A Dinner Party Must - tracking

If you enjoy hosting dinner parties, chances are you do it on a fairly regular basis. You may have a range of friends that you invite repeatedly but there could be a long gap between reunions with of each of these guests. The usual drill is that you'll invite them, eventually they may invite you back and then it's your turn again.. It could be several months before your guests return to your house.

If you're like me, you may have had several dinner parties in between. If your memory is like mine, then this can pose a problem if you want to make sure you prepare a different menu for the night.

I want to share with you a great tip on how to make sure you don't serve the same meal to the same guests when you next invite them to dinner. It's sometimes hard to remember - especially if you haven't had the guests over for some time. My suggestion is that you keep track - keep records. Buy a dinner party notebook or create a spreadsheet and keep a track of the date, the friends you invite, what you served as hors de vours, what you served for each course and even the wine that you served with the meal.

This has helped me enormously. Over a period of time, I have served some of my favorite recipes that have proved to be a huge hit with my guests. Once I know they're a smash, I tends to repeat the recipe with another guest. In the past, I have had to try hard to remember whether I have already served the particular meal to my friends.

We have a number of people we invite for dinner so I really have had to think hard to remember what I served the last time my guests came. It may be six months or a year since I had the guests to dinner so I really do want to cook something unique for them.

That is, until I started keeping records. Not only do I now know the last time I invited a particular guest to dinner but I now also have a record of everything that was served on the night. So, of course I make it completely different. You can keep all sorts of records - like the foods a particular friend can't eat or doesn't like. This will really help you in the preparation when you invite the same guests back later.

Imagine a friend invited you to dinner and without you even having to remind them, they remembered that you can't eat seafood - they bring it up - not you. You think, "wow.. wasn't that lovely of you to remember that". These small touches make your guests feel important.. special - that you cared enough to remember. Little do they realize that you are actually so organized that you have kept track.

When I host a dinner party, the aim is to make my guests feel special.. pampered even and spoiled. A small tip like this can make all the difference. I love good food and good wine and I love to socialize. Dinner parties give me the opportunity to indulge both my passions. I love dinner parties so much that I host a blog which provides ideas for your next dinner party. They provide such a great way to catch up with the important people in your life. People love to be invited to dinner parties because they can enjoy an excellent event of great food and company and all it costs usually is a bottle of wine - and maybe a taxi fare home. But it's not about the money - it's just great to be spoiled by your hosts.

Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

In the meantime, you might want to check out this record keeping book with numbered pages. List you guests at the index and then you can keep write page numbers next to their name on the table of contents page as you invite them to dinner.



Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

A formal or informal dinner party?

A poll on my dinner party idea blog showed that almost 53% of participants preferred an informal dinner party over a formal dinner party - while 38% didn't mind whether it was formal or informal. Only 8% of those surveyed said they preferred a formal dinner party.

To me, that means informal is definitely the favorite..

Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

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Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

Repeat your dinner party idea

If you have a number of regulars you invite around for dinner consider this dinner party idea - repeat your menu.

OK, you serve a great three course meal and your guests are very impressed. Why not serve the very same meal to your next group of guests? If you've been experimenting with new recipes, the next time you prepare the meal will be easier and then again, easier after that. And quicker. You know what you've got to buy, you know how long each course takes and you'll have seen and tasted the end result.

This has worked well for me personally because I don't have to spend hours trying to come up with a sensational menu - I know my whole meal was great from the hors de vours to the dessert!

I always like trying new dinner party ideas and this helped during one of my peak dinner party periods!

Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

In the meantime, you might want to check out this record keeping book with numbered pages. List you guests at the index and then you can keep write page numbers next to their name as you invite them to dinner.



Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

Holiday Dinner Party Ideas

I like this guy's holiday dinner party idea - especially if you're having a number of people over for dinner. He suggests serving an appetizer and dessert .. skip the main. Great.



What I like about sharing dinner party ideas is that while the idea you are reading or seeing right now might not cut it for you, it may spark off another idea for you .. a bit like brainstorming.

Stay tuned for more dinner party news soon.

In the meantime, check out the Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook:



Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

Celebrity Chef Dinner Party Idea

Thank you to one of our readers, Jacq Love, who has sent me the following dinner party idea:

"Using a book from a celebrity chef (eg Kylie Kwong), you choose a
series of recipes or they may have a chapter with dinner party
recipes.

If you were hosting the party you could either do it all
yourself OR you could get each couple to bring the ingredients for
1-2 dishes and then cook them in turns.

The surroundings could easily be matched with the type of chef eg Kylie Kwong's Chinese Banquet could be decorated with paper lanterns and other Chinese features."

Thanks again Jacq for your interesting dinner party idea!

Here is one of Kylie's cook cooks:



Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

Why you should share your best dinner party idea

If you are looking at this right now, chances are you love a great dinner party and what's more, you've got your own interesting dinner party ideas.

I'm always astounded when I see where in the world my visitors come from - you come from everywhere.. today I had visitors from Mozambique to Milan to Malaysia to Melbourne to Memphis! And that's just the places that begin with M..

No matter where we live we have something in common. We love good food in good company thanks to dinner parties.

I've been trying to give some of my own dinner party idea but if you are like me, you are also happy to share your ideas. Why not help someone else in the world astound their friends by doing something amazing that they may have never thought of and vice versa.

Rather than just leave a comment, I want to add your idea to a whole page post. I will include your name and where you live along with your dinner party idea. When the Google spiders have done the rounds, just search your name in Google and your name will be in lights.. well, maybe not lights but you'll get the credit.

I see from the searches people perform that Italian dinner party ideas are really sought after. Do you have one to share or any other dinner party ideas that others may enjoy hosting?

Please send me any of your ideas to
DinnerPartyIdeas

Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas in the meantime.

In the meantime, have you seen these table conversation starters?



Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess

How to throw the best dinner party ever!

It's not hard to throw a great dinner party. It doesn't even have to be time consuming nor do you need to slave over the stove for hours. But when you do throw a great dinner party not only do your guests leave feeling on a high but you feel great about yourself - you feel a sense of achievement!

The main secret to throwing a great dinner party instead of just the regular variety is to put thought into your dinner party and to be well prepared.

Who will you invite? Will all the guests get along? Where is the best place to host the dinner - at your house in your dining room? In your back garden? Or even in your front garden? The ideas are endless and again, you have to be prepared. Like if you have the party outdoors then consider that the weather might become a nightmare.

When you invite people, check to see what foods they don't like or can't tolerate.

Ask with enough notice so that you have plenty of time to prepare your menu. Make sure you have the plates, cutlery and glasses you need - it's nice if they match but then to have each person using something different also adds intrigue.

Consider a theme that you might use - food from a particular country, a colour or even a type of food - like a mango dinner party. You have lots of room to be creative.

Think about whether you can set the atmosphere - candles, music, colour, cushions, anything that fits with your theme and creates a great environment.

When people arrive will you offer them a cocktail or a pre-dinner drink of some sort? Will you have a plate of finger food that people can nibble on till the food is served.

To throw a three course dinner party really sends the message that you have gone to a lot of trouble. Consider a menu that can be prepared days ahead and do a little each day if you don't want to spend all day cooking. Or you know what? You can even cheat - pre buy an entree and/or dessert and take some pressure off.

Buy wine to match the food. Yes, people will usually bring a bottle but be prepared in case the bring a red and you are eating white meat or they've brought a white wine and you've cooked red meat. You can ask the liquor supplier for advice about the type of grape that will go with the particular dish you are making. And serving a dessert wine with your dessert or cheese platter always impresses.

Make sure there is plenty of still or sparkling water so people can be sensible with their drinking - especially if someone has driven.

Stay tuned for more dinner party ideas soon.

In the meantime, you might want to check out this coffee - at the end of the evening it's great to offer people decaffeinated so they don't stay awake all night:



Randa
The Hostess with the Mostess