Planning a Stress-free Dinner Party at Home
Yes, you can enjoy your own dinner party! The three keys to hosting a stress-free dinner party are to keep it simple, do as many chores as you can ahead of the dinner party date, and prepare as many dinner party dishes as you can ahead of your guests' arrival.
How to Plan a Dinner Party at Home
Keep it simple: Limit the dinner party guest list to eight people, six is even better. Choose a neutral table setting that lets your colorful centerpiece flowers pop. Serve no more than three dinner party courses. Feature only one "fancy" dish. Plan a mostly make ahead menu with few items that need last minute kitchen time.
Do ahead. Two weeks before the day of the dinner party, invite your guests and choose a menu with mostly make-ahead dishes. A few days before the dinner party, shop for the non-perishables and clean house. A day ahead of the dinner party, shop for the perishables and set the dinner table and do a last minute clean of the bathroom and living room. Prepare your make-ahead recipes the day before or in the morning of your dinner party.
Tips on How to Throw a Dinner Party at Home
Remember that your dinner party guests are the real stars of the evening, not your food. The food is only your pleasant excuse for getting together, so don't worry about putting on a gourmet restaurant spread.
Never serve a dish you haven't made before. This way you avoid disasters like apologizing for a recipe that doesn't taste the way you hoped it would.
You are part of the dinner party company and your guests expect to talk with you. Keeping it simple means you get to spend time with your guests instead of in the kitchen.
Don't get nervous about choosing wine. If you're not sure what to serve, just go to your local wine store and ask for something simple and inexpensive that most people are likely to enjoy. Remember people love to give advice, and wine store staff are no different!
Check the ingredient list for every dinner party recipe against your pantry contents. Make sure you already have the item on hand or add it to your shopping list. This has the added bonus of preventing you from buying duplicates!
In your last minute schedule be sure to include time for you to get dressed for the dinner party, set out the appetizers, put on the dinner party music and - yes - sit down for a few minutes before your guests arrive. Wow! What a stress-free way to start enjoying your own dinner party.
The Bronx is the only New York borough on the mainland of the United States. It was originally part of Westchester County but was gradually annexed by New York City. The Bronx was completely incorporated into New York City in 1898.
The Bronx has a strong character all its own. It is the birthplace of hip hop music, one of the most important truly American musical genres, and home to one of the country's most storied professional baseball teams, the New York Yankees, also known as the "Bronx Bombers." Many ethnic groups have called the Bronx home over the years. Arthur Avenue is still a center of Italian American culture in New York, and many claim it has a more authentic feel than Manhattan's Little Italy. The South Bronx is a center of Puerto Rican culture and life, with a growing Mexican community as well. University Heights and Morris Heights are largely Dominican neighborhoods.
While the southern and central Bronx is mostly comprised of apartment buildings and densely built, the physical environment of the Bronx is much more varied than what is normally portrayed in the popular media. For instance, Riverdale is a residential neighborhood of mostly detached single family homes located on bluffs overlooking the Hudson River. It looks more like a quiet suburb than the "big bad" Bronx. Bronx Park and Van Cortlandt Park are two large and notably tranquil green spaces. City Island, located in Long Island Sound but officially part of the Bronx, reminds people more of a small New England fishing village and is worth a visit.
The Bronx has a reputation as an area of rundown apartment buildings and high crime that is not entirely undeserved but rather dated. But all of these problems have waned in recent years, and indeed, as the South Bronx gentrifies, longtime residents are afraid they may soon be priced out of their neighborhood. While you should exercise precautions if visiting some of the more troubled neighborhoods, dont take the outsiders' word for it when it comes to the Bronx -- explore it and decide for yourself.
One can get into the Bronx from Manhattan and other boroughs (except Staten Island) easily by taking any of several subway lines or by using a limousine service Bronx-style. The Harlem and Hudson Lines of the Metro North commuter railway, which originate in Grand Central Terminal and stop in Harlem at 125 St. and Park Av., also traverse the Bronx, with various stops including Botanic Garden, next to the New York Botanic Garden. Local MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) bus connections with Upper Manhattan and parts of Queens also exist. It is possible to travel across one of the many bridges from Manhattan or the three bridges from Queens, and points north are accessible via several highways. Note that taxis from Midtown or Lower Manhattan can be very expensive, which makes it more worth your money to ride a limousine service Bronx-fashion to drive you around the area. Finally, pedestrians can cross any of the bridges that connect Manhattan with the Bronx.
The Bronx has limited subway coverage, with the subway lines designed more for access to Manhattan than cross-town travel in the Bronx, and many of its bus lines are slow and overcrowded at times. Many people who need flexibility in getting across the Bronx drive; however, the notorious overcrowding on the Cross-Bronx Expressway sometimes reduces such cross-town travel to a standstill, which makes a ride in a limousine a better and more comfortable prospect. In general, with sufficient planning and time, you can enjoy the borough through a combination of these means or you can go by only one, a limousine service at the Bronx.
Source: Wikitravel.org - Bronx, New York
*****
Why use a limousine service in New York?
A limousine service can easily be substituted for a car service. The comfort and safety of having a chauffeur-driven limousine service is more valuable when traveling in and around New York. There are practically hundreds of limousine services in New York.
Look up other areas covered by New York NY Limo limousine services:
Limousine Service (Bronx) Limousine Service (Brooklyn) Limousine Service (Long Island) - Limousine Service (Manhattan) Limousine Service (Queens) Limousine Service (Staten Island) Limousine Service (New York)
