Hassle-Free Entertaining

With people having to tighten their belts more and more in the present economic climate, many of us can no longer to afford to eat out in restaurants with friends, so are turning to home entertaining as a more cost effective way of socializing. Just the words 'dinner party' are enough to strike fear into many simple home cooks. Although you may be able to struggle along for your partner or children, as soon as you invite friends to sample your cooking you can begin to feel that your talents (or lack of them) have been laid bare.

Well, it doesn't have to be frightening, in fact, if you remember back to your most enjoyable evenings with friends, the food actually comes pretty low on the list of reasons to remember. You are much more likely to remember the company, the atmosphere and the whole ambiance of the evening, rather than just the food.

There are certain rules which can be followed in order to make home entertaining as stress free as possible. Prepare your menu carefully, and include as much as possible which can be prepared in advance. There are some wonderful soups which can be made earlier in the day, or even weeks ahead and frozen, and can be an extremely tasty starter, especially for a winter dinner party in front of a cosy fire. Don't serve anything which has critical timing, a simple grilled steak can be delicious if cooked just right, but end up like a bit of shoe leather if you're busy with other things and over-cook it by just a few minutes. You want to spend as much time as possible with your guests, and not make them and you feel uncomfortable by running off every two minutes into the kitchen.

Go for the simple things in life. What could be more enjoyable than to sit with friends around a steaming bowl of pasta, a fresh green salad and wonderful crusty bread, a glass or two of cheap wine and a delicious bowl of ice-cream for desert, (home-made of course).


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