With
all the daily struggles life throws at you, why would anyone
want the extra stress of planning and cooking for a dinner
party?
Why?
Well,
three fun reasons! Good food, good friends and lots of laughter.
That is how our monthly nights out, without husbands and children,
turned out. Four friends and I started our small dinner party
group last fall. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed
how wonderfully satisfying these nights would be.
There
are many different ways to throw a dinner party, but you basically
use the same check list when planning for each of them. Here
are some wonderful tips from Mormonchic's very own Lisa James
on throwing the perfect dinner party. Get the scoop from our
expert party host on everything from creating the guest list
to minimizing the stress of the big day. Plus she's created
a complete menu perfect for any fall dinner party.
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* * * *
MAKE
A GUEST LIST
Decide
what a good number would be for your party by asking yourself
a few simple questions.
How many people can I comfortably seat in my home?
The answer to this question can depend on the type of dinner
party you are hosting. A back yard barbeque can usually accommodate
more people than a formal dinner in your dining room.
How many people can I easily serve?
For a casual dinner party, consider limiting your guest list
to six to eight people.
Do you want couples, families or just the girls?
Be sure to decide before you invite your guests, if children
are welcome. Let your guest know up front about this subject
so they can make arrangements for their children. Never invite
one guests children and not anothers. This will lead to hurt
feelings.
PLANNING
THE MENU
What kind
of party are you having? Are you celebrating a job promotion
or a baby blessing? If you don’t have any idea what
to do, choose a theme. Your theme can be based on a season
or holiday, sporting event, or even ethnic food types. Once
you have an idea or theme, plan your menu around it.
All
dinner parties do not have to
be "sit down and be served."
Buffet style works great too.
When
deciding what foods to serve, try to choose dishes that
can be prepared ahead of time. This will give you more
time to clean as you go and leave you less stressed as
the appointed hour draws near.
Find out
if anyone has any food restrictions before you get to far
into your planning. You don’t want to be known as the
hostess that sent a guest to the emergency room because of
an allergic reaction.
This is
not the time to try out new recipes. If you have a new recipe
that you would like to serve at your party, give it a trail
run a couple weeks before the party. That way, you will be
able to tell if it cooks for the right amount of time, tastes
right or has any other unforeseeable problems.
Keeping
the theme in mind, decide how many dishes you want to
serve and what order they should be served in. The typical
meal is served with the appetizer first, then a salad,
main course and sides leading to the dessert. To keep
guest from filling up on too much salad before the main
course, try serving the main course and side dishes before
the salad.
When
planning the main course,
plan side dishes that will
compliment it. You don’t want to
repeat the same flavor in every dish.
There
is no set rule on how many course you must serve. Your party
is, after all your party. You can have a party that is all
hors d’orves if you want.
SET
THE MOOD
Keep
decorations simple and to a minimum. A simple centerpiece,
a few candles and your nice dinnerware will keep the focus
on the food and not clutter the table.
Carry
the mood throughout the
house with soft music and candles tucked here and there,
they
add a touch of casual elegance.
For a
formal dinner party or celebration or a themed gathering,
invitations are a great way to set the mood weeks ahead of
the party. Whether its a murder mystery for 12 or an intimate
dinner for 6 the invitation you send will be your guests first
glimpse of hat's to come. So go all out and have fun with
it!
There
is no rush to serve your meal. Take your time moving from
one course to the next. Let your guests enjoy the flavors
and the mood. Being relaxed is an important part of a dinner
party. Plus your guests came to visit with you as well.
THE
KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL PARTY
Having
a dinner party is a wonderful way to entertain friends
and family and doesn't have to be a nightmare for the
hostess. Remember to plan ahead, be simple, be realistic
and have fun. With this simple strategy, your dinner party
will be a success.
Don’t
worry about cleaning
between courses or even right
after the meal. Enjoy your
company and clean up later.
FALL
DINNER PARTY MENU
Appetizer
APPLE
CHEESE BALL
8
oz. cream cheese, softened
1 apple, cored, peeled (reserve peel), chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon apple juice
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped nuts
2 tablespoon parsley
Combined
chopped apple, green onion, salt, pepper, Cheddar
cheese, and apple juice into softened cream cheese.
Mix well. Chill
for a few hours in the refrigerator.
Chop apple
peel into fine pieces. Combine with chopped nuts and
parsley on wax paper.
Form cheese
mixture into a large ball and roll in peel, nut, parsley
mixture.
Serve with
crackers.
RC NOTE:
This can be made with low fat or no fat cream cheese
for a healthier treat.
Recipe
from Lisa, St. Johns Salem Ward
Bread
CHEESE
AND APPLE PUFFS
2
eggs 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk 1 cup grated cheese
1 cup flour 1 cup chopped apples
2 tsp. baking powder
Beat
eggs well, add milk. Add flour, sifted with baking
powder and salt. Add cheese and apples, mix well.
Drop by spoonfuls into hot deep oil at 375 degrees.
Fry until golden brown. If desired, apples may be
omitted and puffs served with apple sauce. Makes 24
small fritters.
1
large head Romaine lettuce, washed and torn into small
pieces
1 good eating apple, cored and cubed
1 ripe pear, cored and cubed
1 tangerine, peeled, segmented, and diced
6 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
3/4 cup cashew halves
3/4 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
pinch salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Toss
the lettuce, apple, pear, tangerine, cheese, nuts,
and dried cranberries in a large bowl. In a medium
bowl, beat together the sugar, juices, mustard, and
salt until smooth. Slowly beat in the oil to form
a smooth dressing. Toss the salad with the dressing
and serve immediately. The dressing can be made up
to 24 hours in advance and remixed before tossing
with the salad.
1
- 10-12 lb. Pumpkin
2 lb. Beef stew meat
2 tbs. Oil
1 Bell Pepper
1 Onion
4 Medium potatoes
3 Carrots
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Sticks of Celery
1-15oz. can of diced tomatoes
2-3 cups Water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Directions:
1.
Carve a hole in the top of the pumpkin and remove
seeds and stringy insides.
Set pumpkin aside.
2.
In a pan, brown 2 lb. of stew meat in oil.
3.
Add in 1 bell pepper(sliced into inch thick slices),
1 onion (sliced), 4 medium potatoes(cubed), 3 carrots(cubed),
2 cloves of garlic(diced), 2 sticks of celery(sliced),
1 - 15 oz can of diced tomatoes.
4.
Salt and pepper to taste.
5.
Add 2 - 3 cups of water and let
simmer for 1 hour.
6.
Place pumpkin in shallow pan, and place stew inside
pumpkin.
7.
Brush the outside of the pumpkin with a light coating
of oil.
8.
Bake pumpkin and stew at 350 for 2 hours, or until
pumpkin is tender.
Serve stew while hot.
Be sure to get chunks of pumpkin in your stew, as
they enhance the flavor of the stew.
1 package
(7 oz.) caramels
1/4 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup chopped pecans, divided
1 (9-inch) chocolate crumb pie crust
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/4 cups milk
1 package (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup fudge topping
Place caramels
and evaporated milk in a heavy saucepan. Heat over
medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth,
about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Pour
into pie crust.
Combine
cream cheese, sour cream and milk in blender or food
processor. Process until smooth. Add pudding mix;
process for 30 seconds longer.
Pour pudding
mixture over caramel layer, covering evenly. Loosely
cover and chill until set, about 15 minutes.
Drizzle
fudge topping over pudding layer. Sprinkle remaining
pecans over top. Cover loosely and chill until serving
time. Yield: 8 servings.
Simplify
things for yourself. Buy at least one of the courses you
will be serving -- a premixed salad, fresh fruit, dinner
rolls, or even a Marie Calendar, Sara Lee or Pepperidge
Farms dessert.
Running
out of refrigerator space can be a huge issue on the big
day. To create extra space in your refrigerator, fill a
large cooler with all the items you won't need for your
party -- pack with ice or ice packs to keep cold. If that's
not enough, talk with neighbors about borrowing freezer
or refrigerator space.
DINNER
PARTY IDEAS
A
Progressive Dinner: each course of the meal is
served at a different house. Because of the driving time,
this usually takes more time then a regular dinner so plan
ahead.
Murder
Mystery - When invitations go out you assign each
guest a character. They come in character to the dinner
and throughout the course of the evening, try and solve
the murder.
Leftovers
- a friend actually had people over to her house for a Sunday
night dinner with the soul purpose being -- to clean out
her fridge. They served 3 hamburgers, 2 deviled eggs, half
a pan of lasagna... it was casual, and a little unconventional,
but everyone had a great time, and no food went to waste.
Baked
Potato Bar - You can either supply everything,
or have your guests bring the favorite condiment. Potatoes
can easily be "baked" in your crock pot! Fill
your crock pot with scrubbed potatoes, cover with lid and
place on low heat at least over night. In 8-10 hours, you'll
end up with moist "baked" potatoes. Test potatoes
in the morning to see if additional time is needed.
International
Night - have guests bring a favorite dish from
their favorite country. It could be where they served their
mission, studied abroad in college or where they are from.
Go one step further and have them come dressed in that countries
traditional clothing. Have each guest share a few minutes
of information about the country they are highlighting.
DINNER
PARTY GROUPS If
you plan on having a monthly dinner party, as my friends and
I did, think about splitting up the cooking. Each month we
decided on a theme for the next month. We chose to concentrate
on ethnic foods. We traveled to a different country or region
each month. Each member chose what dish they would bring,
ie. dessert, main course, side dish, bread or salad and an
appetizer. We then researched our recipes on-line or from
cookbooks at the library. We had interesting dinners every
time and we only had to cook one dish a month.
Instead
of using a a country, holiday or season to build your menu
around, try a cooking magazine. There are many wonderful recipe
magazines out there. If you subscribe to one, you can plan
your party around what was printed in specific issues. You
and your friends can each pick a recipe from a specific issue
and plan a party. The September issue of Cooking Light
has an article called the Supper Club Challenge on page 114.
It has some great insights and ideas from the Cooking
Light supper clubs all over the country.
Your
public library is a wonderful selection of cooking magazines.
They have a wide variety of magazines you can check out and
best of all, they are free.
A
dinner party diary is a fun and helpful record for any serious
dinner party hostess to keep. Record your guest list, theme
and menu as well as your guests reaction to the party. This
will help you remember what menus you served to whom, so you
don't over use a favorite dish. Plus it will be fun to look
back over the year(s) and read your guests comments.
SIMPLE
CENTER PIECES
Pile
gourds, baby pumpkins and squash in a shallow basket, or have
them spilling out of a cornucopia.
Set
a large candle in an old pie dish, surround with dried orange
slices and cinnamon sticks.
Fill
glass jars of varying heights 1/3 full of sand. Press candles
in the sand. Tie coordinating ribbon around the jars.
