Hosting

I love it.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE .it.

What’s more I love it when my house and pantry are party ready.

So I’m throwing a party on Friday. I wanted to get to spend some time with the awesome women at church – the womens retreat reminded me yet again how rad these women are. Plus I went to Maan’s birthday a few weeks ago and LOVED spending time with all the Philipino and Chinese girls. It’s just a girls night and because I know all these ladies will just enjoy sitting around and chatting, I only have one back up thing to do if casual conversation runs out. Then today I realized that in the light of not planning anything I would still need to put out some snacks!

So I put on my thinking cap and went through my house and usual party menu to see what I have to serve party guests. I've written before about what I normally do when I'm planning to feed people at a party - so I ran through those ideas.


Savory Snacks

Boursin & Crackers? Check – always keep them stocked for a spontaneous party. This cheese lasts months and if not eaten at a party, Paul can be guaranteed to eat it.

Cheese, Crackers, Meat & Pickles? Check for sure! I always have these on hand.

Chips, Salsa & Guacamole? Part of our veggie staples are avocados and tomatoes, and I always keep salsa and guac mixes on hand. I have some chips from the womens retreat that were never opened so we’re set!

Veggies & Hummus? Check again! I just did our big veggie shop and always buy too many vegetables so I have a plethora of cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms and peppers. Also I always keep a few cans of Chick Peas in the back to turn into Hummus – hopefully I didn’t give them all away to my sister as part of her practical birthday gift.

Sweets

Fudge: I made fudge on Tuesday so I have Peanut Butter Fudge left in the fridge.

Oreo’s: I have a package of oreos in my cupboard from the womens retreat, so I will serve them, either as is or I will dip them in white chocolate. I am undecided.

Lemon Bars: I have a package in my cupboard that I can pull out and bake

Cookies: Again – package ready to be pulled out and baked!


And since it’s just snacks for 15 – 20 women I think that’s probably enough.

I double checked in my head to make sure I had enough beverages – and yes, we had cans of pop, ice tea mix, coffee and tea always on hand. Plus I will pull out my chai concentrate and make Iced Chai’s since it’s been so summery.

And since I’m busy, I realized I’d need to prep the house tonight for tomorrow since I only get home at 6pm and the party starts at 7pm!

Thankfully our house is always mostly party ready.

Our coffee/tea station just needs for water and grounds to be added to the coffee maker, hot water boiled and poured into a thermos and creamers put out at the last moment.

The pops are our storage area, so I grabbed some out this morning and tossed them in the fridge. And Iced Tea is under the coffee area just waiting to be mixed.

This morning I did a walkthrough of the living room for 10 minutes making sure that it was straightened out and that it was party ready in there as well.

Tonight I can add water and grounds to the coffee maker, whip up the hummus and salsa, make the lemon squares and cookies and defrost the sausage.

Tomorrow I’ll just need to mix the chai and iced tea, cut veggies, cut the cheese and the sausage and make guacamole.

The reusable cups are already out next to the big red iced drinks bucket and all the mugs are already hanging next to the coffee station. Napkins are in a drawer close at hand and ready to be pulled out….and voila! A party.