hosting a dinner party

Fast Party Food

In planning a party, knowing how much food is needed is essential. There is a way to measure the right amount of finger foods you will need. The measurement goes like this: count on five finger food items per hour for each guest for the first two hours and three finger food items per guest for each additional hour. So if your party is going to last for four hours, you will need 16 finger food items for each guest. For veggie trays, count each veggie as half an item. So you would need 32 veggie items to equal 16 finger foods such as chicken wings. Remember to have vegetarian snacks and snacks for the diet conscious. If you are going to serve hot appetizers, use fondue pots, heating trays or a slow cooker, Chili in a slow cooker with some tortilla chips make for a nice snack, Have small bowls for mini servings, The tortilla chips can serve as a spoon for eating the chili, A cheese tray, nuts, crackers, and chips are standards that are essential at any party,healthy snacks vegetarians, Here are some more standard items that you can include:

Bagel bites, Melba toast, crisp pita bread triangles, bread sticks, and pretzels.
Celery sticks, carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, radishes
Strawberries, sweet cherries, pineapple chunks, orange wedges, kiwi slices, melon balls, seedless grapes
One spread and two kinds of dip for crackers and vegetables
One dip for the fruit.

Keeping Your Dinner Party Spic and Span Easy-to-serve-and-dispose-of food like nachos, pizzas and chips are the staple of high school and college parties. In a trendier scene, light, small kinds of food that possibly won’t need plates fill the buffet table. Maki, cheese bites, or various kinds of tarts are usually on the list. Fresh, young professionals are patrons of these parties. This food selection is expected in after-dinner parties. Dinner parties, however, have a different set of menu and follow, if preferred, a discreet clean-up procedure. This party, though not so common nowadays, are set-up for formal and important occasions like engagements, when the boss comes for dinner, family reunions, etc. It’s ideal because it is impressive, elegant and truly special. Some dinner parties serve up multi-course meals. By tradition, a dinner party starts with a thick soup like bisque or chowder. The main course comes after, then the salad, cheese, and at last, dessert. Hosting a dinner party like this will require you more time in preparation and in cleaning. You can make this easier by readying your kitchen for cleaning time. Prepare several trash bags by the can so you can easily replace the filled ones. Have several pails or containers on stand by for leftovers, plates, glasses and utensils. Fill up the pails for the dishes with soap water. This will save you time in washing them as you are already soaking them in soap. When cleaning up between courses, the utensils and plates go first. Scattered used knives and piled stained plates on the table can be an eye sore. Getting them out of sight will also keep your table elegant and clutter free. Expect stains and dribbles on the table so have a few cloth place mats ready for covering the spots.