Food Party Planning Menu Guide
Food Party Planning is crucial in hosting a successful event of any kind. Here we give you some simple but highly effective tips on how planning a party menu for your food choice is important especially for a dinner party. This primarily applies to a sit-down meal that you will cook and serve in your own home, but its principles can be applied to any setting where you are in charge of selecting the menu. First of all, after choosing how many dinner guests you will invite, decide how many courses your meal will consist of. Several factors weigh in at this point. One is budget: you may realistically only be able to spend a certain amount of money on food. Also, the time you have available to cook and prepare the meal may limit how lavish a spread you provide. Finally, the more courses you serve the longer guests will stay in your home, and you may need to set a limit on time. Begin by choosing the main course. The rest of the meal will fall in place more easily once this matter is settled.
The top choices are chicken, beef, pork, or lamb. If you’re providing food for a formal occasion, you can opt to first serve either fish or seafood—shrimps, calamari, etc. Generally, however, you will need only one meat dish to set the “taste tone” for the meal. Next you will need to select your starch—one that will complement the meat. This could be potatoes (baked, mashed or fried), rice dishes or pasta of some kind. While sweet potatoes or yams can be a special treat, be aware that not everyone likes the taste. Vegetables are also a required side dish, and some examples are carrots, beans, string beans, peas, corn, etc. Take the time not only to cook them just right, but to serve them in an appealing fashion. Soup is not a necessity, but if you serve one, the main prerequisites are that it complements the main course and that it not be so substantial as to fill your guests up. Remember, it’s a side dish. Whatever you choose for your salad course, remember to not make too much of it, as this is only an appetizer, not a main course.
Far too often, hosts serve too much salad, only to have to dispose of it after the party. If you decide to serve cocktails before the dinner, or have a relaxing time of chitchat before your guests sit down at the table, you will want to serve hors d’oeuvres or finger food. A general rule of thumb is to have one type of snacks for every half dozen guests. Make a statement with the dessert that you serve after the meal. Mind you, you need not serve sundaes or blueberry cheesecake to get rave reviews: you can simply put out slices of delicious cheese or ripe fruit in elegant dishes. All that matters is that it’s delicious. Offer your guests coffee or tea after the meal. Not only is this a polite custom, but it also is a gentle hint that the dinner party is nearing its end, and that the time is soon coming for your guests to leave. Of course, if you wish to prolong the party a bit at this point, invite everyone to retire to the living room where you can all relax and chitchat while you digest your superb meal.
