Some Tips for Hosting

As mentioned in my last post, I recently catered and hosted a Christmas party for 75. I love to have my home full of conversation, good smells, beauty and laughter, and throwing a big party is just the ticket. This is the second time I've hosted this particular party, although we've done other similar events. I've learned some tips and tricks along the way.

Tip #1 - Enlist help
Find several helpers, and choose them carefully. Find people who either love to serve by nature, or want to learn about hosting. We used real dish ware, so washing dishes was an all-evening affair for 3 people (in the mudroom, by hand). I also had some parking attendants at the beginning, and asked helpers to replenish food and drinks. They were also the ones I counted on to help with a myriad of small tasks, and I just supervised and tried to sit down as often as possible!

Tip #2 - Meticulous planning
I'm a list-maker and nothing brings me more pleasure than to cross things off. Creating a menu, shopping and to-do lists are so much fun for me! I got a little spiral notebook just for this party and kept it close by at all times for a few weeks ahead. Once I knew how many guests to expect and the budget, I could set to work coming up with a menu that was tasty, manageable and met various dietary needs (aka, omnivores, vegetarians, lactose-intolerant, etc...things have really changed since I first got married and started hosting!). Careful planning and lists, lists, lists are key to throwing a big party.

Tip #3 - Don't offer too many items
I had about 15 menu items, which in hindsight is still a few too many. Consider having 3 or 4 "wow" items and then fill in the rest of the menu with the old standbys. Inevitably, there are the crowd favorites and the duds...and sometimes you can't predict this; I made sure I had plenty of shrimp cocktail, but we had gobs leftover and not nearly enough California rolls. I wanted this menu to be "international" so we offered items from the Mid-East, Asia, Italian, Caribbean and American.

Tip #4 - Don't try to make everything from scratch
I decided to make a lot of the food here at home, but I outsourced some, too. On the day of, I picked up ready-made falafel, sushi and bbq from local sources. I made baked ziti and a creole sauce with rice and beans several days ahead and stored it in the freezer. I bought some desserts and had my daughter make a few items. My other daughter has a great salad recipe so I asked her to make a massive quantity of it. I kept the drinks simple - just sweet tea and flavored waters, hot cider and coffee.

Tip #5- Plan out each day's activities for a week ahead
Starting with shopping, I worked a little each day leading up the the event. Several things I could cook ahead and freeze, but then finding space for those items to thaw had to be factored in. So each day had a few tasks, considering storage space in the refrigerator, freezer and oven. I assigned tasks to myself and those that were helping me on the day of. And of course, my sweet husband was willing to give me his entire late afternoon to be 'on call.'

Tip #6 - Include ALL tasks, no matter how small, on that list!
Lighting candles 15 minutes before showtime is an essential and time consuming task! Put it on the list! Changing from my work clothes to my party clothes was also on that activities list, as was turning on the coffee makers. Cleaning the bathrooms, stocking toilet paper and making sure the dishwasher was empty were other things on that week-of list. And delegate, delegate, delegate. Decide what you must do and then give the rest of the tasks to someone else.

Tip #7 - Don't sweat the small stuff
At the last minute, we were blowing breakers left and right with all the coffee urns and outdoor heaters. We had to scramble to find a solution, but I passed that off to my husband whom I trust to do things well. We ran out of broccoli salad, and someone set a small fire on my dining table. But we just deal with those things...remember to keep the main thing, the main thing...we want everyone to be well-fed, feel appreciated and just have a good time being together.

Tip #8 - Leave the big clean up til morning
I am DONE by the time everyone heads home around 10 pm. So, even though the kitchen is a disaster, I leave it until the morning. I know I will have tons more energy when the sun comes up, and I will tackle that project bright and early. I asked my helpers to get all the dishes, glassware, forks, and coffee cups cleaned before they left, and I took care of the serving platters, trays, coffee urns, etc. myself. I turned on my favorite Pandora Christmas station (Johnnyswim Holiday, btw) and worked like a little Christmas elf all morning.

My home was designed with hospitality in mind. One of the best spaces is the kitchen/breakfast/keeping room area, where all 75 people stood at the end of the party for a little speech. In addition, I have a large covered porch with a fireplace, so I installed curtains to enclose it, and bought some outdoor heaters, which gave us lots of extra overflow space, even on a December night. Two years ago when I threw this party, I moved a lot of my furniture out and brought in tables and chairs and made sure there was a place setting for every person. This year, I left the house as it was, brought in folding chairs and we had a more casual affair. I find that only about half of the people actually sit down at an event like this; most people are on the move with their plate in hand and only sit for a few minutes at a time. I counted about 50 places to sit in my house the way it was (furniture, fireplace hearth, outdoor chairs, ottomans, etc.) so I didn't need a ton of extra seating. Thankfully everyone milled about from the kitchen (where the food was served buffet-style on my island) to the other rooms on the first floor.

I'm looking forward to hosting again in the new year. This is my way of showing people that I love them, that I appreciate them. And I feel a huge sense of satisfaction knowing that they ate something yummy in my home and shared life with me.

Menu:
Shrimp shooters (2 shrimp served in a puddle of cocktail sauce in a shot glass)
Creole sauce with Rice and Beans (veg)
Baked Ziti (veg)
Bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese
Falafel with Tahini (veg)
California rolls (veg)
NC BBQ sliders
Anitipasti (cheese, olives, nuts, grapes, crackers) (veg)
Lobster bites
Broccoli Salad
Caprese Skewers (veg)
Oreo Truffle balls
Chocolate covered pretzels
Assorted Cookies
Candy
Hot cider
Coffee/tea
Flavored still and sparkling water
Sweet Tea