Gatherings of friends and family somehow seem easier in the summertime; the warmer weather calls us together for barbecues, beers and late-night bonfires on the beach. But when the cooler weather hits, we tend to retreat back to our homes and prepare ourselves for the coming winter ahead.
I personally love the cooler weather; it gives me more opportunities for warm soups, hot chocolate, decadent desserts and even more of a reason to have friends and family over to help pass the sometimes never-seeming-to-end colder seasons.
Autumn can be one of the best times of the year to throw together a dinner party; the decorations are colorful and attractive and the recipes are warm and inviting. It’s the perfect time of year to become inspired by the vivid canvas that mother nature creates during this season; from the changing of the leaves to the crispness in the air.
In fact, if you have been hesitant to do it before, now is the perfect time of year to host your first dinner party, and by observing the following 10 tips, it’s sure to be a success!
Stick with What You Know
Once you have sent out the invitations, it can be easy to become swept away with new recipes that you have been dying to try. Speaking from personal experience, there is nothing that can ruin your dinner party faster than a dish that doesn’t quite produce as much food as you anticipated, doesn’t turn out the way you expected, or has a cooking time that takes too long.
When you are unfamiliar with a recipe, not only can this add more work on your plate (get it?) but it can also create unnecessary stress and take away from the pleasures of hosting. By working with recipes that you already know, you will be more relaxed with your company, and you too will have fun.
Avoid Appetizer Overload
While you don’t want your party guests to starve, you also don’t want them to be so stuffed with appetizers that they are too full to eat the food you have worked so hard to prepare. A good rule of thumb is 3-4 bites per person where you intend to serve a full meal.
For such a dinner party, avoid snack food like chips and dip, where people often have a hard time controlling the number of servings they take (we’ve all posted up next to a salsa bowl at least once before). Save this type of food for an afternoon sporting get-together or for a late-night reality tv fest. Instead, go for the types of appetizers where you can count how many you would serve per person and maintain some level of portion control.
Keep it Simple
Choosing to create a menu that is overly complicated may be a great way to impress the judge on a MasterChef competition episode, but your friends will appreciate pretty much anything that tastes and looks good, especially if it comes from you.
If you are spending all your time in the kitchen worrying about all the little details of a dish; the four different garnishes that the meat needs or the special sauce that the recipe calls for, you will be missing out on actually spending time with your guests.
If you do decide to serve a meal that shows off your skills, break it down so that you aren’t expected to complete it all as your guests are mingling with one another; have it so that certain elements of the dish can be done in advance.
One way to help keep it simple is to consider making dishes that aren’t required to be piping hot when you serve them. Dishes that serve equally as well at room temperature are a great help if you have a few other side dishes that call for a little extra attention.
Cheat on Dessert (we won’t tell)
In the same consideration of the previous tip, consider preparing dessert a day in advance.
You can still choose to wow your attendees with a dessert that will knock their socks off, but consider a dish where the flavor is enhanced by being made a day in advance and not one that requires your attention while you are trying to make dinner. There are many desserts that can be bought or prepared the day before and simply warmed up in the oven when you are ready to eat again.
Keep Dietary Restrictions in Mind
Finding out that you have a guest with a gluten sensitivity, or that she is a strict vegetarian, right when you are about to plate your beef wellington is not what you want to experience while hosting your first dinner party. For the most part, we know what our friends’ likes and dislikes are, as well as their food allergies, but sometimes they can bring a friend or new significant other along and we are caught off guard.
Making sure that you have something for everyone is an important part of the meal to consider, and this means not just giving the vegetarian a small side salad to munch on while everyone else gets to indulge on your beef wellington. It’s a good idea to have a backup meal ready, even if it is kept in your freezer.
If time allows, the best way to avoid getting into this pickle is to ask in advance if your friends have any food conflicts that you should be aware of. Sometimes they can be small, a preference against seafood, or a dislike for broccoli, but they will appreciate you making the effort to please their tastes.
Get Help from Your Friends
Throwing a dinner party is a huge undertaking that takes planning, time, and effort to pull it off successfully. Having to go through it alone is not an obligation, especially when friends are more than capable of helping out.
Perhaps you have a friend who makes the yummiest spinach dip, or one who has a knack for picking out the best wines, don’t be afraid to ask for them to show off their skills and bring their food to the party. Not only will this save you from having to get these jobs done yourself, but it will make them feel more included in your soirée; just make sure your fridge can accommodate the extra food and drinks.
In-Season = Peak Taste
When we think of the cooler weather, it is no surprise that meals that include roasts, mashed potatoes and gravy, or warm apple crumble come to mind. These types of meals are tried and tested and are favorites for a reason, they suit the time of year perfectly and are great for pleasing a crowd.
The fall is known for crisp apples and pears, brussels sprouts, squash varieties and more, so why not take advantage of these provisions and include a recipe with them as the star? By using “in-season” fruits and vegetables, you will also save money, which is always a welcome bonus.
Set the Table the Day Before
Set your table the day before; doing this can save you valuable time the day of your special party. It will also help you to make sure that you have everything you need, and that everything fits perfectly together, from that 9 by 13 casserole dish, to right number of salad forks.
Nothing says autumn more than some colorful leaves on napkins; or maybe you’re going for a Halloween-themed party and want to include some candle holders in the shapes of pumpkins and spooky ghosts. By doing all of this the day before you can have fun with it and still have time to pick up anything that you may be missing.
Serving the Food
Maybe you plan to serve each plate directly and then have everyone come to the table, or maybe you prefer family style, where all the food is placed on the table and everyone helps themselves; but knowing this ahead of time is a big step in helping to make your dinner party successful.
If you have set your table the day before, as previously suggested, you will be able to see if you will have enough room at your table for all the food dishes. You may discover that it works better if you create a buffet of food at your breakfast bar and keep the food off the table, making more room for your guests. Whatever you decide, it helps to plan ahead.
Give Yourself Enough Time
Allowing yourself enough time for all the preparations and the cooking itself is probably the most important step, and why I have saved it for last. If you don’t give yourself enough time to complete everything, then it is possible your first dinner party may also be your last.
A great way to ensure that you will have enough time to get everything done is to acknowledge the time when your guests will arrive and then count backward from that point. For example, if you know it takes you an hour to prepare the food and another hour to cook it, adding in time for shopping, travel, cleaning and getting yourself dressed, you may find that you need a good five hours to pull everything off successfully.
If your guests are to arrive at six o’clock you will need to subtract five hours, which means that you should start at around one o’clock, right? Not quite, I would suggest that you give yourself an extra hour for possible surprises that may come your way; a phone call from your friend that lasts twenty minutes because she can’t decide on what wine to pick up or maybe it’s the rice that seems to take longer than expected to cook.
All of these glitches take up valuable time and it’s best to prepare for them then to run out of time because of them. Murphey’s Law dictates “What can go wrong, will go wrong” so, you might want to show Murphey who’s boss and be prepared for all that can go wrong and come out on top.
Throwing your first dinner party can be a great success, one that can lead to more dinner parties down the road. Make your first dinner party one to remember by following my top ten tips and all of your guests will be eagerly asking you when your next one is.
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