Today we’re going to talk more about hospitality. Last time we talked about how it’s important to be present, and not have it be stressful, but to enjoy the time with your guests. We said that you should have plans for what kind of meals you could make so that it’s not stressful. You can plan a lot in advance. We talked about having laughter and warmth, helping people feel welcome, involving your children in the decorating and the cooking, focusing on your connection with people, prepping ahead, and making it fun for kids as well. We also looked at knowing how to welcome your kids, having some kind of treats in the freezer, micro-hospitality, and et cetera.
Ideas For Build-Your-Own Style Meals With Guests
So, today we’re going to talk about what you can do for food when you have guests over. You can do a tea or a dessert evening, but if you’re doing a full meal, here are some ideas of what’s easy, what works, and what you can do without stress. First, let’s talk about an Italian night. You can do any kind of pasta for this. If you prepare say three kinds of pasta – penne, spaghetti, and one other, and then some toppings, then everybody can build their own meal, and it’s really easy.
You could do a ham and cheese sauce, a bolognese sauce, and a tomato veg sauce like a marinara. There can be grated cheese to put on top. Perhaps you can also have a salad or a garlic bread. People usually ask what they can bring, so somebody could bring garlic bread to heat, and somebody could bring a salad, and then it’s really easy for you to put together. You can make the sauces in advance and keep them in the fridge. The pasta can be cooked just before the event, and then it’s all really easy.
For your decor. You could have a red and white tablecloth with green napkins, or green and white with red. If it’s red and white, you could add some greenery from the garden – anything to make it fun. Also, have a little plate with some Parmigiano Reggiano and a little grater so that people can grate over their pasta. You can do anything that makes it simple and that makes it fun for people. It always breaks the ice to have a build-your-own-meal type of evening.
You could also do a taco night or a Mexican night. You could use soft tacos, corn tacos, hard tacos, or whatever you like – even just your favorite wraps. You could have bowls of toppings – mince with beans, or chili, grated cheese, lettuce, and tomato. You can have some salsa and sour cream. We even use yogurt sometimes for those who don’t like the sour cream as much.
Just have everything ready. Make sure you have the taco bases, maybe even some different options for people to choose from. Here again, you can do the mince and things in advance, and your kids can be involved putting the dishes of toppings out. You can use brightly colored tablecloths, and put on some festive music to give a fiesta vibe. You can even have a little competition for the kids where they name their own taco creations. Your kids can also help label your toppings or serve drinks. This kind of meal is really easy on the host.
Then there’s a build-your-own-burger night. Somebody’s going to be on the grill, whether it’s dad or one of your older sons. You can have different types of burgers – beef burgers, marinated chicken burgers, or crumbed chicken – you can get those from the grocery store quite easily. You could also have different types of rolls like sourdough rolls and sesame rolls. Of course, you also need toppings. These would include “salady” things like tomato, herbs or lettuce, onion, and cucumber. Maybe you can have some bacon. You can have different sauces like tomato sauce, mustard, even cheese sauce, and any kind of mayonnaise that you like. You could add some pickles, or anything you want. I’m sure your guests will enjoy whatever you enjoy.
Then perhaps you can have some chips on the side. You can just get these as a takeout, or warm some from the grocery store in the oven. Those can be your side, and then you don’t have to stress about that. Also, you could do some caramelized onions – whatever people enjoy on burgers.
Hosting a Grill Night
Another fun option for when you’re having people over is a grill night. Everybody could bring their own meat or you could do chicken kebabs and veggie kebabs. You could do bread on a stick – you can look up a recipe. You could grill potatoes wrapped in foil. You could do Greek chicken or burgers, and again, people could bring salads or garlic bread. Eat outdoors, and have some fun music and some kids’ games. That’s a more relaxed evening. Once you’re outside, try not to go inside too much, and then you’ll enjoy the time with your guests.
Obviously, in all these meals, you want to have some drinks ready. You can keep some in your cupboard, and also ask the guests to bring some. Then it’s easy. It’s also good to build up a stock of nice glasses for when you have guests, or paper cups that you can write names on for kids. Perhaps you can get some nice outdoor plates and things for when you’re having a grill. Collect whatever you like to decorate your table with, things like pretty paper napkins. If you’re going to be having guests over often, it’s great to have a bit of a stock of those things.
A Couple More Unusual Options
You could do a dessert for dinner night, or just have a dessert after your meal. It’s great to have toppings – everybody loves to add toppings. The simplest option of course is ice cream or some kind of pudding, like a chocolate pudding or a milky one. Then you just add your toppings. You could have the chocolate vermicelli that you usually put on top of a cake, or rainbow sprinkles, M&Ms or smarties, baby marshmallows, chocolate chips, and even a bit of fruit like banana, strawberries, or coconut – whatever you can think of. You can have some whipped cream to squeeze on top. Then everybody can add their own toppings. Kids can go wild – this is guaranteed to be a hit with them, though I’m not sure about the moms!
Then on a cold winter evening, you could create a bit of Danish hygge. Have blankets out, have some fresh homemade bread or sourdough, and a couple of options of soup. Maybe you can have a vegetable soup and a meat soup, or whatever you enjoy. This is very easy because the soup can be made in advance and then just heated. You can buy or make bread or dinner rolls in advance. Have some soft music, some blankets out, and some places to snuggle. Play some games, get some lovely butter, and do whatever makes you feel cozy and comfortable.
You want to make some of these meals truly your go-tos. Have two or three of them that you like to rotate. Then you already know the shopping list, and you don’t have to overthink it. Your kids will get to know the rhythm, and help more each time.
Hosting Fancier Dinners
So, those ones are more casual options, but you could do a fancier, seated meal. As I mentioned in the previous episode, doing something with courses is always fun. It slows things down, and it helps with good conversation and all that. First, choose an easy vegetable appetizer. You could have haloumi cheese with it to spice it up, or just have a few different vegetable items. You don’t have to do a whole salad, but maybe have some cherry tomatoes, olives, and pieces of cucumber. You could make salad kebabs with those things on them – just something simple.
Then your main would be your meat. You could do a roast chicken with crispy skin and bacon on top, with a nice gravy and roast potatoes. Another option is a simple chicken curry with rice. Make it something that your family enjoys, something that you make easily, and that’s fun. Once a meal has courses, it’s always a little bit elevated. You can either buy or make an easy dessert. This could be an apple crumble, a peach cobbler, or just plain ice cream. You could do the ice cream bar for this.
Just plan in advance what meals are easy for you. Make sure they don’t use too many dishes or too much time. Then plan to enjoy the evening, plan to be relaxed and not stressed, and plan to have fun with your guests. I hope you’re feeling inspired about hospitality. I certainly am – I’d like to do more of that soon. Once you get into the groove, then it becomes easier and easier.
