Hi Marty Richardson from chefmartyrich.com with a few final thoughts about planning your dinner menu.

Occasion

Season

Reality

The occasion. Right now it is the holiday season. Holiday menus are basically dictated by tradition. Whether it is a national tradition or religious tradition or a family tradition that is what generally sets your menu. If your dinner party is an occasion that is for a guest of honor, like a birthday, anniversary, graduation, something of that sort, make some dishes that the guest of honor likes. That always goes over very well. I know it sounds very basic but keep that in mind. If you are having a party just to have a party, which is the best reason to have a party, then all bets are off. You get to make what you want to make. Just remember who you are inviting and find out if they have dietary restrictions, or if they have allergies, etc., etc. If you are inviting my Dad to dinner, don’t make salmon or he is not going to eat. You want everybody to enjoy your party.

The next topic is seasonality. Go to the supermarket first, before you start writing your menu. Pick up the flier. See what is on sale. You should serve a menu of ingredients that are in season. They will be easily available, most reasonably priced and it is the best quality that you are going to find, all at the same time. Rather than writing your menu and then going to see if you can find all of your ingrdients at the store, go to the store first. See what looks good and then go home and write your menu. That is how I cook anyway.

Have Fun

And the last thing to consider is be realistic. It’s your time, your money, your skill level, your kitchen and who you choose to invite. So, make the party fun for you, first. If you do all these things, even if you are not a good cook, you can still throw a fabulous party. No one says you have to make everything. I don’t. You shouldn’t. You want to be able to have a good time at your own party.

It’s My Party, And I’ll Cry If I Want To

Everybody is going to look at you to gauge how the party is going. If you are all frazzled and sweaty then everybody feels like, “Maybe we shouldn’t have come” or “I feel bad for putting them out”. If you don’t have a good time, other people are not going to have a good time. And that is basically the reality of hosting. Create an experience for your guests and yourself. Don’t forget yourself in this equation.

Pre-Party Planning Prevents Panic

Even if you plan ahead, there may be a crisis and there usually is. It is how you handle that crisis that is going to dictate whether this party is going to be memorable. You can burn the turkey at Thanksgiving, but you can have fun with it. I’m not sure how, but there’s no reason to loose your composure at your own party. If you loose it, then everybody else is not going to have a good time. You can still have a good time. (Almost) everything is salvageable. Everybody makes mistakes.

Stay Cool

Never let them see you sweat. Those are my final thoughts about planning your menu. Tomorrow we are going to go on to setting your table and how to make it look visually attractive. Sometimes everyone fits around your table and sometimes you’ve got a crowd. You got to put people in the corner and in the closets and in the bathroom, whatever. Just so everybody has a place to sit down. Come on back tomorrow and I will have another good video for you. Thanks.