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Top Twenty Tips For Entertaining
By Julia Aitken
Bestselling author Julia Aitken's
125 Best Entertaining Recipes is published by Robert Rose. In this Gremolata exclusive, she shares her best tips for a successful party just in time for the season.
1) Don't entertain people you don't like. There's no rule that says you have to have someone over for dinner; you'll enjoy yourself and be more relaxed with people you prefer.
2) Lots of planning is the easiest route to a stress-free evening. Think about your guest list and menu well ahead of time, and prepare any of the dishes that can be made in advance. Don't choose a menu that needs a lot of last-minute preparation and don't be afraid to accept help, either in the days leading up to the party or during the event itself.
3) When putting together your menu, a quick glance over the recipes you're planning to prepare should tell you if they're a good match. Three courses packed with cream and/or eggs will probably result in too rich a meal for your guests to fully enjoy. Likewise, don't select dishes with similar flavours: A soup, main course and dessert that all contain cinnamon would be a dull combination. Keep colors in mind, too. Sole fillets with mashed potato cry out for a green vegetable or a simple tomato salad to add a little pizzazz to the plate.
4) If you're inviting people you've never fed before, call them before you plan your menu to check if they have any food allergies or other dietary restrictions.
5) Please, unless you're catering a backyard barbecue for 50, don't serve the food on paper or plastic plates. Not only does the food not taste as good, it sends an odd message to your guests: I don't care enough about you to bother washing up afterwards. The same goes for plastic glasses.
6) Tempting though it may be to try and save on laundry, confine the paper napkins to hand round with any snacks before dinner; at the table, cloth napkins make all the difference.
7) Candles placed strategically around a room always add atmosphere, but avoid using scented ones as they can spoil the taste of the food.
8) Having the table laid well ahead of your guests' arrival not only gets one task out of the way but also shows you're expecting them and makes your guests feel welcome.
9) Although it's not necessary to always arrange your guests around the table in a boy-girl-boy-girl configuration, take a little time to think about a seating plan so that all the shy people don't end up at one end of the table. Remember, good conversation contributes as much to the success of the evening as the food and wine.
10) Don't lose sleep because you feel incapable of creating a fancy centerpiece for your table. Fresh flowers plunked in a short vase (so your guests can see each other across the table) will do fine.
11) Serving one or two of the easy pre-dinner nibbles when your guests arrive helps to pace the evening, allows time for any late-comers to show up and gives your guests something to do while you're putting the finishing touches to the appetizer or main course.
12) It may seem obvious, but always serve hot food on hot plates, cold food on cold plates.
13) Even if you expect your guests to turn up toting a bottle, don't rely on them to provide all the wine. They might show up with their Uncle Bob's homemade Chianti which, of course, you will accept gratefully but not open until you've absolutely run out of everything else.
14) Recruit someone you can rely on - your life partner, a close friend - to be in charge of re-filling your guests' glasses; that way, you can concentrate on the food. There's nothing worse than having a guest nursing an empty glass for an hour because the host is too busy scampering round the kitchen.
15) For simplicity's sake, I usually confine the choice of alcoholic beverages to red or white wine or beer. Reckon on needing about half a bottle of wine per person, and always have an interesting selection of non-alcoholic drinks--flavoured and unflavoured mineral waters, fruit juices, pop--on hand for drivers and other guests who don't drink alcohol.
16) A large jug of iced water (filtered or mineral water) on the table with slices of lemon, orange or lime floating in it looks pretty and offers your guests an alternative to wine if they prefer it.
17) If you're cooking several dishes, prepare any garnishes ahead of time and keep a checklist of these last-minute additions. I can't tell you the number of times I've opened the fridge at the end of an evening to find little bowls of chopped this and that which failed to make it to their appointed place on top of the casserole or dessert.
18) Post a simple timetable on the fridge to remind you, say, to remove the dessert from the fridge as you and your guests sit down to the main course.
19) When I entertain, I try to have everything done about half an hour before everyone arrives, which gives me just enough time to run through the shower, slap on some make up then sit quietly for five minutes and enjoy a glass of wine. That way, at least I look relaxed when my guests arrive.
20) Finally, always remember your primary task as host is to make your guests feel welcome, comfortable and relaxed. Your friends are coming to spend time with you, not to critique the food; if you keep it simple, you'll be pleasant company too.
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