Entertaining

If I could entertain close personal friends every day for the rest of my life, I would.  I love it so.

I love creating the idea...picking the glassware, dinnerware and serveware...the flatware, the napkins and napkin rings.

Menus pose such wonderful challenges -- Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Mediterranean, something new altogether? I’ve been known to try out new recipes on unsuspecting guests. But for the more important events, I have a whole catalog of standby recipes that always go over well.

Sometimes I’m motivated to stage an event after reading a new cookbook (and I do READ cookbooks). Other times the season, the holiday, the raison d’être inspire me. After Christmas I picked up Ina Garten's new Barefoot Contessa cookbook. She always inspires me because her recipes are tried and tested, full of flavor and geared particularly for pleasing a crowd. She's never steered me wrong and her new book was no exception. It’s full of easy yet incredibly tasty recipes.

I watch a ton of HGTV and The Cooking Network shows. Some of my favorites TV cooks/chefs are Ina Garten (I have all her books), Nigella Lawson (I have all her books), Jamie Oliver, and Chuck Hughes. Noticeably absent from the list is Giada DeLaurentiis. I have all her cookbooks and love her recipes. I just can’t stand her cheesy smile! Also, I’ve watched Rachael Ray on occasion but I’ve not yet picked up any of her books.

There are so many components to pulling off a great entertainment event, but I don’t cookie-cutter events. Each must be unique and typically my mood…my energy level…and the weather tend to shape the extent of each as well. I also take into consideration how much my guests are able to handle…if the event is in the evening of a work day…people are tired and so I simplify things – for me and for them.

For the more important, landmark events – birthdays, anniversaries, etc., I have to make a signature cocktail. I do it too for some informal events but not always. Occasionally I’m happy to stick to wine and beer. Makes clean up a lot easier too!

My double oven has considerably eased my entertaining stress – it’s a God send! I try to have as much done as possible before people arrive so I can sit with them and talk. I hate having to go back and forth to the kitchen, leaving guests to flounder. My oven’s warm setting is my best friend.

My meals are almost always done family style – why else do I have a king’s ransom in serveware! I sometimes do buffets but I much prefer the intimacy of family style dining. Nothing brings people together faster than when they have to pass food or serve others.

And dinner is not dinner without dessert, period, end of story! If you don’t want it, I’ll pack it up for you to take home.

Over the years I’ve mastered the art of clean up. If you don’t have enough counter space for all the dirty dishes (like me), use another table. Fortunately my kitchen table is a perfect place to store the dishes while I enjoy dessert with my guests. And I never go to bed without cleaning up. I cannot imagine waking up to food encrusted dishes…if I did, I probably wouldn’t want to entertain ever again and how sad would that be?