Host a dinner party

I love to cook for people. I used to make dinner for my boyfriends friends when they would come over to help him work on his car and I would invite my couple friends over for dinner occasionally. But I left that guy and no longer have my own place so I haven’t hosted in well over a year. I want to make dinner for a group of friends and now is the time to start planning.

I actually did this back in November (not Thanksgiving, but a friendly get together). I didn’t record it though on here so I’ll use that as an excuse to host another one. :D Should be fun!

http://entertaining.about.com/cs/dinnerparties/a/summerharvest.htm

http://entertaining.about.com/od/dinnerparties/Dinner_Parties.htm

My family has a lot of dinner parties where we invite relatives and close friends. Sometimes they are fun!

My family has a lot of dinner parties where we invite relatives and close friends. Sometimes they are fun!

well, they decided they wanted to make it lunch, but i showed my little brother how to cook and we got to use the fun chopsticks and the glasses with the fish on them :)

it was a blast and his idea! how wonderful right?

Do as much as you can the night before or even earlier in the day of the dinner party. The last thing you want is to be still making the food when people are arriving. The hour before the party everything should be set and you should just focus on getting ready.

If all you have left to is “taking it out of the oven” then that is understandable. But if you’re still making a dish when the party is supposed to start, it’s just awkward.

I’m marking this goal as done as we’ve held a few little dinner parties now. Loads of fun and so easy to throw together. Great food plus great company equals engaging conversation, a few lighthearted debates and lots of laughter.

Perhaps down the track I’ll try throwing a more formal one.

It had been ages since I hosted a dinner party, but I finally met this goal. I had a really fun party this past Saturday.

We had appetizers and drinks on the deck and dinner and dessert inside. I love indoor/outdoor parties, but it sure is a lot more work to get ready. In addition to cooking and cleaning inside, I also had to wash the pollen off the deck, make sure the yard was in good shape, etc. Worth every minute of the work. We really had a blast.

I’m thinking of having this a week or so before my friends and I head of to university, a few weeks after our A level results.
What to serve ? ANy suggestions?
We have no dietary requirements and we aren’t vegetarians.
Which wines to accoompany?