In collaboration with McCain.
Anyone who has ever had to cook for a group of people will know the stress of hosting a dinner party, and those stress levels are magnified tenfold when the occasion is sprung on you at the last minute.
Instead of having a minor mental breakdown, however, you can grab the bull by the horns and throw a shindig for your guests to remember. All you have to do is stay calm, keep things simple and follow a few guidelines and you can’t go wrong.
Below are a handful of top tips for what to do when the heat is on, ‘Come Dine with Me’ style.
Enlist outside help
If there’s time before the event kicks off, get your attendees to pitch in. This could range from something as small as picking up a bag of ice or a bottle of wine to whipping up a snappy side salad or bringing along something for dessert. Remember the saying ‘many hands make light work!’ No matter how small their contribution, it will free you up for other tasks.
Be prepared!
Try to keep your pantry stocked with non-perishables (or at least, less-quickly-perishables), such as crackers, cheese and tinned fruit. If you have the materials to hand, you can quickly throw together some hors d’oeuvres, which can not only buy you some valuable time while you put the finishing touches to the main event, but also make you look damn classy in the process. This handy little list can give you an idea of what sorts of things can all fill a gap and do a job while you do yours.
Don’t overstretch yourself
If you try to keep too many plates spinning, they’ll all come crashing to the ground. Home-cooked food is obviously preferable, but trying to make everything from scratch is a recipe for disaster. McCain oven chips take about 20 minutes to cook in the oven and require minimal attention but provide a substantial side dish, leaving you to concentrate on searing that steak or perfecting that moussaka.
Let there be wine!
Keep the alcohol flowing! A 2012 study found that alcohol does actually trigger endorphins in the brain, so lashings of beer, wine or spirits will only serve to elevate your guests’ spirits. If you can stretch to it and have the abilities, consider concocting a signature cocktail that you can pull out on all such occasions. Practicing it again and again will reduce the margin for error and will also put a memorable stamp on all of your formal get-togethers, thus lending a sense of uniqueness to the event.
Apologising is a sign of weakness
Resist the temptation to apologise for the poor quality of the fare on offer. Even though such self-deprecation seems in-built into us Brits, it does very little in terms of establishing a good mood at a dinner party. At best, it will make others uncomfortable; at worst, it will draw attention to what really is sub-par cooking.
“Try not to tell everyone what a bad cook you are,” explains Susan Spungen of Tasting Table. “Even if you make a mistake, don’t say anything – chances are, people won’t notice anyway.”
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Candace
That is one hell of s cheese board! Some great tips here. I usually go with the feed everybody well to make a gathering fun
Kacie
Great tips. I always have a bag of Mccain oven chips to hand for things like this!
Idaintyit
I have never hosted a diner party before but would love to! We are hoping to get a bigger family home soon and I am definitely going to be having one. Thanks for the tips
Miss Kiity Kaos
I really want to have a dinner party soon so these are some fab tips that I will be taking on board! Thank you
Rachael
Great tips! I think when it comes to dinner parties the best thing is keeping it simple
WhatLauraLoves
This is such a fun post! I love the idea of throwing a dinner party and its great to have some handy tips on hand should one ever crop up last minute! xxx
Holly
I find it so hard to not apologise for something! Even if there is nothing to apologise for, I will still invent something!
Sarah Bailey
I have to admit cooking for a big group of people scares me, so thank you so much for all these tips! x
Laura
I’m dreadful at cooking under pressure but these are some really good ideas. I usually like to do something that I can prepare a long time in advance – like stew but it’s not that fancy for a party!
Ana De- Jesus
I am not a good cook at all but your right asking for outside help is the best way of getting the last minute dinner party up and running!
StressedMum
Great post, I panic when I cook for a group of people, only because I can never work out portion sizes so I tend to cook way too much as I would hate someone to leave hungry x
Liz Mays
I’d love to be able to throw dinner parties whenever I want. This is helpful advice!
Ickle Pickle
I don’t host dinner parties – I can’t cook really! I would get caterers in! Great post. Kaz x
Zoe L
I really don’t know how people have such amazing dinner parties, I really struggle
Stella
This is inspiring. I should cook some more really.
Rhian Westbury
I love cooking for groups of people but I am not too great with timings, oops. I don’t know how people do massive dinner parties or Christmas dinners for loads of people all by themselves! x