How to create the mood...

[lorilei]

It's getting to be entertaining season again... I'm talking about things beyond the backyard barbeque here.

Cozy nights with wine around a fire.
Delightful hors d'ouevre parties.
Big theme dinners with all the fixings.

I'm wondering how each of you sets the mood for these gatherings. Do you send out invitations? Invite friends verbally? Lots of people? Only a few? Close friends? Strangers?

What are your entertaining habits?
And how do you keep your guests interested and coming back over & over again?

(... or I dunno. Maybe you don't want them to come back... How do you keep them away? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif )

[mightyh]

I don't entertain all that often, but when I do, I try to think of the little touches I enjoy when being hosted by others...

No matter how small the gathering, I love cute invitations in the mail--preferably homemade. I think it really show that some planning is going into the event, that there is a theme, etc. My favorite invitations are in unexpected shapes or sizes. I did one once that was just a tiny square with tiny writing around the edges noting the date and time and rsvp info and then found a tiny envelope in which to mail it.

I guess, along with that, a theme helps me plan parties... Helps with everything from the color of napkins to scent (or not) of candles, and type of lighting. Helps me decide the menu and who to invite.

I tend to find smaller gatherings more manageable and usually more fun.

Good topic! I always love to get ideas on creative entertaining, especially with the party season upon us.

[Leanne]

I'm a more-the-merrier person myself. I usually email cute/fun invitations that I make up in Word. Always trying new dishes, but definitely have some old stand-bys that I know will go fast. Fun music, fun people, & good food - you can't go wrong.

[sneezles]

Since we moved to the country and a very small town (pop. 283) we don't entertain at home (the house is only 900 sq ft) but we do own the local beer joint and have had parties there. Last New Year's Eve we hosted a party for 80 and of course I made way too much food but tried to do a variety of different dishes.

Last Sat. we did a fundraiser for the town's Volunteer Fire Dept. (raised $3,000). We had a tamale party. A very good friend has a tamale "machine" (it's got two tubes-one for masa and one for meat) so we made 1,200 tamales, 17 pounds of frijoles, and 5 pounds of Spanish rice, chips with queso and salsa, margaritas, and 5 kegs of beer! We found fire engine pinatas to decorate with plus ballons, Mexican flags, and streamers. We sold 150 tickets, had various games planned, and kareoke challenges. Even had the fireman do "YMCA" with the appropriate Village People hats! It was a blast!!

I love big bashes but when the new house is finished then I will definitely do some smaller dinner parties.

[lindrusso]

I get frustrated with party planning. I used to live near people that would appreciate a big "to-do", but I just didn't have the time or money to do much. Now I have the time, the money (sort of http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif ) and the desire, but I find that the people I hang out with now just don't appreciate it (some do, but most don't) or just don't even go out at all.

Most times they'd be perfectly happy with chips, dip and beer (very few of them even drink wine). Not that there's anything wrong with that - I just like to "do it up". You can get chips and dip anywhere, anytime. Know what I mean??

Ideally I like to try new and interesting things, but shiitakes and pesto are pretty "exotic" for these folks. It tends to work better if I keep things simple.
Slowly but surely I'm learning that gourmet just doesn't fly around here.

I like to do outdoor, casual parties for large gatherings - our house is pretty small. I have done a small dinner party with three other couples. That was nice. And when it's more than that (as in we can't all fit around the dining room table) I like to do finger foods.

So far I've concentrated so much on the cooking aspect that I've not put much thought into decorating or invitations. Again, I don't want to put a lot of work into something when people don't end up coming half the time. We have a lot of homebodies around here that just don't go out much.

So you see, I'm a frustrated host!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

[Laura]

Lindrusso
I once had a beer tasting party where I sent out invitations and directed the invitee to bring a six pack of beer from either a different country or different region of the US. I had some "beer" appetizers, brats, strong cheeses and crackers, various dips. It was a lot of fun and really expanded my taste for different beers.

I generally prefer gatherings of about 8-10 people. I start to get overwhelmed when they get larger than that. I want to spend time enjoying my guests and not be in the kitchen the whole time. I love candles, low light, music, fireplaces. You can do a lot of different themes for the time of the year or the food you are having.

[shoefling]

I wish that I had the room to entertain! My husband and I are building a house, so when we move we will have more room. Personally, I have never hosted a dinner party or really a party of any type. I want to though! I love to cook and to spend time with friends, so any ideas on combining the two are welcome! Great thread!

[Colleen]

I am a mid-sized gathering girl myself (8-10.
I really enjoy making and tasting desserts (which of course is not necesarily good, especially since I am on the CL BB).
A couple of things that I have tried;
1. The dessert party. Everyone makes a dessert and brings the recipe (again, this may not be appropriate for this BB)
2. The progressive dinner. (this is for a larger group) Here you find someone to host the appetizers and everyone goes to that house. Next someone hosts the main course (everyone goes to that house). Finally someone hosts the dessert.
3. I am a musician and so are many of my friends, so we enjoy playing games like
humm-ble (this is were you need to either hum or charade the song in question)

[lorilei]

I'm an intimate gathering person by nature, and love sending invitations. The problem I run into is that if one or two of the people can't make it... that blows the party. Any suggestions?

I usually have dinner parties when there are only one or two guests, wine and snacks with big groups and dessert parties when there are a mid-sized number of people invited.

I am also interested in how people who have BIG gatherings deal with getting people together who are diametrically opposed. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[laden]

I agree with Laura about the lighting, candles and music. It makes a huge difference in the mood of a gathering.

I've been to tons and tons of parties over the years, with pretty much the same group of people. But one particular host stands out. She always has sented candles burning all over the house. And soft music and lots of good food. By the way she cooks almost entirely from CL!

[MarciaTJ]

I love dinner parites, however they can be a tremendous amount of work - we typically have between four and six guest eight to ten max including my husband and me) With my closest friends we have developed into having potluck "themes", rimeniscint of our cooking light dinners :-)! I also like focusing on a theme - whether Italian, Indian, Spanish etc.. I always have some flowers or theme like lemons, cranberies, etc, and candles.

I am going to try to focus on smaller 4 to six people gatheings going forward, I don't think it will be as taxing to my body!!