The Christmas season brings that extra twinkle to my eye in general, so planning a formal get together to spend time with our dearest and closest friends has become something that we both truly enjoy and cherish. I was asked to put a post up regarding entertaining so I think nothing exemplifies this better or brings more notes to my mind than the planning of our Christmas dinner party. Below are some elements that I feel are key in making your next dinner party go off without a hitch so I hope that they are useful to you, too.
1. If possible, use real dinnerware, flatware and stemware instead of disposable products.
That is, if you are looking to create a more elegant, formal appearance. When setting the table for a formal event, this is a must for us, even if we will be cursing our decision after the party when we are stuck with 5 loads to put into the dishwasher and a sinkful of "hand wash only" items to wash as well. They'll get washed eventually and you'll be glad that you made the choice you did when you look back at your photos. It's only once a year...
While I would love to someday have a Spode or Lenox set of Christmas dinnerware, for now we invested in Gibson's $15 set for 4 place settings. I found these at The Christmas Tree Shops and any discount store would have some reasonable sets around the holidays that will not break the budget. For $75 we now have service for 20 in our Christmas pattern and I can't tell the difference from these and a more expensive set, looks-wise. For something we use once or twice a year, this works for us. Here is a picture of our table set at our party this year:
2. Meat Thermometer, meat thermometer, meat thermometer!
I can't stress this enough. If you will be cooking any sort of meat or fish whenever you have company, a digital thermometer will save your sanity, your culinary reputation...and your roast! It is easy to get distracted when the guests start arriving so 45 minutes in the oven can easily turn into 60 if you are not paying careful attention...or if you do not have a thermometer that will beep and let you know when your meat has reached the proper temperature. Instant read thermometers work great, too, but I am absolutely in love with my digital thermometer because it stays in the meat the entire time you are cooking it, it lets you set it to any sort of meat at various levels of doneness, and it has a timer and alarm. My roasts are never overcooked with this, which is always my biggest fear when working with a good cut of meat. I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma for about $25 and this one looks identical to mine, only under a different name, for $18:
3. Pick a few signature drinks to serve.
If you are interested in serving alcohol at your party, I would suggest coming up with a few signature drinks to offer instead of having an open bar. We typically offer red and white white and then a few different mixed drinks to choose from. It helps to limit the cost in alcohol and also the inventory you need to stock and helps to make people's decisions easier when choosing what to drink. Personally, I like to keep any punch we serve non-alcoholic since some people do not want to or cannot drink alcohol. Here are two popular drinks we served this year, which were fun and festive. Typically, we have 2-4 signature drinks to choose from.
Candy Cane Tini - This drink added a festive touch and helped the ment o get in touch with their feminine side since it quickly turns a nice shade of pink when the candy cane is added. They sepnt the whole night denying that they had a "girly" drink. 1/2 oz. Schnapps, peppermint
1 piece (Mini candy cane) Candy
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into glass. Place a candy cane in the glass. It will turn the drink pink and adds to the flavor.
Bellini - This sparkling peach drink is made with champagne so it adds a festive touch to any Christmas, New Year's or other gathering that gives you reason to celebrate! 1 part chilled peach nectar or white peach puree4 parts Italian dry Sparkling wine or dry Champagne
4. Food Quantities.
There are many rules of thumb out there for serving sizes when entertaining. These are my own, based on past experience cooking for a crowd.
Appetizers: Plan on 3-6 of each type per person for individual hors d'oeuvres; consider each dip, etc. to serve about 10 people and double/triple your recipe accordingly.
Meat: Plan on 1/3 lb. per person for boneless meats; 1/2 lb. per person for bone-in meats.
Side Dishes: Plan on each recipe to serve 10 people and double/triple accordingly.
Rolls/bread: Plan on 1.5 rolls person. Many people will only take one and several people will take two. Typically, this gives me a few extras, which means to me that everyone had their fill and I had enough food, but not too much.
Desserts: Plan on one slice of cake/pie per person and 2-3 individual pastries, cookies, etc.
5. Favors
We always love to give a small favor to our guests when they leave, as a final token of friendship. Often, I will make some homemade truffles or other goodies to wrap up and give out, since I love to bake. Other times, I have found a nice store-bought favor such as Christmas votive holders I found one year or an elegant ornament. This year, knowing that most of our guests have young children at home and wanting to do something more unique and homemade, I created some hot chocolate packages. What I included were a packet of hot chocolate for each member of the family, a small baggie of homemade marshmallows and a small baggie of chocolate covered spoons. I tied all of these together with a tag. We feel that the time spent putting these together is worthwhile when this small touch adds just that "little extra" to the event, giving a last memorable item to hand out to your guests as they leave.
