Hosting holiday parties can either be a lot of fun or completely stressful. Today, we’re sharing eight entertaining tips to help you relax and enjoy the party with your friends because a stressed host equals a stressed guest.
1. Save Time with a Steam Oven
Wolf Convection Steam Ovens save you time with faster cooking technology, pre-set cooking modes, and temperature probe alerts making it easy to create faster, healthier and more versatile cooking.
Preparing dishes ahead of time reduces the day-of stress. Perhaps you’d like to make mashed potatoes. Prepare them up to 3 days ahead, store in the fridge, and bake before dinner. No one will ever know.
Try Ina Garten's Make-Ahead Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
2. Perfectly Chilled Wine
Gathering around a kitchen island while the hostess puts together food is where most people like to linger and chat. The placement of your wine fridge is crucial to the flow of a party. Placing it next to your Thermador Refrigerator & Freezer Columns gives off a luxurious look that's completely practical.
The Fisher & Paykel built in Wine fridge in Series 9 boasts highest standards for performance, materials, quality and design experiences. Create a wine collector’s ultimate kitchen with a panel ready Column Wine Cabinet that seamlessly integrates into your kitchen design.
3. Grocery Shop with Ease
Simplify life with the
. Create shopping lists, order groceries and see what’s inside of your refrigerator if you’re not sure if you have while at the grocery store.
Reduce the amount of clutter a traditional family hub/drop off zone has with the ability to put schedules, photos, and messages on the smart hub board.
For a Holiday party, stream some background music easily. Control lights and temperature through the SmartThings App through your fridge. You won’t have to worry about the little details when they’re all in one place.
4. Keep Your Food Hot
A warming drawer is a perfect place to store the dishes that may be done a little earlier than planned. Instead of stressing about the food getting cold, place it into your warming drawer. When ready to serve, simply pull it out. Make sure you turn on the warming drawer when you start cooking.
Try Ina Garten's Herb Apple Bread Pudding.
This Frigidaire Gallery 30” Freestanding Electric Range features a warming drawer, warming zone, and the air fry feature for all those appetizers.
5. Quick Clean-Up
Staying up late doing dishes is definitely not a great way to end a fun Holiday gathering. To make the job a little easier, run the dishwasher and empty it so you’re ready for the cleanup afterword.
The Bosch 300 Series 24” Built-In Dishwasher eliminates the need to clean all of your delicate dishes and wine glasses by hand. It has five wash cycles with a clever 3rd rack for those little extras. Plus you can do a full load in no time, and quietly! No more staying up extra late to get everything clean.
6. Don’t Worry about the Turkey
When making a big turkey dinner for a lot of people, there’s a lot of pressure to make sure the bird is cooked properly. With the Bosch Benchmark Wall Oven, your turkey will be in good hands with an AutoChef Probe that takes the temperature of the bird as it cooks. You can rest easy knowing that your turkey will be cooked perfectly. Also great for hams and roasts.
7. Keep it Simple
It’s important to remember that a party is really about friends, not the food or setting. Paying attention to these details is important and should not be dismissed, but don’t get caught up worrying how to impress your friends. It’s not worth it. A stressed hostess equals stressed guests, so keep it simple.
Make something you’ve made before, don’t try something new the day of the party. Find out what people’s allergies, intolerances, or dislikes are. One of my favourite tips from Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa and entertaining queen) is this, "I usually say make two or three and buy the rest — or assemble the rest.” Don’t put the pressure on yourself to make everything homemade. It’s not worth the fuss.
8. Consider an Informal Setting
Another entertaining queen, Nigella Lawson suggests putting aside all of the “dinner party rules” we all assume we should do. Instead of fussing over a formal table setting, put cutlery in jars, place plates in stacks, scatter piles of napkins all over the table. People feel much more comfortable if it’s a relaxed atmosphere.
