Do you like to host friends at your home for gatherings?
Do those gatherings end up with you being the Host, Chef, Bartender, and Maid?
I call those parties the Ghost Parties. The Host is usually a ghost that floats in and out of the kitchen to the company trying to cook, clean, and host her guests all at the same time.
Hosting a party should be fun filled with laughter, conversation, music and great food. With all of that of course comes tons of dirty dishes, breakable wine glasses, dirty pots and pans. I’ve attended many Austin Luxury Home Dinners where I forgot about the host because they were too busy hosting the food prior, and clean up after than entertaining the guests.
Check these 5 tips out on how to be the host with the most without getting ghost on your guests.
THE PLAN
Plan to cook your food in disposable aluminum containers and decorate the scene around the containers such as the table cloth, flowers, napkins with adorning holders, candles and decorations.
Unless it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas there’s no major need to pull out the fine china!
Plastic wine glasses or champagne flutes can be purchased and adorned with cute wine tag holders. Plan to buy items that will save you clean up time in the end.
SERVE
Like a great outfit you can combine Gucci and Target and as long as one is the statement piece the rest are just complimenting factors in the set up. The same can apply with your meal. Your cooked contents itself is the Gucci and your food containers can be the Target. You can however give it a pop by pulling out some nice serving ware.
Wouldn’t you rather clean Serving ware than Serving Pots?
DINE
If you are having over more than 5 people there is absolutely no need to pull out the China plates. Now I wouldn’t go as far as flimsy Styrofoam plates either but places such as Party City have some gorgeous color or occasion themed recyclable plates.
You can still use silverware with hard recyclable plates. I have even come across some great recyclable plates at Whole Foods and Central Market that are quite durable.
Durability for use and recyclable for trash are a an amazing combination
THE CLEANUP
Fill one side of your sink with hot soapy water and place your serving utensils and silverware to soak.
Instead of fully scrubbing your pots and pans you can rinse the food out of your recyclable serving containers into the sink side with the disposal and toss them in the recycle bin.
WINE
Now you can pour an extra glass of wine because most of the plates have been thrown in the trash rather than your sink and you don’t have to stay up and do dishes!
Now we can all agree that buying recyclable food serving containers, plates and glasses may not be as cost efficient as scrubbing, washing, rinsing, drying and reusing those items again however as busy as we all are Time is Money and Money can sometimes buy us some time.
Cheers