Buffet

I really enjoy throwing parties and, even though I say so myself, I make a good job of it. I happen to think that the main reason for this is the food and drink. I always work on the principle that if everyone has enough to eat and drink the other stuff will follow naturally. With Christmas is coming up I thought I'd put my ideas down in print in case they prove useful to anyone else. The sort of party food I am going to talk about is the sort of food for a buffet style meal as opposed to a sit down meal. Obviously your first consideration has to be the number of people for whom you are catering. This is my big problem - I always prepare too much ...

One of my favourite parts of a buffet are Dips..I am a real dippy person and just keep munching away. You can buy ready made dips from most supermarkets in little trays ready to put straight on the table, they usually have three or four different kinds. The lid normally explains which each one is which in my opinion is vital as all the ones I’ve seen or tried look and taste almost exactly the same! I much prefer to make a variety of dips and find the home made versions have so much more taste, and look lovely. There is a huge range of things that you can use to dip. Fresh carrots, celery, sliced green peppers, unsalted crisps, ...

A successful party rests very heavily on whether the hostess THINKS that she has produced a successful party and whether she has enjoyed the party herself. It will not matter how many of her guests SAY they have had a good time, if she feels that the whole thing was a BORING FIASCO AND THE FOOD A DISASTER then that is what it is, in her head. To enjoy herself, (now I know by this time some of the other gender, male, will be thinking, “Does this woman think that the only people to give parties are women? And the answer is “I don’t, it is just that I AM a female and therefore rather than say he/she all the time I will talk about ME” OK?), ...