Party time
ENTERTAINING is great fun, even the preparations are exciting: it’s the clearing up afterwards that’s off-putting. So whether you’re having guests for a sit-down Christmas dinner, a buffet on St Stephen’s Day, or a drinks and nibbles affair during Christmas week, good organisation is key to a smooth-running event and to keep hostesses’ hair from standing on end with stress.
Decide on numbers to invite, first of all, selecting as many as you can cope with and no more.
Delve into your cupboards and cabinets and check your stocks of glasses, making sure you have sufficient for wine and soft drinks. Count plates, cups and saucers and cutlery, and apply a swift stroke or two of a hot iron to your best table cloth and napkins. You have all the necessities for your dining table, and can then spend an hour placing candles and ornaments and giving the table a theme of your choice.
If, however, you’re hosting a stand-around buffet keep everything simple, providing a plate, glass and cutlery for each guest. Do try to avoid wrapping cutlery in paper napkins as your poor guests will have trouble trying to juggle plate and glass while unwrapping the little bundle. Instead, get yourself some baskets or bowls and place knives in one, forks in another and so on, finishing with a pile of folded paper napkins. This will allow your guests to choose what they need when they need it and not have to hold a spoon while eating their main course, especially if they decide to pass on the Christmas pudding and mince pies.
Do try to have a few occasional tables to set drinks down on, or clear the top of a sideboard on which you’ve placed a runner to avoid glass marks appearing on the surface later. Also feel free to scatter coasters liberally around the room for the same purpose. Most guests are conscious of not putting wet glasses on furniture, but there’s always one who, fuelled by an extra glass of Christmas cheer, won’t be so vigilant.
When the last guest leaves, it may just be you with kitchen chaos for company so here’s a tip: allocate one hour before bed to clearing and you’ll be amazed what you can achieve. This is how I get through it so it’s tried and tested. Clear everything from the table into the kitchen — that’s your dining room sorted. Put as much as you can into the dishwasher, if you have one, and then get some black plastic bags. Spread these along your work surface nearest the sink and top with a layer of thick bath towels. You now have a makeshift extra-long draining board. Wash everything and place on the towels to dry off, so you don’t have to wait until morning to empty and restack the dishwasher, and the dirty ware won’t be staring at you if you are feeling a tad delicate. All you’ll have to do in the morning is put everything back in their cupboards clean and dry. Finally, pour yourself a late night glass of wine, sit down in front of the fire’s burning embers, take a deep breath and sigh with contentment. You deserve it.
* Next week we’ll take the leg-work out of last minute shopping with a fabulous selection of last minute gifts for the home.
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