| The holidays are past and winter is here. The doldrums of February stretch ahead. There's little to look forward to until Spring appears. What to do? Throw a party!
Here are a few tips to make entertaining easier.
"Never apologize." Julia Child's wonderful adage will save you and your guests a lot of stress, reducing the line between "company food" and "everyday food." Dinner parties are about making a connection with friends, even if the food isn't that polished. So it's OK to serve your friends a bowl of chili, or a grilled cheese sandwich, or even order out for pizza when anything else is just too much.
Chaos is OK. It's more important to check in with our friends over dinner than it is to have a perfectly timed meal, or impeccably sourced organic carrots, or an uncluttered dining room table.
Learn to love room-temperature. You can stop fretting about getting everyone to the table while the food is piping hot. Many foods are delicious after a little rest -- even some pastas. Look for dishes that do well with a little time before serving.
Simplify. Reduce the number of dishes on the table. There's always the next party for trying something new.
Snacks make entertaining easier. A snack can make dinner not coming together right on time seem like a planned cocktail hour. Not an open bag of Cheetos or a fancy tray of hand-assembled canapés, but pantry indulgences for when your timing is off that don't take more than three minutes to assemble: dates with shavings of parmesan, good olives (warmed in the oven if you're feeling fancy), recently toasted nuts and of course, delicious cheese.
Dessert. People like to linger over the table, and dessert -- whether that's a bowl of fruit or packaged cookies passed around the table -- gives you and your guests a moment to breathe. You can keep portioned scoops of cookie dough in your freezer or use very easy cake recipes, like Bundt cake, picnic cake, weekend cake (the kind of cake that's stirred up in one bowl and in the oven in about 10 minutes). But dessert can be anything you like -- it's all about relaxing after dinner.
Outside is a great place to entertain when you can. Nature composts the crumbs, kids can romp, spills can be hosed away later, and everything seems just a shade more festive when eaten in the open air.
Trays are really handy. For busing the backyard table. For defining a snack place on a coffee table you haven't quite organized yet. For providing some pretty bits of color when the table is a little blah.
Say yes to help. You don't have to make it a potluck, but willing friends can make it easier for you to entertain. It's in their interest. So say yes to the proffered wine, or dessert, or best of all, dishwashing help.
Carry on. It's often less complicated to get people to commit to a weeknight dinner party -- there are fewer out-of-town trips and conflicting events. No matter what day you plan to have people over, do it slightly more often than seems convenient. Entertaining definitely gets easier with practice.
[These tips were drawn from Sara Dickerman's post on Double X at
http://www.doublex.com/section/life/tuesday-night-dinner-party-16-key-lessons-learned-slapdash-entertainment] | 
