

• 5 fresh mint leaves + 1 sprig: $2.50 (Same bunch used for all recipes)
• 3 Peach slices: $1.61
• ½ lemon
• 1 oz orange liquor (like Triple Sec or Cointreau)
• ¼ oz simple syrup: $2.99
• 1 oz bourbon
• Ice cubes, as needed

Total Cost for purchased ingredients: $7.10

Spoiler – you’re going to need a lot of ice cubes to cover that “as needed” in the recipe list. I chose this recipe because I already had Bourbon and Triple Sec and I thought this recipe would be easy, but it was a mess. Maybe it’s me and I am inept at cocktails, but the amounts here do not make sense for the drink they are showing. The total liquid for the entire drink (not just the alcohol) is 3 ¼ ounces. A standard shot (for Americans) is about 1.5 ounces, so this drink is basically a double shot. If you look at the cookbook picture, it’s served in a lowball glass with ice, but there’s still way more liquid versus the ice cubes.

I know it’s hard to see, but I added a scoop of nugget ice to each glass and you can see there wasn’t much actual drink there. The flavor was quite nice, but this isn’t a proper serving. I don’t know if I’m misunderstanding something, or there’s a misprint in the recipe, or I’m just an alcoholic who needs more booze, but I don’t see how following it is going to yield what’s on the page. My first impression when looking through the recipes was that the cocktails seemed comparatively simple and uninspired. It made me wonder if the recipe writer might not be much of a drinker. We’ll see if that turns out to be the case with other cocktail recipes.

OVERALL

I liked that the recipes surprised me – even if one was because it was kind of a disaster. A strange thing I noticed was that all 3 recipes used fresh mint. I don’t know if that was just a coincidence or a theme that will run through the recipes, but it’s something I’ll keep in mind as I try other things. The overall cost for me to try these out and purchase the random ingredients I was missing was $37.83. Considering I didn’t need to purchase alcohol, had things like walnuts and lemons, and scaled the recipes down (like buying only half the scallops), it seems pretty high to me. We’ll see what my next choices yield.

So what did you think of the first episode of the brand-new season of Bridgerton?
Was it what you expected?
Would you try any of these recipes?