Dinner Party Menu
Choosing Your Dinner Party Menu (So You Can Enjoy The Party, Too)
Inviting friends to your home, for an evening of food, conversation and fun, is a great way to entertain them and show them that you care.
It should be very enjoyable, not just for your guests, but also for you the host.
The big make-or-break factor is your dinner party menu.
The choice of menu is crucial. It’s the single most important thing in determining the success of the evening.
A poorly prepared or served meal, will be disappointment for the host and an embarrassment for the guests.
So how can you virtually guarantee, that you’ll pull it off successfully?
Rule one is “plan the dinner party menu” very carefully.
Start by thinking about your guests. What are their likes and dislikes in food?
I think that it’s best to ask if you don’t know. Far better to ask, than risk serving a main dish, that one or more of your guests will not eat.
It may be more than simply a dislike. It might be an allergy, a health matter or a confirmed lifestyle choice like vegetarianism. Whatever, it’s best to know.
Having ruled out some menu options, then move onto to consider the dishes you are comfortable with.
A dinner party is absolutely not the time to experiment with new dishes or cooking techniques.
Stick to what you know and what works.
Remember also that it’s much, much trickier to cook for eight, ten, twelve or more people, than it is to cook for three or four.
You can of course prepare variations on your standard dishes, perhaps using some special ingredients or accompaniments.
It is pretty much essential to prepare some things in advance. Otherwise, you will spend far too much time in the kitchen cooking, when you could be with your guests, just chatting and enjoying the company.
For example, you could serve a cold desert that you prepared in the morning, or even the day before and then keep in the refrigerator.
Similarly, a simple but tasty starter, could be plated-up just before the guests arrive and served at room temperature.
This leaves only the main course to actually cook and serve hot while the guests are present.
When choosing the main dish, go for something that is not time-critical, for example, a casserole. Then if guests are late arriving, or if the starter course takes longer than expected, the main course will not be overcooked.
Care and time spent over choosing the dinner party menu, should make for a much more relaxed and pleasant experience, both for your guests and for you, the host.
|
Quick Tip #1 Plan your dinner party carefully. Draw up lists of what you need to get done and put due dates against each task. Some things may need to be done well in advance. |
|
Quick Tip #2 Pay attention to your budget. Nothing can spoil your fun more than the feeling you've overspent. Our Dinner Party Cost Calculator may help you. |
|
Quick Tip #3
|
