Nathalie Dupree's Comfortable Entertaining: At Home with Ease and Grace

Nathalie Dupree’s COMFORTABLE Entertaining

Nathalie Dupree’s COMFORTABLE Entertaining

AT HOME WITH EASE & GRACE

Published in 2013 by the University of Georgia Press

Athens, Georgia 30602

www.ugapress.org

© 1998 by Nathalie Dupree

Photographs © 1998 by Tom Eckerle

All rights reserved

Designed by Jaye Zimet

Set in Bembo

Printed and bound by Imago

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Printed in China

13  14  15  16  17  P  5  4  3  2  1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dupree, Nathalie.

[Comfortable entertaining]

Nathalie Dupree’s comfortable entertaining : at home with ease and grace.

pages cm

Originally published: New York : Viking, 1998.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-8203-4513-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Entertaining. 2. Cooking. I. Title. II. Title: Comfortable entertaining.

TX731.D824 2013

642’.2—dc23

2012034506

ISBN for digital edition: 978-0-8203-4578-9

Nathalie Dupree’s Comfortable Entertaining: At Home with Ease and Grace was originally published in 1998 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.

This book is for all those who want to issue hospitality with ease and grace—especially the young women my friends and I wish we could have taught more—Audrey, LuLen, Gail, little Marion Sullivan, Mary Rawson, and Margaret Foreman.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Once again I am indebted to many people—my husband Jack, who found my agent, Angela Miller, for me, and supported me every step of the way, and my good friends and helpers, Kay Calvert and Richard Lands, without whom the manuscript would not have been possible. Kay has loyally worked for me for over twenty years, and Ric has helped me since the taping of New Southern Cooking’s second series, over ten years ago. They are an invaluable part of my team.

Recipes and tips were also generously provided by Marion Sullivan, Peggy Foreman, and Carole Landon. All the testers were priceless, as were the friends who read the manuscript and made comments, who gave recipes, who lent their houses for the photo shoot, and those who volunteered to help. These include Spring Asher, the Australian Meat and Live-Stock Corporation of New York, Traci Badenhausen, Victoria Cohen, Merrill Davis, Penny Goldwasser, Elise Griffin, Bud Koram, Elizabeth Land, Sara Levy, M. Cory Lewis, Sandy Linver, Elliott Mackle, Barbara Morgan, Karen Oakley, Drexel Pringle, Lydia Rajczak, Anne Rand, Pat Royalty, Patricia Scott, Todd Weinstein, Virginia Willis, and Wendy Wolfenberger. Reading China and More provided valuable assistance with propping.

Amy Mintzer gave incredible editorial support, as did my editor, Carole DeSanti. Her assistant, Alexandra Babanskyj, is ever helpful and cheerful, thank goodness. Tom Eckerle, the photographer, is enormously pleasant and easy to work with. The beauty of this book is due to Jaye Zimet, design director. I am truly grateful for her skill and grasp of my message. She translated my vision into photos as beautifully as I could have hoped for. Two other people aided immeasurably with the photographs: Penny Goldwasser, my interior designer, who is my mentor in the visual and arranged to use homes of other clients for the photography, and Virginia Willis, who has gone from being my apprentice years ago to a top food stylist for print as well as television. My producer Teresa Statz is a great aide in translating print into motion. Thanks to the loyal GPTV crew as well. Special thanks to Howell Raines for the use of his home for the cover.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Comfortable Entertaining: What It Means

Comfortable Entertaining: How It Works

How to Use This Book

SIT-DOWN MEALS

Breakfast for Six to Thirty at 7:30 A.M.

Three Simple Suppers

Paella and Friends for Ten

Moroccan Dinner

Eye-Popping Menu for Eight

FORK MEALS

Fork Salad Summer Lunch

Soup Party

Special Barbecue

Supper Buffet for Six to Thirty

All-Desserts Buffet

FINGER MEALS

Seafood Party

Tortilla Party

Buffet for Twelve to Fifty, in Four Hours or Less

Two Hors d’Oeuvres Parties

THE HOLIDAYS

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Core Recipes

Table Settings

Index

Nathalie Dupree’s COMFORTABLE Entertaining

INTRODUCTION

Comfortable Entertaining: What It Means

I hosted my first formal party at the age of ten. My eleven-year-old sister and I married off our four-year-old brother to a little girl in the neighborhood. We planned the entire wedding—from finding the bridal gown and the groom’s suit to rounding up cookies, which we baked, and cheese straws, which a neighbor graciously donated. From that day on, I knew I loved giving parties.

By the time I was in my teens, my parents were divorced, my mother was working as a low-paid government clerk, and funds for entertaining were nonexistent. I did it anyway. I served iced tea or Cokes with chips and onion dip, and we had a great time. Those parties at Mothers included so many teens crammed into our small apartment that she hardly could move. (Her philosophic response: At least I know where you are.)

Entertaining is a mindset, an attitude as well as a practice—not quite an art form but more than a craft. Like most artistic endeavors, it is a marriage of personal expression and technique learned through observation and experience. An excellent host may well be self-taught, with the desire to entertain in a way that is graceful and comfortable. A good guide can help you avoid catastrophes—or at the very minimum, put them into perspective. This book talks about my mistakes as well as my successes, what I have learned not to do as well as what I hope you will learn to do.

What do I mean by comfortable entertaining? The Oxford English Dictionary defines comfortable as affording mental or spiritual delight or enjoyment. (Also free from pain and trouble—let’s keep that in mind as well.) To entertain, it says, is not only to provide sustenance for a person, but also to take upon oneself an obligation. The key ingredient in entertaining is the desire to be hospitable.

During my freshman year in college, I lived with my father and stepmother. It was a dramatic change. As ranking colonel on an army post, my father lived in what seemed to me an enormous house. There were protocols for every aspect of daily life, especially entertaining, which was itself inextricably linked to the obligations and rituals of military life. The lessons I learned during those years also contributed to my knowledge—positive lessons about how to give structure and organization to a gathering as well as negative lessons in what to avoid. The food was much better than the sodas and chips I provided at my mother’s, and the napkins were folded absolutely correctly, but the rigid ambience didn’t foster lighthearted fun.

Good and bad, much of what I know about the heart of entertaining I learned from my parents. Make your guests comfortable in your home. Welcome them, truly welcome them: Being delighted they are there is the spirit of entertaining. Being well enough prepared so that you can enjoy yourself with them is the practical key. Everything else—menus, decorations, table settings—comes after. Comfortable entertaining embraces the key ingredients: the host and the guest.

Practice What I Preach

You can only learn to host successfully by doing it.

Although practice doesn’t lead necessarily to perfection, it is the key to better entertaining. In fact, perfection isn’t the goal, and neither is professional-level catering or competition with a top restaurant. The goal is your comfort and the comfort of your guests, and nothing will be comfortable to you if it isn’t familiar.

So how to begin? Not with a black-tie, sit-down dinner for twenty. Start small with what you know Little by little, add to that experience, and soon you’ll be as much of a pro as you need to be. Only through entertaining will you find your own style of entertaining. Through cooking for friends you will develop a core of recipes that you’re comfortable making and serving, that you can embellish or simplify as the occasion demands. As with other meaningful endeavors, your entertaining style likely will reflect your personality.

If you’re most comfortable in a casual, laid-back atmosphere, when you think of entertaining you may be inclined to buy some paper plates and napkins, throw burgers on the grill, and let everyone serve themselves. This is not to suggest there won’t be times when even you will want to set the table with cloth napkins and good candlesticks and offer more exotic fare. But if burgers are your style, go for it! Casual reflects you and therefore best serves your guests.

My favorite former husband was imaginative and especially clever when it came to changing the look of a room. (We once wallpapered the sleeping part of our tiny New York L-shaped efficiency apartment with wrapping paper from Blooming-dale’s.) For a party, he would drape our beat-up tables with shawls or quilts and add candles and flowers. Our guests would arrive to an elegant, new apartment with an exotic atmosphere.

On the other hand, perhaps your pride and joy is your exquisitely decorated home with your porcelain collection prominently displayed. Maybe you dream of setting the dining table for twelve with your finest linen and crystal (even if it’s been gathering dust since your wedding). An invitation for burgers on the grill? Probably not. If your style is formal, you will be more comfortable amid the formal trappings. And your guests will recognize these gestures as signs of welcome.

As you entertain, you will probably find that your own comfort level—your individual style—lies somewhere in between. The important thing is to let it develop. A presentation that is false for you will feel contrived, which may result in both you and your guests being uncomfortable. That’s not to say you shouldn’t decorate or move furniture for a party, or adapt your style to the occasion. After all, high school gyms and church basements can be transformed into discos and romantic islands.

To paraphrase the ancient Chinese wisdom, a dinner party of a thousand courses begins with a single step. So let’s begin.

For first-timers, invite one friend for a meal. Prepare one little thing you have cooked before, or even purchase carry-out. Pick up around the house. Set a nice table. Be ready at the time you’ve established. Welcome your guest. Et voilà! Bask in the glory of your ability to entertain.

Or plan a picnic. Make some lovely sandwiches and buy a couple of brownies from your favorite bakery. Select your favorite spot in your favorite park and venture forth with basket and cooler in hand. Spread out a blanket. You’re a host.

You’re Not Quite Finished Yet

Now that you have offered your hospitality, do you feel the warmth and welcome you have created, both for yourself and your guest? Good!

Now ask yourself what you would have done differently. Did you leave yourself enough time for a shower before dinner? Would it have been nice to have had something for you and your friend to munch on while the dinner heated? Could you have saved yourself some stress by buying the brownies the day before instead of en route to the park? Make notes. Try again. Invite your friend back. Ask another. Practice.

Of course, you’re not just practicing. You’re entertaining.

Nathalie’s Golden Rules for Comfortable Entertaining

Entertaining is a grandiose word for showing hospitality to people whom you want—or need—to have in your home. In reality, most occasions include some mix of want and need, desire and obligation. You want to make dinner for dear friends who are visiting from out of town, but because of their schedule you need to do it on a night that’s not really convenient for you. You want to throw a little party for a colleague who’s been promoted, but you need to invite everyone in the department—more people than you’ve ever fed before. You are obligated to take your turn hosting a group’s meeting at your home, but you want to do it as nicely as others have and without too much stress. Or you just want company—to spend some time with someone.

Sometimes we welcome friends and family into our home with joy and gladness; sometimes we just get cornered. But all those times can be made more pleasurable if you take to heart the principles of comfortable entertaining.

1. think about who’s coming and why before you think about the menu. If you give some thought to the purpose of the gathering, to the guests, to their needs and your own before you start picking recipes, you’ll be off on the right foot.

2. Serve what you know. There are two reasons for this: First, true hospitality is not about impressing others but it is about expressing yourself, and you do that best with dishes that you are comfortable with, that you have cooked often and made your own. The second reason is practical: Attempt something unfamiliar and you might end up with a nervous breakdown and hungry guests.

3. Be realistic. Be generous with yourself when deciding how much you can handle. Stay within the comfort zone of your capabilities and you won’t go wrong. A confident host is a gracious host. Really, there’s little that’s more unpleasant than a host who’s been too ambitious: A host who’s distraught or near nervous collapse from the failure or success of the flambéed pheasant or the origami napkins is not going to do a good job of making her guests welcome. (If the pièce de résistance is something you can create in advance, however, shoot for the moon, knowing that if it doesn’t work, you will have time to do something else.)

4. Plan ahead, start ahead, work ahead. Get as much done as possible in advance. It is better to reheat than to be frantically preparing while your guests watch from the edge of their seats, or worse yet, sit in the dining room while you slave away in the kitchen. Planning enables you to space out your efforts. Do some planning, and don’t procrastinate.

5. Make yourself and your guests comfortable. Different guests and events have different requirements, as do stages of life. Chances are an elderly guest won’t be happy to see hot and spicy food, and children will be upset by whole fish. Sitting on the floor may be ideal for your best friend and all wrong for your boss. When I was a student, I entertained differently from the way I did as a restaurateur. Know your guests and know yourself.

Why do I call these my Golden Rules? I believe that food is nourishment for the soul, as well as the body, and that spiritual sustenance is offered along with dinner when we entertain. The joys and pleasures you give your guests are those you would be grateful to receive.

Comfortable Entertaining: How It Works

Every occasion begins with a desire, an obligation, or a creative impulse in the mind of the host. If the next impulse is to write down the menu, fight it. That’s way down the line (unless your creative impulse came from a culinary theme or event, such as a shrimp boil or a cookout, and even then you should hold off on constructing the actual menu). Though many people who love to entertain also love to cook, there are many considerations that supersede gastronomy—venue, time, logistics, guests’ food allergies, and budget among them. Whether you’re starting with the realization that you have no choice but to make dinner for your in-laws on Saturday night or with the passionate desire to throw yourself an extravagant housewarming party, the process and the principles are the same: They are Planning, Preparation, Presentation, and Participation.

This is a cautionary tale about Golden Rules #2 and #3.

I once lived in what was called the oldest house in Greenwich Village, a very tiny house on Bedford Street. My roommates and I regularly had at-homes on Wednesday nights, when we served wine and cheese and not much else, encouraging our guests to bring wine as well. At one of these at-homes we decided we would roast a suckling pig for Thanksgiving the following week. One of the regulars said he would bring the pig and we set about inviting others.

Thanksgiving morning came: no pig. We couldn’t reach our pig-buying friend, so we rushed out and, somehow, found an 18-pound pig for sale Thanksgiving morning (the magic of New York). After we stuffed the pig with fruit, we skewered him with straightened-out coat hangers and put him over a small wood fire. (He barely fit in the fireplace.) The pig toppled into the flames a few times, and a very poor draw in the chimney soon had the house moderately smoky. Then my boss and his family showed up.

Cooking the pig over low heat was the best we could do, and the pig didn’t get done until well after it was time for my boss to take his children home to bed.

Ultimately, the pig was succulent and meltingly delicious—-for anyone who cared enough to stay. But oh, to have had a fall-back plan like a turkey or ham in the oven, and a sense of what to do when we found ourselves in trouble.

I used to think of this as a disaster story (and I’ll always wonder if the episode moved me away from advertising as my career), but it was a thoroughly exciting Thanksgiving. And since I believe you can never be punished for gathering friends together, maybe if I’d been a better holiday planner/pig roaster, I wouldn’t be writing cookbooks; I’d be in advertising, and nowhere near as happy.

Nathalie’s Party-Pitching Principles: The Four Ps

PLANNING As soon as that entertaining impulse strikes (and it can hit you anywhere, at any time), start planning. You’ll need both a master plan, which defines and refines your vision for the gathering, and a tactical plan: what has to be done and when. An experienced host with a guest list of one may complete a master plan mentally in five minutes. A novice considering an event for forty may write it over several days. In either case, the components are the same.

Ask yourself the same questions a reporter does before writing a story: Who (is invited)? Why (am I giving this party)? When and Where (will it be)? What (will I serve)? And the two Hows: How (will I serve)? And How (am I going to accomplish this)? As you figure out the answers to who, why, when, where, what, and how you are going to serve, you are developing your master plan. The second how—how you accomplish it—is your strategic plan.

DEVELOPING THE MASTER PLAN

1. Start with the guest list.

2. Set the place and date and time.

3. Decide how much you can afford, in both time and money.

4. Decide what to serve.

The guest list

Make a first draft of your guest list. You’ll need to revisit it after you’ve worked your way through 2, 3, and 4 in the list above.

It is important that each guest feel comfortable and enjoy the company of the group. Odd numbers should not be a problem, as long as a guest doesn’t sit like a bump on a log with no one to talk to because the table arrangement gives him/her no companionship. (In fact, five is a wonderful number for a dinner party, maybe my favorite.)

Remember that there are talkers and listeners. It helps to include a talker or two when you are entertaining more than six people. But a major talker can dominate a small group to the exclusion of others, which is undesirable.

To determine how many is comfortable, particularly for large parties, remember the mingling theorem: the length of the party divided by the number of guests equals how much time you’ll have to visit with each one. (A two-hour party is 120 minutes, so with sixty guests the host has 2 minutes per guest.)

If you foresee the guest list might create awkward situations, plan the menu and special touches as conversation ice breakers. I was asked to host a dinner party to introduce a recently appointed city officer to the leaders of various charity groups. After the invitations were issued, I realized there were many difficult elements among the guests—ex-spouses, ex-employees, competitors. I planned an eating-implement and finger-food party. (I also used a seating plan.) Asparagus tongs, lamb chop holders, marrow spoons, fish knives, and forks were among the tools I used to set the table. Everyone was intrigued. Partly because of the novelty of the flatware interspersed with the finger food, the conversation flowed easily, away from the personal, which is, after all, the purpose of a conversation piece.

Decide when. The date and time may be determined by the occasion—breakfast, brunch, lunch, after the game, tea, cocktails, before theater, dinner, dessert, midnight snack. The when may also be influenced by your budget or by the nature of the event. A last-minute supper is tonight; a wedding or bar mitzvah may be planned a year ahead. So …

Set a budget. For some reason, the only party givers who consistently set budgets are college students with $40 to spend on beer and pretzels and parents planning to spend a hefty chunk of their life’s savings on a daughter’s wedding. Your party is probably somewhere in between, but you, too, can benefit from a budget. The amount of money and time available will influence the number of guests, the type of gathering, and the menu.

For a casual dinner, you may not need to think twice about a budget. For a large party, if your response is either It doesn’t matter how much I spend or I want to spend as little as possible, you are probably headed for trouble. Be realistic.

Budget for:

food

beverages

decorations, including candles and flowers

additional plates, glasses and flatware, laundry expenses

any serving and cleanup help (before or after)

Now budget for your time:

How much time do you have to give to this event, and what kind of time is it? If you are working full-time and have small children, your available preparation time may come in bits and pieces, an hour here, 15 minutes there, spaced out over weeks. Others may be able to dedicate a whole chunk of time—like an entire weekend—to prep, cook, and freeze.

Consider the value of your time to you, weighing preparation time against the cost of ingredients. A casserole can be cheap, but it might take the better part of three days to prepare. Salmon or tenderloin can be pricey but take less time and energy from market to table.

Consider your time priorities. Know what you realistically can and can’t do. If you feel the house is more important than the menu, so be it. Purchase the best carry-out you can find or afford, put it in your own serving dishes, name it something special, and enjoy.

Decide where. Even if the party is going to be at home, there are still wheres to answer. You have more options than you may realize at first:

Assess locations for both space and equipment to help determine where you will entertain. Is your dining room too small to seat twelve? Could you set a small table by the fireplace for an intimate dinner for four?

Check tables and chairs, refrigerator/freezer space, grill, oven, stovetop, and the serving areas for food and beverages. This review will generate some questions about needed equipment. Will you need to rent or borrow additional tables or chairs? If you set up a bar in the hall, will it block the coat closet? Should you add a card table for coffee and tea? Where will the coats go?

Decide how you will serve. Out of necessity this decision dovetails with the where and the when, but it has the most effect on what you will serve, which comes next. Here are some of the usual choices:

Hors d’oeuvres can be set out or passed

You can serve from a buffet or at the table

With a buffet, your guests can sit down to eat or stand

Okay, now it’s time to plan the menu.

When my husband-to-be, who at the time was not experienced in entertaining, and I were courting, he invited me to Oxford, Mississippi, to meet his friends. Jack planned a dinner featuring fried catfish for twenty at a restaurant with only four tables. The quaint Busy Bee Cafe was run by an elderly lady, Miss Isaiah, a legend in Oxford. Although the café was a far cry from a white-tablecloth restaurant, my beau set out flowers, place cards, and wine. His enthusiasm that evening produced an air of glamour felt by all. And I was impressed.

SETTING THE MENU: The Big Questions

The menu should take into account all those decisions you’ve been making about who, where, and when. Here are the Big Questions:

Consider your time: The menu determines what can be done ahead in terms of shopping, cooking, and even decorating.

Consider where you are: Do you have the cooking and serving equipment to manage your menu choices? That is, if you’re toting a picnic, the food needs to be portable.

Consider how you’re serving: If you are planning a stand-up party—however formal or casual—everything you serve must be edible with one hand alone, whether with finger or fork. If it’s a sit-down dinner, you need to decide if you are plating the food before it is served, passing bowls family-style, or serving from behind the guest (like a butler). If you will be without help in the kitchen, don’t attempt to individually plate more than one course, and then make it either the first or the last.

Consider whom you’ve invited: For a smaller party, ask guests in advance if there are any foods they can’t eat. Plan your menu accordingly, particularly in the case of genuine allergies or religious restrictions, but don’t feel you have to accommodate every dieter’s demands. Serve enough variety so that everyone will have something to eat, even if not a whole meal, without burdening yourself unduly.

A cocktail party may seem like an easier alternative to a full-fledged dinner party, but it’s probably the most expensive kind of party you can give in terms of both money and time. Bite-sized food is costly to purchase; if you make it yourself it is very time-consuming. (For tips on making it easier, see page 172.) You’ll have a big liquor bill, since people drink more standing and munching and mingling than they do sitting (that’s the point, after all). Per hour of consumption, drinks are more expensive than food. (I, personally, believe that alcohol should never—no exceptions—be served without food, including a substantial protein. I also realize this statement well may ignite The Great Debate. For the affirmative side, I only can cite Nathalie Dupree’s First Rule of Serving Alcohol.)

One of the least expensive ways to entertain nicely is a brunch. Brunch involves little or no alcohol and can use eggs, fruit, and bread as its core without compromising.

Now select foods that fit within those parameters. Balance is key to a comfortable, workable menu, not just the balance of foods but the balance of time. A large piece of meat will take a long—but unattended—time to cook, and therefore is the easiest thing to do as long as you have a block of time when you’ll be home anyway. Smaller individual entrées, like scallops, take less cooking time but probably either are more expensive or require more of your attention and time to prepare.

You do want balance on a menu, as well. Consider the combinations of flavors and textures, and strive for an overall effect that will be delightful for your guests and manageable for you.

Avoid using the same prominent ingredient or cooking method in every course—the usual culprits are shellfish, cream, tomatoes, individual spices, and fried foods.

Use recipes you know, or ones you can experiment with ahead.

Now refine the guest list. In light of the budget, the location, the date, and the menu, are there problems with your original guest list? How many people can you invite? (In the past, I’ve frequently forgotten to count myself. Now I complicate the problem by tending to forget to count my husband, as well as myself. So I have to check to be sure I haven’t overinvited. At one dinner party, husband Jack and I ended up perched on a windowsill in the corner of the dining room.) How many elderly and/or frail guests do you expect? Will you be able to accommodate their needs? Among your guests, is there someone you can count on to help, or will you be doing everything? And can you? Once you are satisfied with the list of guests, you can think about inviting them.

Invitations. In collecting information for your invitations, no matter what their form (printed, verbal, or electronic), it is important that your guests have everything they need to know: date and time, certainly, and possibly who will be there and why you are gathering, as well. Be explicit about what your guests can expect—light hors d’oeuvres, sit-down meal, buffet brunch; casual clothes, black tie, Sunday best. For some gatherings, I find it helpful (for guest and host!) to include a beginning and an ending time—for example, 7:30 until 9:30.

A NOTE ON RSVPs

I have found the longer the guest list, the less likelihood of an appropriate number of RSVPs. In today’s busy world (or that, at any rate, is the excuse), people often don’t respond even to a written invitation. This has become so consistently true that I usually don’t even request an RSVP for larger parties. For events where the head count is critical, the host, unfortunately, must assume a proactive role in eliciting responses. A follow-up call is usually a good idea for any sit-down meal.

If you are going to request RSVPs, please consider: Who will accept them? Will your children write down the messages? Are you willing to let RSVPs fill up your business VoiceMail to the exclusion of a message from an important client? How do you plan to respond to the responses?

Be sure to keep a list of the replies. Don’t trust your memory, especially for large gatherings.

Think about what you will do if a guest asks to bring others—adults and/or children. Know the answer before the question arises, and be prepared to respond diplomatically whatever your decision.

It has been my experience that RSVP—Regrets Onlyunfortunately doesn’t motivate people to respond as they should.

Deliver (via mail, telephone, e-mail, or fax) the invitations and hope for RSVPs. Don’t hold your breath.

THE STRATEGIC PLAN: The Big How

So how are you going to get everything done? You’re going to need a strategic plan, a list of what needs to be done and when it’s going to be done: It’s that complex and that simple.

Whether your dinner party is tomorrow night, or the wedding is in six months, start a list and a timetable and add to it. Include the dates and times you intend to work on a specific task. (Remember to keep your list where you can find it—I keep mine on the refrigerator—and write individual items on your calendar. You’ll be more inclined to treat it like a real commitment.) Strategic-plan highlights include cleaning, laundry, setup, shopping, decorating. Remember the food—preparing in advance, freezing, defrosting, reheating, beverage chilling. Be sure to cover the finishing and serving details.

Review your workplace. Check the freezer and refrigerator for space, as well as the oven and stovetop. Is there enough room for plated salads or desserts? Are there enough heating elements to prepare or reheat the dinner? This is the time to fine-tune the menu. Note on the timetable where everything is to be