Secrets of a Successful Dinner Party

1. Call your guests. Let them know about your party at least 10 days in advance. You don't want to get down to the wire and realize half of your guest list can't make it. Plus, it's polite to let everyone plan your party into their busy schedules.

2. Check and recheck. Don't wait until the 11th hour to make an ice run: Make a list of all the items you'll need and go shopping the day before. Once you get home from the store, lay out every ingredient needed for each recipe as well as for each room (like extra TP); make sure you haven't forgotten anything.

3. Plan to stay out of the kitchen. The best dinner-party menus are the least intensive ones. You won't want to slave over a hot stove while your guests sit in the living room. Although fajitas sound like fiesta food, they're best eaten hot off the grill, making it impossible to hang out with friends while monitoring the meat. One of our favorite entrees is lasagna -- it pleases carnivores and vegetarians alike. And you can make it in advance and then just pop it into the oven to warm it up. Pick a low-maintenance salad as well: Prepare it before guests arrive and keep it in the refrigerator until you need it.

4. Don't overestimate your cooking abilities. If you're the next Martha Stewart, more power to you. But for the rest of us, a three-course menu featuring pork loin in wild-cherry sauce and ground curried goat wrapped in pockets of phyllo dough is a bit of a stretch. You don't want to realize you've cooked your goose wrong at the last minute and have to send out for Chinese.

5. Do a test run. Successful dinner parties start with a well-practiced recipe. Make the crowd-pleasing crab dip you've brought to everyone else's parties. Using a familiar recipe will ease some of your stress, and your guests won't complain -- their mouths will be full. If you don't cook regularly (or ever), try your concoctions at least once before making them for a roomful of hungry friends.

6. Use premade items. Unless you're Superman (or woman), you won't have the time or energy to make all the food you serve. So go to a French bakery or gourmet grocery and stock up on Tartes Tatin or a delicious side dish. It'll be our little secret.

7. Have appetizers ready. Guests will arrive hungry, but don't spring the main course on them right away. Give everyone a chance to relax and hang out. Chips and dip are old standbys, but it's much more fun to try something more creative. If you opt for the lasagna dinner, a good like-minded Italian appetizer is bruschetta -- toasted slices of French bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and chopped tomatoes.

8. Let someone else bartend. This is a role many people (read: men) will be all too eager to play -- why not let 'em? It'll save you time and stress. As far as drinks go, save the wine for dinner and start the evening with something fun and frozen, like margaritas or daiquiris (put that new blender to good use!). For sophisticated guests, let your bartender mix up martinis or cosmopolitans.

9. Mix and match your friends. No, we're not saying you should play matchmaker, but this is your chance to hang out with whomever you want. You can bring together friends from different circles who've never met or just mix different personalities whose company you enjoy. Make sure you and your mate are there to help keep the conversation afloat.

10. Include entertainment. Make sure you have a camera ready -- it's an added incentive for guests to ham it up! For instant photographic evidence, go Polaroid. For even more laughs, pull out an active game like Pictionary or Cranium and play a couple of rounds.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 1224