You can help make your party a success by suggesting that your guests do some preliminary preparation at home, but not cook the whole dish. For example, marinating meat the night before to make sure it's tender and juicy when you need it to be. And of course, you yourself can chop and prepare your dish before your guests arrive.
Pack away all the clutter in your kitchen that you are not going to use – like that 100-square-inch As-Seen-On-TV food dehydrator. The idea is to make as much room as possible for you and your guests to work your magic.
When your guests arrive, point out where some of your basics are, like pots and pans, salt and pepper, and cutting boards. You might also want to check in with them on your stove, since you know best how quickly and efficiently the burners heat up (don't wait until disaster strikes on that one!) Your most important task is to make sure all your guests are comfortable working in your kitchen and that everyone is mixing and mingling.
If you have both outdoor and indoor cooking areas, use them both. This will keep your guests cooking and talking together without stepping on each other’s toes. If you only have one cooking area, no sweat! Just make sure you use all of your surfaces and cooking tools, from the stove to even the microwave.
Tip 2 – Sharing Your Food
To make things even easier, I recommend serving all of your dishes except dessert at once. Since this is a casual event, a comfortable mix of sengWare colors is a great solution, since they can go from freezer to microwave to oven to table and then to dishwasher when you are all done!
To serve all your foods at once, make sure “quick sizzling dishes” like seafood and sauteed vegetables are prepared last. Salad and dressing should be tossed right when everyone is taking their seats. With everyone pitching in, even the host can sit down and enjoy the meal.
Tip 3 – The Cleanup
Another wonder of social cooking is that you don’t end up with a pile of dirty dishes the next day. Encourage your guests to bring their items in re-sealable containers, so that they can pack them up and clean them at home. Then you’ll have extra hands to help load your dishwasher-safe sengWare into the dishwasher and do any hand washing as well.
Social cooking is easy and fun, and the best part (besides the fact that you don’t have to be responsible for everything) is that you don’t sacrifice quality time with your friends and family.
Conversations are always more fun and livelier when people are working together and feel they are part of everything that’s going on.
Next up…we will share some recipe sharing ideas, social cooking do’s and don’ts, our cooking soundtrack, drinks recipes and all kinds of fun stuff. I’d love to hear your ideas for fun, cooking and entertaining too! After all, sengWare is made for individuals…with you in mind.
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