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.
Long Island is, literally, a long island stretching eastward from New York City. The largely suburban area is approximately 115 miles long from Brooklyn and Queens at the western end, to Montauk at the easternmost point. At its widest the island is approximately 20 miles from north to south. While Long Island geographically includes Brooklyn and Queens, politically Long Island in general includes Nassau County and Suffolk County of New York State only.
The primary tourist attractions are the large number of excellent beaches along Long Island Sound to the north and especially along the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The North Fork is also home to many wineries. Other attractions include harbor towns such as Port Jefferson, where a variety of eateries and small businesses thrive in a bohemian atmosphere.
Long Island is essentially a suburban area throughout (except for the Twin Forks region, which is rural) and has few major cities.
There are many ways to get into Long Island: by plane, by train, by boat and by car. National and international airlines land and take-off at four major airports in Long Island. They are MacArthur Airport in Islip (which is a convenient regional airport centrally located on Long Island), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), which is located to the west of the Island (and New York City) in the state of New Jersey.
Long Island Railroad (LIRR) provides service to and from the New York City area to most major towns on the Island. Be aware, however, that the farther from New York City one travels, the more sporadic service becomes.
If you prefer going in by boat, there are ferries available at the north shore of Long Island Sound.
When considering using a car or limousine service, one can take into account the many controlled-access highways that run through New York City from Connecticut and New Jersey. It is advisable, however, to travel on routes that do not cross Manhattan Island (where traffic is perpetually horrendous). From New Jersey, I-278 runs across Staten Island to Brooklyn where major roads (including Route 27 and the LIE) can be reached. From Connecticut, take I-95 South to I-678 and the Throgs Neck Bridge. Once into Queens, nearly every major thoroughfare is encountered while still heading south on 278.
A convenient way to bypass most traffic is to take a car ferry from either Bridgeport, CT to Port Jefferson (on the North Shore in the center of Suffolk County) or New London, CT to Orient Point (on the North Fork).
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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.
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