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Thanksgiving Tip: Have Extra Place Settings Ready

partysugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:00:11 -0800

Besides setting the table early - a couple of days before Thanksgiving - I also put aside several extra place settings. I'll stack two to three plates, chargers, napkins, and utensils in a hidden spot in the dining room.

My Thanksgiving is a "the more, the merrier" type of event, so if someone shows up with an unexpected friend or family member, all I have to do is grab the extra place setting that's ready and add another chair to the table.

It's one less thing to worry about, and will ensure that you don't have to go digging into your China cabinet looking for extra plates on the big night. Got a great Thanksgiving tip? Please share it with us below!

Let's Dish: What Did You Serve at Your Last Dinner Party?

partysugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:15:00 -0700

Dinner parties are my favorite kind of party. Creating a meal for loved ones is highly satisfying, and when I'm prepping for a dinner, I'm always in the best mood. Whether it's a meal I've been planning for months or a last-minute affair, I always write down the menu.

The last dinner party I hosted was two weeks ago for 10 friends. To start I served grilled pancetta-wrapped peaches and chili con queso with tortilla chips. The appetizers were washed down with a watermelon mint lemonade cocktail. For the main course we enjoyed steak, grilled vegetables, mixed green salad with avocados and nectarines, and a tomato tart.

The memory is still fresh in my mind, but I'm already planning my next dinner and I need inspiration. So do tell: what was on the menu at your last dinner party?

After a Dinner Party, Do You Offer to Help Clean Up?

partysugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:50:32 -0700

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Yummy Links: From Bacon Wrapped Turducken to Absinthe

partysugar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:45:54 -0800

Would you eat this bacon wrapped turducken for Thanksgiving? - Bacon Today
How to host a dinner party on the cheap. - Chow
Can fresh nutmeg be used the same as ground nutmeg? - The Kitchn
Burger King's fake wallet promotion. - A Hamburger Today
Looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie? Consider apple streusel cinnamon swirl cupcakes. - Hostess With the Mostess
Everything you need to know about absinthe and five ways to use it. - Epicurious

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Thanksgiving Tip: Stock Up Early

YumSugar — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:00:46 -0800

If you're hosting Thanksgiving at your house, then hopefully you've started planning your menu. Once you've decided on the menu lineup, don't wait to stock up on seasonal essentials. Three days before, shop for herbs, spices, seasonings, and other specialty Thanksgiving ingredients, as they'll be the first to go out of stock at the store. These include items such as:

Fresh cranberries
Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and sage

To see other items I suggest stockpiling, read more.

Canned pumpkin and cranberry
Mixes for stuffing, cornbread, and mashed potatoes
Spices such as pumpkin pie spice, allspice, and cumin

One Thanksgiving, I waited until the last minute to obtain ingredients, and I visited three supermarkets before locating fresh thyme! Taking inventory on these items early guarantees that you'll have one less thing to worry about amidst the chaos of preparing the meal. What ingredients do you plan to shop for ahead of time?

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Thanksgiving Tip: Select a Menu

partysugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:11:43 -0800

With Thanksgiving a couple of weeks away now is a good time to plan your menu. I planned mine over the weekend. Here are some things one should take into consideration when deciding what dishes to serve on the big day.

Start by choosing a theme. Traditional to modern, Italian to Southern, the possibilities for a menu's theme are endless.
Search a wide range of sources for recipes that match your theme.
Know your guests. If one friend is allergic to peanuts and another is a vegetarian, respect these dietary needs by serving dishes that everyone can enjoy.
Several vegetarians in attendance? Think about serving a vegetable entree that's a hearty alternative to turkey.

For the rest of my tips, read more.

Combine new dishes with classic favorites. Every year my brother insists that I make the same pecan-topped sweet potatoes. I oblige and experiment with new recipes for the mashed potatoes and turkey.
Think about the texture and color of the food. The dishes should be pleasing to the eye and palate.
Avoid over-using a single ingredient. If you make wild rice stuffing with goat cheese, don't serve a spinach salad with goat cheese or goat cheese stuffed mushrooms.
Look at the cooking technique of each dish. Because the turkey will occupy the oven, make sure some items can be made on the stove, grill, or in a slow cooker.
Choose recipes that make sense and use seasonal ingredients. Caprese salad - as delicious as it is - does not belong on a Thanksgiving table.
Don't go overboard on the appetizers. Serve enough to tide guests over, but leave plenty of room for the main meal.
Consider your kitchen space and cooking gadgets. If you don't have a food processor, stay away from a pumpkin soup that must be pureed.
Ask your family to get involved! This year my sister came to me and said she was ready for more responsibility than mashed potatoes. She wants to make a dessert, so I said, go ahead.

How do you select a Thanksgiving menu? What will you be serving this year?

Tyler Florence Makes the Ultimate Dinner

partysugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:19 -0700

At Tyler Florence's demonstration at the NYC Wine and Food Festival, Florence taught the crowd how to make the ultimate birthday dinner. It was the exact dinner he made for his wife on her birthday! The boyishly handsome chef has had a busy year. Not only did his wife give birth to a baby girl, but he also released two new cookbooks, opened a kitchenware store in Northern California, and filmed an upcoming season of Tyler's Ultimate, all while making appearances and doing demonstrations.

His special dinner menu - which is ideal for the holiday season - consisted of beef tenderloin with Béarnaise sauce, Brussels sprout and fingerling potato hash, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. To see what Tyler had to say about this menu, read more.

Instead of a regular round cake, Florence recommends making a long, rectangular cake (I loved this idea and am doing it the next time I make cake). Pour the cake batter into a large cookie sheet. Bake as you would any cake. Remove from the oven and cut into three even rectangles. Layer frosting between the pieces.
Beef tenderloin is a great cut of meat when feeding a crowd.
"Color equals flavor." To maximize the flavor of the beef, Tyler sears it in a smoking pan. Then he roasts it in the oven until finished.
Always add fresh herbs. Dried herbs don't do much to a dish. Fresh herbs, on the other hand, make a dish fragrant and delicious.
Be cleaver with garnishes. Florence refers to the process of making food beautiful as "culinary pyrotechnics."
Make the Béarnaise sauce in the blender. It's quick and easy.
For the fluffiest frosting, always stir or mix with a wire whisk.
Take the beef out of the oven when the temperature reads 125°F. While the meat rests, its temperature will rise to 130°F.

What's your go-to menu for special occasions? What do you think of Tyler Florence's menu and tips?

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What Would You Do?

partysugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:20:11 -0700

We've all been in crazy situations, and I want to know how you handle entertaining fiascoes and bad restaurant behavior. I'll present a situation and you tell me what you would do. Here's this week's scenario:

To get to know your best friend's new boyfriend, you decide to host a dinner party with them and some other couples. You serve the food buffet-style to keep the atmosphere relaxed and promote conversation. When the new guy gets in the buffet line, he takes his plate, walks over to the sink, and starts rinsing it with water. Your friends behind him in line stop and stare. What would you do?

To see what I would do in this situation - true story, it happened to a friend! - read more.

I would walk right up to the new guest and ask him what he's doing. It turns out he was warming his plate - which is a little odd for a dinner party - so I would offer to warm his and any other plate in the oven.

How about you? What would you do? Have you ever tried to warm your plate at someone else's house?
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Proof The Office is Almost Back: These New Clips

BuzzSugar — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:50:39 -0700

Guys, do you know when The Office was last on the air? November 15th. November 15th! That's almost five months ago! I mean, I know five months isn't five years or anything, but that's still a super-long time.

Finally, though, there's real proof that the show is about to return to the air: these new promos and clips from "The Dinner Party," which will air at last this coming Thursday. You can probably guess the premise from the title alone: Jan and Michael throw a dinner party, with typically disastrous results. Jim and Pam will be there, as will Angela and Andy - but poor Dwight gets left out of the crowd. On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you?

Here's NBC's promo for the episode:

To check out a clip that Jay Leno played during Steve Carell's visit to The Tonight Show last week, just read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Yummy Link: Kate Walsh's Perfect Party

partysugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:04:51 -0800

In her private life, Kate Walsh - actress and star of Private Practice - is an avid dinner party hostess. In her prescription for the perfect dinner party she praises placecards and Mark Bittman. - Well Fed