Dinner parties are designed to be very enjoyable, but they may also be a source of stress and dissatisfaction for the cook. The way to prevent this is thru careful planning.
obviously you may give extensive consideration to your guests, their likes, dislikes and even any allergies they could have. But it is’s of similar importance to think about your own wants what you like to cook and what you are good at.
It’s better by far to form dishes you are familiar with than to try something new as you hope to galvanize. The secret’s to make everything look straightforward, and the way to do that is to use variations on recipes you already know backwards.
On the other hand, if that suggests no improvement on spaghetti Bolognaise, another approach could be called for and a touch more planning might be needed. Choose your recipes with care.
Decide really early on how many courses you plan to serve. It is in no fashion essential to serve three courses plus cheese simply because that is the norm. But if you do decide to follow that convention there aren’t many things it would be helpful to consider.
Avoid, for example, employing the same main component in more than one dish. I.e. Don’t serve a quiche followed by something else in pastry, or add a robust flavor like chili to above one dish.
Plan, also, how you intend to cope with both preparing and serving the food. If your menu means that you’re going to need to spend more time in the kitchen than you do with your visitors, you want to reconsider
Design your courses so that as much as humanly possible can be prepared in advance. A simple way to do that is to serve only 1 hot dish, perhaps the main course, one course at 70 degrees and one direct from the refrigerator. The cheese can take care of itself.
speaking of which, here is something that you might like to think about. In Australia and the United Kingdom, cheese is served at the end of the meal. In France it is served before the dessert. I suggest the latter course.
The reason for that’s because it puts the timing forcefully in your hands as to when the meal is over and it’s time for the guests to go home.
Let them linger over the cheese until you are prepared to bring the evening to a close. Then serve the pudding with just one bottle of good pudding wine, having cleared all the other dishes, including the cheese board.
You do this by bringing 2 dishes to the table, and taking a couple of dishes away as if to make room for more. With a little bit of practice you will become terribly adroit at this and the table will clear as if by magic.
Once the dessert is finished, select your time to offer coffee and a last nightcap of port or brandy, if that is what you would usually do. Most guests will understand the coffee indicates the end of the evening and won’t even remember that you have manipulated the timing in this fashion. And even if they are they may probably admire you for it and adopt the same system themselves.
Above all, remember that everything you serve has turned out just as it was supposed to. Never ever make excuses or apologize for your food.
Create it with conviction, serve it with panache.You can read more about dinner party planning here: http://www.partyplanninghelp-mark.com/dinner-party-planning/