The Entertaining Season is Upon Us

We have been known to through a party or two at our house and so I fancy myself a bit of an expert on throwing a party and being a good hostess. Over the last five years of planning parties and barbecues and executing Thanksgiving dinner for ten, I have slowly, painfully learned to be a (slightly) less frantic hostess and to only make too much food and buy too much wine instead of TOO MUCH FOOD and TOO MUCH WINE.  And in my opinion a happy hostess and too much food and wine are really all you need to have a good party. Glasses for the wine help too. As does a wine key.

As such, here is short list of my tips for a successful gathering.

• Two hours before guests are expected STOP whatever you are doing and go get ready. It is preferable to be mid-"finishing touches on the dip" as guest arrive, than to be mid-"dripping wet from the shower" as the doorbell is ringing.  A hostess with un-blow-dryed hair is not a happy hostess.
• Do all the fussy stuff, like moving furniture, putting out candles, table-runners, etc. first, before you do anything else. It's easier to do that when no one is around and before you start plating food. True Story: I set the table for thanksgiving dinner up to 3 days in advance. Because I can. And then it's done.
• If someone offers to come over and help, fight all your neurotic tendencies and just say yes.  Having someone come over an hour early to help chop the veggies for the dip or put the beer in the cooler will always be a godsend.
• Speaking of help, if you can fly a friend from a distant city to be your kitchen bitch sous chef for the day in exchange for room and board, all the better.
• But really, when you are writing out your "to-do" list, think of 4-5 tasks that you could easily pass off to willing helpers, so you have a few things someone else can do when you are elbow-deep in your secret meatball sauce 30 minutes for the party starts.
• Always buy one more bag of ice than you think you need. 
• How much food to make? My rule of thumb is at least one piece of everything for every invited guest. With four to five different dishes, plus something dip-based (and easily replenished) like hummus and veggies or chips and salsa, you've got plenty of food.  If you have a main dish, you could go with fewer apps,  maybe just two or three and a dip. If you do strictly cocktail food, you could go with more variety (maybe seven appetizers?), and fewer pieces of each. 
• What if I run out of food? Chances are you will have a) too much of almost everything and b) at least one dish that runs out right away. That's fine, no one is bothered by this. Take comfort in the fact that they REALLY like your (Paula Deen's) deviled eggs! 
• Keep the desserts bite-size. A full-size cheesecake is a thing of beauty, but when no one wants to cut/eat a whole slice of full-size cheesecake...it becomes a nuisance to have that around your house for the next week.
• At some point (preferably after the first guest or two arrives) just stop prepping and enjoy your party! Much like a five-year-old's dance recital, only the teacher knows what went "wrong." That there were supposed to be ten tea lights instead of eight on the buffet and that you never got around to making the goat cheese tart with roasted figs. Have a good time! It's a party after all.
• Don't worry about cleaning up until the next morning. Believe me, the mess will still be there.

Happy Entertaining!