Last night I had two friends over for dinner but I always wanted to do something special for my guests even if it is just a casul get together.
For me, having a nice table setting really creates the atmostphere before the guests even eat their first bite of food. Since we are serving simple home made pizza and fish stew, I tried to set the table to be casual and fun. I also chose a bold color for summer. The flowers were picked up from Kroger and it is their weekly special and I put them in the square vase that I have at home to make the simple centerpiece. I then lighted a few candles around the table right before my friends arrived to complete the look.
In the second picture above, you will notice a few cupcakes which were served as desserts. While my wonderful husband made the delicious pizza and fish stew (all from his own recipe nonetheless!) , neither one of us is really a baker, so I picked up the cupcakes from CEO Custom Cakes, LLC. ( http://www.ceocustomcakes.com/ ) earlier in the day. I simply put the cupcakes on colorful expresso cup saucers to present it and it was a hit!
My philosophy is if you are not the expert and you know someone else is, why spend hours trying to make it happen yourself? Courtney Olivari from CEO Custom Cakes, LLC. did the wonderful work for me on the cupcakes and I just have to present it to my guests.
I am also a big fan of serving something simple but delicious for home parties. If it requires extensive hours in the kitchen, I believe it is easier to entertain outside and let the chefs cook because I do believe as a host, you want to still have energy to talk to your guests when they arrive.
Planning ahead is also a key. My husband actually cut the vegetables the night before so that it can be quickly cooked yesterday. Think of recipes that can be premade or prefreeze but cooked on the day of event and you will be less likely to feel stressed out when the clock is ticking and you are still trying to finish your prep work.
My final tip for home entertainment: be ready before the guests arrive. Take a shower and change your clothes. Sit down on the couch and enjoy the atmosphere that you just created and enjoyed it before your guests come. Close your eyes and smell the food. You are about to have a great party and you know it!
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