Party Planning

Sit down dinner (how do I handle that?  Which fork is for what?), buffet or hors d'oeuvres, planning the actual food and making sure you have enough.  It doesn't matter whether it's a pizza party or a sit down formal dinner for 15 -- the planning and prep are the same!

No, you're really not feeding an army.  You're just a little overwhelmed right now at the thought of feeding anyone past yourself and your family.  And that's to be expected.

If you're not a professional caterer -- or born with professional caterer genes -- it's difficult to gauge the amount of food a group of 10, 15, 20  or more will eat.  Heck, sometimes it's difficult even for the professionals to do it with any type of accuracy.

Of course, your initial thoughts pop up as fears, I know mine did when I realized that part of party planning was . . . well, party eating.  How could I possibly tell how much one person would eat?  And then a man's portion of food differed from a woman's . . . a 85-year-old portion differed from a 25-year-old's. 

Well, you can see right there the mess I "thought" myself into!

I'm here to tell you that planning the "meal" portion of your party is easy.  Much easier than you'd ever imagine.

Let me clue you in on a few insights of meal-planning for adult parties first. These affairs fall into three distinct categories:

• Cocktail Party
• Sit-Down Dinner Party
• Buffet Style

The names of each of these accurately sum up the type of food you'll be serving.  But we'll delve a little deeper into each.  And while we're at we'll just mention how to create an environment conducive to making everyone comfortable.

First, the cocktail party . . .

Now, let's get down to your real concern, feeding the folks.  The cocktail party, by definition, limits the food served to hors d'oeuvres only.  These can be as simple -- or as elaborate -- as you care to serve.

And the real advantage of a cocktail party, when it comes to the menu, is that it really can be fun!  You aren't serving one main meal -- but only a wide variety of finger foods.  This means you can set out a selection of items.  And even try a few "experiments" and still have plenty of conventional, "safe" food to satisfy everyone.

Your first goal in menu planning is to incorporate a variety of foods in your selection.  You're obviously going to plan a few different meats, but also seafood.

Plan on serving finger foods, as well as some canapés and even consider several hot and cold dishes.

Candies or mints are not typically part of the cocktail party menu, you may want to bring several dishes of candy out towards the end of the party.  This signals to your guests that the event will be wrapping up soon (See how much confidence I have in you.  I'm sure you're guests are going to linger because they're enjoying themselves!).

So just how do you decide how much food to present?  There's actually an easy guideline.  Plan on serving about six bites per person, per hour for a two hour party.

I see you looking at those dips.  What in the world is a bite?  For those dips and cheeses you're serving, one ounce is usually considered "one bite."

So, if you're hosting a cocktail party for 10 people and it's scheduled for two hours, then you can plan on serving 120 hors d'oeuvres.

How much alcohol should I buy?

Here's another basic consideration of party planning.  And it puzzles, sometimes, even veteran hosts.  But there are a few guidelines to help you develop an accurate estimate of that you'll need.

Your first consideration is the time of day of the party.  A cocktail party held in the evening hours between 5 and 6 p.m. requires more liquor than a similar event than an early afternoon party.

Secondly, take into account the type of alcohol the guests drink.  If you associate with a group of budding wine connoisseurs, then you'll emphasize the wine.

If your friends prefer beer over anything else, then you'll be stocking up more on beer.

But always be sure to have at least a little of each category for varying tastes - and the inevitably person who decides to drink something different for a change of pace.

Calculating the amount

Gauging the amount of liquor again falls into one of those mathematical algorithms or formulas.  Assume that for the first hour of the party, each guest drinks two servings.  Then for every hour after plan on one drink per person.

Going back to our 10-person, two hour cocktail party. You'll want to estimate 20 drinks for the first hour (2 drinks for the 10 guests) plus another 10 for the second hour.  That makes a total of 30 drinks.

Again, I can see the concern in your eyes.  You're thinking specifically about your Uncle George, who can down a six pack of beer in less time than it takes to tie his shoes in the morning.

But then again, consider your other guests, especially your co-worker. She really doesn't drink.  She may have one -- two drinks at most.  So it should all balance out.

But, if you're really worried, take another hard look at your guest list.  If you feel that this estimate won't be enough, then have a little more alcohol on hand – it’s not as if a lot of it is going to go bad on you. Just remember though, the point of the party is to mingle and talk.  No one should be sitting down, drinking like the government is re-establishing Prohibition tomorrow.

And now I know what your next question is, too.  So how many drinks can I get out of that bottle of scotch?  And for that answer, I've simply supplied you with a chart.  It covers all the major categories of drink. You should be able to estimate your needs.

At a loss for what type of alcohol to serve?

Don't be shy!  If you get the opportunity, ask some of your guests beforehand what their favorite drinks are.  This way you'll be sure to have them on hand.

As a general rule of thumb, light wines, wine spritzers fruit flavored frozen drinks and Champagne go well with a brunch or luncheon.  If your party is later in the day -- like the early evening -- then you can serve a wider variety of drinks.

Do mixed drinks make you dizzy?  No, not necessarily when you drink them, but the thought of preparing them.  If you have a friend who knows his way around a bar, you may want to ask him to be the bartender for the event.  If not, and you really don't have a clue . . . don't hesitate to hire a professional bartender.  It really won't cost as much as you think.

The sit-down dinner.

Nothing could be more intimidating for some people than hosting a sit- down dinner.  It appears as if there are so many rules and regulations.  First, take a deep breath.  We'll get you through this.  And there are really not as many "laws" about this as you may guess.

Even before we cover those etiquette laws, let's talk some about what food you're planning on serving at your party.  Of course, you need to take into consideration the entire atmosphere you're about to create with your party.

What you serve . . .
And the number of guests you invite.

Let's talk first about the number of guests you've invited.  Believe it or not, this does influence the type of food you serve.  If you're inviting, let's say, a large group of people, you really don't want to choose an elaborate menu.  The simpler the better.  You do realize some of the most wonderful tasting meals are the simplest?

A great example of this was a dinner party hosted by a friend of mine.  She thought it would be awesome to create some Chinese dumplings.  So she rolled and filled these things . . . and rolled and filled . . . and rolled and filled.

The bottom line is that she had a wonderful idea if she had kept her guest list to six or under. But she had an expanded guest list.  Her "fun and funky" idea as she originally called it turned into a nightmare.

It's much better to keep the menu simple and delicious than elaborate and mediocre!

What?  Food talks?

In a way, yes, food does talk.  The food you serve sets the tone in many ways for the party.  What is the purpose of your party?  Is to impress work colleagues or potential clients?

Or are you throwing an informal gathering for a few close friends? 

Whether you realize it or not, you'll instinctively select different menus for these two parties.

You're far more likely to try a new meal out on a group of close friends.  If the menu doesn't work out well, you all have something to talk about -- and laugh over -- for years to come.

Trying something a little more daring in a menu (if you're preparing it yourself) when you're entertaining potential clients may only contribute to you losing a contract!

Do your menu ideas fit your space?

Let's put it this way, you live in a small apartment with a small dining room.  You're packing people side by side as they sit by your pint-size dining room table.  This is not the time to present a 9 course Dickens-style English Christmas.  Where in the world would you put the food?

It would be much better to go with a simpler themed party, one that doesn't require a lot of room for food!

How much are you willing -- or can you -- spend?

Ah, yes, it does occasionally come down to this, cost!  Don't plan on an elaborate meal if your pocketbook can't follow through with it.  Rather keep it simple and delicious -- and inexpensive. 

And while this may seem obvious, it's really all too easy to get "over-ambitious" when you start planning your menu.

Let's start the sit-down dinner off by making sure the guest of honor is properly seated.  The host, that's you, is always seated to the right of the guest of honor.  And the guest of honor is always, always served first.

There, no that part wasn't so bad, was it?  Beyond that, it's also pretty simple to remember.  Once you have the guest of honor served his meal, the serving continues with the person on his left being served next.  This means the host inevitably is served last.

Food should be served from the left of the guest and cleared from the right of the guest.

If there are less than eight people involved in the party sitting together, no one eats until the host gets served.  If, however, the number at the table is rather large, guests may begin eating after four or five of them have been served.

Before serving dessert, all dinner, salad and butter plates should be removed, as should the salt and pepper shakers and condiment dishes.

The dessert plate should already include a dessert fork when it's being served. And the fork should be on the left of the plate.  If the dessert requires a spoon, this accompanies the dessert plate on the right side.

But as you well know, food is only a portion of the elements being served at a dinner party.  Many of these events also serve alcoholic beverages.  Now, before you go screaming out of the room because you're party-planning brain is on overload, simply read below.

This will give you some control over the situation, guaranteed!

What alcoholic beverages to serve
at a sit-down dinner?

Now here's where you get your chance to serve some wines and liqueurs.  By the way, a liqueur is not a fancy pronunciation and spelling of liquor (okay, so I once thought that).  I'm sure you're aware that a liqueur is a distilled alcoholic beverage to which a sweetener and one or more aromatic flavorings have been added.  Some of the more popular of these flavorings are peach, coffee, cocoa, almond and orange.