Five for Friday: Five Ways to Make Entertaining Easier

I love, love, love having people over and I always have. Just because I love it doesn't mean that I've always been good at it. Entertaining is no fun though when your head might just pop off and fly around the room because everything needs to be "perfect". "Perfect" will make you drink too much, be short with your spouse and insult your own cooking. Not that I've ever done that.

1.) Do as much in advance as possible.

If you plan to clean your house, buy groceries, set the table, prep and cook all in a six-hour span before your guests arrive, your heart might just explode out of your chest by the time dessert rolls around. You will not have fin and having people over should be fun!

When you plan your menu, plan dishes that aren't touchy-- braised meat and potatoes are comforting and delicious and will forgive a little forgetfulness on your part. Look at your days before having people over. I like to have one day of house-cleaning, one day of shopping, and one day of deep prep for the meal. I even set the table the night before. I'm a sucker for a pretty table:

2.) You don't have to offer the world.

Now, if you have a vegetarian coming to supper or someone with a known food allergy, then by all means, do your best accommodate them. But aside from that, try and keep your offerings simple and cohesive. If you're serving dinner, all you really need to serve is the standard protein-veg-starch. Dessert can be coffee and chocolate. Anything else is extra and should be treated a such. This isn't your last meal or your guests'. It's better to concentrate your efforts on making a few things well than many things poorly.

3.) Let others help.

When your guest says, "What can I bring?" the correct answer is "dessert". Or whatever it is you don't have some overwhelming desire to make. Whatever they bring, make sure it's a dish that doesn't need to be assembled in your busy kitchen, which is why I love it when people bring dessert. Check out the sexy cake my friend Nora brought when we had her and her boyfriend over for dinner:

4.) Put out snackies.

Setting out cheese and crackers puts me at ease. If your guests have something to snack on and some wine to drink, the start-time for dinner is less important. And I like to use our cheese board-- it's shaped like a giant piece of cheese! And it has another little piece of cheese to cut with!

5.) Relax.

If you're not enjoying your guests and having a good time, you're missing the whole point. It's an hour until your guests arrive. House still cluttered? Shove it in a closet. Mirrors in the bathroom need cleaning? Unscrew the lightbulb and light some candles. Have a glass of wine, eat some of your cheese and check on dinner.