How to host a successful dinner party

There are some people that revel in entertaining at home and others who break out in a cold sweat at the mere prospect. Arlene Harris is in the latter camp and so set off to ‘Hostess with the Mostest’ bootcamp

WHEN I arrived at Sarah Malone’s house for a lesson in how to be the ‘Hostess with the Mostest’, it was with some trepidation that I rang the doorbell. With visions of Hyacinth Bucket at the forefront of my mind, I was more than pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a genuinely warm smile and a cosmopolitan cocktail.

The annual Ennis Food Festival runs on September 24-27 and Sarah is just one of the organisers of the event. As well as a plethora of delicious dishes, stalls selling everything from organic free-range produce to sumptuous cakes and top tips from restauranteurs and wine buffs, the four-day festival will also feature Sarah’s ‘Hostess with the Mostest’ workshop.