As ABC Radio 774’s Free Ranging Foodie I’ve learned just how differently people approach food. For some, cooking is a joyful ritual; for others, it’s a necessary evil. And thanks to social media, the pressure to have every meal be aesthetically pleasing (and nutritionally perfect) can be overwhelming.
When it comes to entertaining, the pressure people put on themselves ramps up to eleven. After years in hospitality and catering, these are my best tips for helping everything run smooth, whatever the occasion.
SIMPLIFY
Keep it casual. Your friends and family want your company. They’re not here for your cooking expertise
This is not the time to try a new recipe for the first time. Choose a tried and tested menu to make it easy for yourself
Serve nibbles not entrée. This allows for everyone to arrive on their own time scale because we all have those friends for whom time is an elastic concept
I favour buffet style meals as it allows everyone to help themselves to the amount they want as well as avoid any food they can’t, won’t or don’t eat
OUTSOURCE
Delegate – if someone offers to bring something, give them an idea of what you’re making and ask them what they’d like to bring. Maybe give them a category suggestion ie. salad, vegetable side or dessert
Let your friends help if they offer. They could chop herbs, clear the table, load the dishwasher. I’d never expect it but am always delighted when someone wants to assist
Non-cooking friends can pick up ice or fresh bread; entrust the muso friend to look after a playlist
RUN SHEET
Work out your menu with a balance of hot/warm/cold food. Variety is not only interesting to the palate but also means you don’t need to use the oven for everything at the same time
Figure out what you can make/cook ahead (including dressings, sauces, chopping/washing vegetables)
What needs the fridge or can it sit at room temperature?
Make a list of who is bringing what and what oven/fridge/freezer is needed?
Clean the bathroom that guests will be using and make sure kitchen is presentable/sink empty for your friends to plate up, dress salads or even load dishwasher
Decide what’s important to you – is it a fancy table setting? fabric napkins? flowers? someone to serve? – and indulge that one thing. For me, I love using fabric napkins, even when we’re eating off our laps. It makes the event feel that little bit more special
GENERAL
Make sure you have non-alcoholic options easily available eg. flavoured water, shrubs (vinegar + fruit syrup) for soda
Have serving sets and tongs aplenty to hand. They never go astray
Check the weather. Do you need more ice? More soda water? Sunscreen? Spare jackets?
Let your guests know what to expect in terms of the event (Who is coming? Expected duration? Style of meal perhaps?)
Here’s to apéro hour — not a meal, not an afterthought, but a celebration of the small things done well. A drink that feels earned. A snack that sparks conversation. A reminder that joy often lives in the in-between.
If I had to name one habit that makes the biggest difference in how I cook, it wouldn’t be knife skills, fancy equipment, or even the quality of the ingredients. It would be this: tasting as I go.
There’s a school of thought that treats recipes as sacred texts — immutable, untouchable, to be followed exactly lest your dinner collapse in shame. I am not enrolled at that school. I transferred long ago to the far more chaotic (and frankly more fun) institution of Recipes as Templates.