be the perfect host/ess | . |
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copyright ©1999-2003 |
You’ve
got the word out about your cocktail party, a few ideas for transforming
your place into a swank lounge for an evening, and a fabulous getup that
you can’t wait to wear (see part I
of this two-part article). What’s left to plan? Time to start thinking
about the all-important edibles and potables, of course …
food for
thought Think small, think portable
– you don’t want to be fussing around with food that needs to be
sliced and portioned-out, or requires utensils (other than a toothpick)
for guests to eat. To that end, a mini muffin pan will prove highly
useful. Mini quiches and mini cheesecakes look adorable and taste so
good that they’ll probably disappear before you, the poor host/ess,
even gets a chance to eat one yourself. As an added bonus, you can make
them weeks ahead of time and then freeze them up. Cheesecakes just need
to be moved to the fridge the morning of the party or the night before,
to give them time to defrost. Hot hors d’oeuvres like mini quiches can
be popped straight from the freezer into a 350F oven for about 15 minutes or
so, then served
piping hot. I reheat the hot stuff in small batches, and slide more in
the oven as needed, to avoid ending up with a big platter of
unappetizing room temperature “hot” hors d’ouevres. If you’re
feeling like a super-host/ess, you can also load them up on a platter
after they come out of the oven, then walk around offering them to
guests.
---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home .
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