Dinner party rundown

[PeacheyPeach]

When we have friends over for dinner, sometimes I feel it's a bit hectic to start , with everyone coming in and we are all stood in kitchen while I'm still trying to finish the main and sweating asking people to pass me a spoon or something🤣
Do you have a little rundown of how you host an evening? Do you welcome your guests with a drink and nibbles, say in the living room Do you already have drinks prepared like cocktails etc
After you've eaten each course do you stack the dishwasher or leave everything till the end?
Do you sit round the table until everyone is leaving or sit somewhere a bit comfier and do you just chill out and chat or play a game or something?

I'm wondering if I've been going wrong all these years 😅

The ‘English’ way is dessert first, cheese second. The French (Continental?) way is cheese first, dessert second

Yes, DifficultBloodyWoman, and I blame the march of the continental way on too many holidays in France.

Ooo I love cheese and biscuits 😍
I would always offer these after the pudding or aswell though, I've not heard of them coming before the dessert.

I keep it as simple as possible if I’m cooking (I do occasionally have caterers if it’s very formal or a lot of guests, in which case the below doesn’t apply).

Provide it’s a max of 10 people that I know well the formula is:

Champagne to start (with other options) served at the kitchen island with nuts/olives. Everyone gathers round one end and it’s nicely sociable.

We have a large dining table in an open plan area so we sit there for dinner. I usually do a starter that requires some faff as it’s easy to be away the last ten mins before dinner is served.

Main course something like salmon en croute or beef Wellington where all the prep is done in advance.

Pudding is usually a tart and always followed by a substantial cheeseboard.

We usually stay at the table until the end of the night although might move to the drawing room if we’re getting late. We have been known to end up in the pool

@pegasusreturns that sounds like a fab evening!
Love the idea of getting caterers in , how does that work, do you leave them to it and do they serve for you etc!?

@PeacheyPeach generally I have caterers come and serve and clean up (my own stuff) afterwards, but you can have them just deliver food or bring everything down to the soup ladles and table cloths. I’ve done various versions.

Usually they prep offsite and then come about an hour beforehand to set up and go about an hour after the pudding is served, leaving the kitchen spotless.

@pegasusreturns I love this idea, I must look into this for our next big evening x

I also never stack the dishwasher unless we are desperate for space.
I am not keen on hosts leaving to stack dishwasher or tidy up, it feels uncomfortable.

Do people plate up or let guests serve themselves?

My DM used to entertain very well. Her approach was to have three or four evenings over a week about twice a year.

She believed that the effort made for one evening was wasted slightly in terms of flowers, cleaning, food/wine so you might as well get it all in. She planned her menus accordingly - large joints with multiple uses, wines used up in new dishes, bulk buying veg/fruit/cheese etc.

I rmember one strawberry week - 1st crew had fresh strawberries with Bain Marie, 2nd had meringue, next had a fool and finally a version of a French tart!

We loved those weeks as kids - the house looked and smelled great, was full of buzz and laughter (and delicious leftovers!).

My kitchen is off the living room and I don't have a separate dining room. I have a large table that normally lives as a sideboard behind the sofa so part of the prep is rearranging the room.

I love entertaining and if my health is good I tend to do 5 courses, so a typical meal

Pork and chicken terrine
Salmon and cream cheese parcels
Chicken in red wine with crushed roasted potatoes and veg
Cheesecake
Cheese and bread / biscuits

The terrine and cheesecake need to be made a day ahead. I would probably assemble the filo parcels the day before.

On the day the chicken and red wine goes in the slow cooker, new potatoes are boiled and then cooled. The other veg is prepped and either put in a pan or the steamer.

Guests arrive I serve drinks, we chat then move to the table, serve the terrine with salad and bread. Put the filo parcels in the oven for 15 mins. heat the oil for the potatoes. Red and white wine on the table for guests to help themselves along with water and I have a 'beer fridge' in the living room that guests can help themselves.

Clear terrine. Lightly crush the potatoes and put in the oil, serve parcels.

Clear parcels, check on potatoes and switch on the steamer, guests usually like a break at this point so I build that in.

Serve the chicken, potatoes and veg.

Clear main, bring out pudding wine and port

I usually bring the pudding and cheese to the table at the same time.

Ask if anyone wants coffee

clear the table and everyone moves to the sofas.

Whether I plate up or not depends on what I'm serving and who to, so a whole terrine might go tot he table but the meat is usually plated sometimes with veg sometimes the veg goes on the table.

Veg on the table is normally because there are a few different veg and not everyone likes everything.

Sometimes I put veg in a sort of faggot - the wood type, so one carrot baton, one spear of asparagus, one sprouting broccoli floret tied together with spring onion.

Bugger just realised this is a zombie I had already answered years ago lol

Best dinner party we ever had involved flatmate sauntering off to find a 6' timber offcut to elongate the dinner table before guests arrived, leaving me to hoover, and raging when my friend wept with mirth at the unnatural way I was hoovering

What saved us??
candles - lots and lots of tealights
my music (non-negotiable!)
really peculiar food combinations
oceans of booze
peculiar mix of guests

Although I took exception to some appalling comments from a doctor who was holding forth, took him out and later found out that his fiancee had broken off the engagement once she realised his views.

And I refused to apologise 😋

But was horrifically affected by our last-minute decision to serve egg-nogg, was in bed for 2 days licking Calypso pops whilst flat-mate and co cleared up the wreckage!!!