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The thought of throwing a party may be daunting, but entertaining 20 people can sometimes be easier than giving a dinner party for 6 people. For a start, there some pretty good pre-prepared party foods (wash my mouth out with soap!) which just require unpacking and shoving into the oven….and yes, I have done it myself on occasion. These can however be quite expensive. For those of us on a budget, the good news is that there are lots of finger foods and buffet dishes which can be easily prepared at home at a fraction of the cost.

Keep the foods light, bite-sized (nothing worse than standing around with a drink in one hand and food in the other which takes more than a couple of bites to finish)  and very importantly, varied – fish, poultry, meat, vegetarian.  

And don’t forget to provide paper napkins if serving anything other than crisps/nuts /olives. Doesn’t have to be fancy…. even squares of kitchen roll will do depending on how formal the do is.

Before deciding on having a party, there are a couple of things you must do to ensure  success. The first is mentioned above: preparation. You don’t want to be in the kitchen half the evening,  so  think     of     food    which    can  be prepared in advance and only require a minimum amount of last minute preparation.

The second is the type of party and menu. This will obviously depend on the number of guests, space available, hot or cold, laid out buffet or finger food which is circulated on trays. Personally, I like a combination which has worked very well for me in the past. Here's an example:

Hot and cold finger food offered to guests as they arrive which can range from simple hot cocktail sausages on sticks to cold canapés or goujons or crudités with dips. The latter are great as they can

be set out before your guests arrive. Even if it’s just crisps, nuts and olives. 

Oh, a word about serving. It doesn’t matter whether your guests will be mainly in one room or floating between rooms, have “eating points” in various places around the room(s) preferably away from doorways. It keeps people circulating and avoids one area getting clogged up with folk trying to get to the eats.

Then comes the main buffet.  The reason I like doing it this way  is because then I’m not faced with a whole evening of traipsing back and forth to the kitchen to re-load the trays. Most parties  involve  people  arriving at various times throughout the evening, but just the words “there’ll be a hot buffet being served at  9pm ” will encourage many of your guests arrive relatively promptly.

Choose the dishes carefully and select hot and cold to make your life easier. Hot can include chicken drumsticks (but do make them a little more exciting – easily done with a good marinade), pasta dishes (keep the pasta short – shells, spirals etc so it can be eaten with just a fork), chilli, Risottos or Pilavs.

Accompaniments should be included and, of course, set out on the main buffet table at the same time but once again, bear in mind that they will probably be eaten one handed, so stay away from things like baked potatoes.

It's also a good idea (if space permits) to have the desserts and/or cheese laid out at the same time...preferably at the other end of the table. You can easily separate them by putting the crockery, cutlery and napkins between the savoury and sweet. Voila!

Happy Partying!