If you need to celebrate an event with family, friends or colleagues, it is better to do it at home. Of course, to do so obviously means that you enjoy cooking, and that you are somewhat good at it. But if you haven’t tried cooking for many people just yet, these tips below should come in handy.
Always be Ready
When you start holding special events at home, it is probable that you will want to catch every possible opportunity to have people over, in groups, afterwards. Holding dinners with friends at home is a unique feeling. It is extremely rewarding, as you feel as if you were taking care of everyone. But to do so the right way, you need to equip yourself with the basics.
One of the most important one of them is french dinnerware, by revol1768.com. These porcelain plates are exactly what you need, in any circumstances, to optimize the visual aspect, without taking away from the food on it. The company has over 250 years of “savoir-faire,” so they know exactly what serving food is supposed to be like, in this day and age. You can choose from one of their many collections. No matter which one you go for, their colour and shape will adapt to all the dinners you will be holding, in the near future. It can also serve your daily needs, which makes it a great investment.
To be ready, you also have to start collecting a few good bottles of wine, whenever you find them. Although the price is not necessarily a guarantee of quality in a wine, names, regions and grapes are to be selected carefully. It is such an important part of dinner, that it is definitely worth taking a class to learn more, at least one online, to really understand which wine to serve with each meal. Also, keep a load of natural and effervescent water on hand. Not everyone drinks wine, but everyone will need their fill of water, before, with and after dinner.
First: Calculate the Amount of Food You need for the Event
This is the hardest part, for someone who is used to cooking only for one or two persons. Rest easy, as we will now provide you with a way to calculate, that should simplify things. Although it is not scientific (which means you may have to adapt along the way), it is a method you can trust.
First, you need to determine how many servings there will be. That includes during dinner but also snacks before and an extra fruit or dessert, later on in the evening, an hour or more after guests have moved away from the table. The more servings, the lesser the quantity per portion. Let’s imagine a typical event. For appetizers, you should count about six bites per person. When you get to the main meal, meat or fish should come to about 200 gr per person. Make one cup per guest of the carbohydrate element that you chose (potatoes, rice, etc.), and an identical size of vegetables. As for the salad, move up to two cups per person. Finally, desert should be counted as one small portion for each; that is true whether you are serving sweets or fruits.
Choosing the Main Course will define the Rest of the Servings
It is called the main course for a good reason. It is what people want to know when they ask: “What are we having for dinner?” Everything else is there for small pleasures, along the way. But if you don’t hit a home run with the meat or fish you will be serving (it can also be a vegetarian plate), then your guests won’t go home fully satisfied, no matter what else you served them.
The choice of the main course should be dictated by the season. You don’t want to serve products that you cannot find in the fresh section of the supermarket. Each season sees various fruits and vegetables do their round, on the counters. In winter, your duck will be better accompanied by oranges, and in summer with plums.
It also depends on the event. If you are preparing a summer party with friends, something light will be welcomed. If your husband or wife is getting a promotion and colleagues are coming over for dinner to celebrate, a more conventional diner, with expensive products, should find their way on the menu. Finally, keep in mind the number of guests, as cost can rise quickly and choose accordingly.
Note: Today, many people have dietary restrictions. Before you start planning anything, it is better to send out a private message to each one, to ask what they cannot eat, so that you don’t find yourself making a “faux pas.”
When can you think of a Buffet Style Dinner?
You have to adapt to your time. Long evenings, sitting in front of various plates full of food, is not for everyone, anymore. Some people can hardly sit for more than 15 minutes at a time (at least without looking at their phone). Therefore, sometimes, it is better to plan an event that will feature a buffet. You may think that these are just for family and friends’ affairs, but that is not true. It can also be the perfect solution, for a business dinner. Here is what you have to determine, then.
Business dinners can have two very different objectives. One can be of getting closer to a person, or closing a deal with them, and the other can be about discussing with all colleagues. In the first case, you will definitely have to hold a plated dinner. There are many elements that come in play here, that people who don’t do business would not understand. But you need to have everyone sitting, in a way that they can look themselves eye to eye, all evening long. In the second scenario, it is much better to prepare a buffet. People can then walk around and talk with who they like, without having to suffer those that they don’t.