Holiday Entertaining At Home
One of my absolute favorite things about the holiday season is entertaining at home. While I love hosting all year round, there is something special about entertaining during Christmas, when your house is decked and it’s cold outside and you have a fire going and it’s just the ultimate cozy atmosphere. Now that we have a baby, hosting at our own home is even more our favorite thing, because we still get to spend time with friends, but while Harry is safely asleep right upstairs — it’s really a win-win.
Our kitchen was finished just in time for the holidays, about 3 weeks ago, and since then we have hosted 2 dinner parties (well 1 lunch party and 1 dinner party..). I know a lot of people find hosting, especially during the holidays, to be a stressful experience — which it absolutely does not need to (and shouldn’t!) be, so today I’m going to share my tips and tricks for making at-home entertaining during the holidays beautiful, easy and delicious. This time is meant to enjoy spending quality time with each other, not stressing about cooking times..
Make your guest list
Whether it’s a small dinner party for 4, or a cocktail party for 30, start with your guest list. Once you know who’s confirmed this will determine your menu and overall tone for the night. Big drinking crowd, foodies, vegetarians, competitive card game-ers.. it all makes a difference in how the night is planned.
Prepare your menus
The first thing I do once my guests have confirmed is make my menus — drinks, appetizer, main and desserts. I like to choose items that present beautifully and can be made ahead of time, to alleviate any stress the day of. While you’re creating your menu, also take this time to imagine how the food will be presented — plated, buffet, or family style? This is important to finalize before you decide what to make — as many items look better plated, and others are much prettier BEFORE they’re dished out, and should be served family style! A few of my go to items:
Cheese Board: It’s easily put together, with no cooking time just some prep and can be put out up to an hour before guests arrive. I like having a cheese board out when guests arrive because it’s a conversation piece and gives me time to prepare and present the main meal and ensure no one goes starving…
Punch: Can be made ahead of time, alcoholic or not and does not require someone to be standing there mixing drinks all night long.
Champagne: I always have 2-3 bottles chilled and ready to pour, usually during the cheese board course for easy mingling.
French Onion Soup: I always make this soup day before, and then just re-heat and pop in the oven with sliced baguette and gruyere cheese.
Slow Braised Lamb Shanks: A new favorite this season. So delicious, easy to prepare and can be made the day of and just cooked until guests arrive.
Store Bought Desserts: I am no baker, and I have fully accepted this. I love picking up some fresh pastries the morning of and presenting them on a beautiful platter.
Set the design tone
I like for each party I host to look and feel different, not only for my guests but for myself. It excites me to create different tablescapes, depending on the menu, crowd and overall tone of the night. I like to keep it simple, to not overpower the environment, and plus I hate when tables look busy and cluttered. Your tablescape will also be guided on whether your food will be served family style, be sure to put platters down as placeholders to ensure there is room and space.
I usually mix fresh and dried stems and fruit, and mix in some seasonal bit of decor, whether it’s something I find around the house (ornaments as napkin holders), or purchase for the night — I re-use things so often, so I don’t see the waste in picking up some inexpensive pieces here and there from the craft store. I picked up some great faux grapes from Michael’s for my Thanksgiving tablescape, and have already used them twice since.
Make your lists (and print them!)
My iPhone Notes app is without a doubt the most used app in my phone. I use it to make my lists for everything — but especially when it comes to entertaining. As I start to plan, I start to list…
Menu
Grocery List
Decor
Write down each decor item (garland, candle sticks, napkins, napkin settings, etc.), so nothing is left. Then, expand to what you’ll be using for each. Create your next list from that.
Decor List - To Buy & Put Together
Be sure to print your recipes if needed, as it’s always easier to reference printed menus on the frige rather than scroll through your phone or computer when your hands are dirty!
Select a playlist
Spotify takes all the hard work of creating holiday playlists. Some of my favorites to have on shuffle all night:
The Everygirl Listens: Holiday Magic
Magnolia’s The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year
Set the scene
I always work on my table scape the night before, or morning of. That way it gets the calm time it deserves, and isn’t thrown together frantically in the last minute. This also gives you time to look at it over the day, and make any tweaks you’d like to. The key to my tablescapes is layering. I take it step by step:
