Dinner Parties Made Simple: A Guide to Hosting Successful Dinner Parties.

Tired of Deli Delights? Have Your Golden Arches Fallen?

We can't promise that you will become another "Emeril Lagasse" overnight. But you can learn how to
host a successful dinner party and impress your friends or that "special someone."

Dinner Parties Made Simple covers it all, and makes it easy for you to host successful dinner
parties. You will learn all you need to know to quickly host your first party.

This Guide covers everything from meal planning to that last cup of coffee. And you'll do it by following
the authors simple plan for throwing a successful party.

You will quickly learn:

Why WHO is coming to dinner will determine what to serve.

Why 6 to 8 guests is the recommended "beginner" party.

Setting the table. . .yes, there is a system.

How to plan your menu.

Prepare your shopping list.

Appetizers, main dishes, side dishes. . .oh my!

Timing. . .and why it is important.

And Much Much More

This guide covers all this and much, much more. You will even find sample templates you can use to
prepare your guest list, menu and shopping.

If you are beginning to feel like you need to rent a room to the pizza delivery guy, it's definitely time to
take control!

Of course, the greatest benefit of all is impressing your friends, family or that "special someone." You
CAN learn to host a successful dinner party.

Let's discuss one of the simplest stuff:
Table Setting

You might be thinking, “Why get into table setting? Who can’t set a table?”

Well, that’s a good point, actually. But I figured we would touch on this just in case there is a reader
or two out there that’s never set a table for more than one.

You’ll want to set your table well before your guests arrive. First impressions are everything, so you
want your guests’ first impression to be a good one. Therefore, we not only want to have the table
set, we want it to be set correctly (or as close as we can get it).

There are so many ways to set a table, depending on a number of factors. Formal settings will differ
from non-formal.

Will there be soup, salad, both? Wine? What kind of wine? What main dish are you serving? Bread
and butter?

See what it means? So, we’re not going to kill ourselves, debating over the exact or proper way to
set a table.

We have assumed that your guests (at least during your first dinner parties) will be all friends and
family. If something in the table setting is not exactly right, they’ll forgive you! We will concentrate on
a casual dinner, not
formal, setting.

Tip
Set the table the night before.

This way, there’s one less thing to worry about while you cook.
If this is not possible, then organize your dishes, flatware, glasses etc. so that when it’s time to set
the table, everything is ready at your fingertips! Makes you look like you know what you’re doing . . .

Casual Setting
We’ll start with some general things to remember.

Allow for 24" to 30" for each place setting. This will help avoid over-crowding.

Place settings should be 1" from the edge of the table.

Place silverware in the order of use. What is to be used first is placed farthest from the plate, and so
on.

Knives are placed to the right of the plate, with the knife's cutting edge facing the plate. Spoons are
placed to the right of the plate and to the right of the knives.

All forks are placed to the left of the plate, in order of use. If salad is to be served with the main
course, or if the salad fork is to be used as a dessert fork, it is placed to the right of the dinner fork,
next to the plate.

Some Details
The bread and butter plate is optional at a casual dinner party, so don’t worry if you don’t have them.
If you are planning to use a bread and butter plate, place it to the upper left of the dinner plate and
lay the butter spreader horizontally across the plate, with the blade facing the
plate.

Knives are set to the immediate right of the dinner plate,
blades facing the plate.

A soup spoon, if needed, is set to the right of all knives.

Forks are placed to the left of the dinner plate in the
order of their use, from the outside toward the plate.

Dessert spoons and forks can be brought to the table with the dessert plates.

Water glasses (if used) should be set just above the top of the place knife. The wine glass is placed
slightly to the right of the water glass.

A cup and saucer can be brought to the table along with the teaspoon with dessert.

Place a folded napkin to the left of your forks.

Suggest that you stay away from candles and centerpieces. They may look nice but they can get in
the way of the interaction.

Imagine having to constantly look around the centerpiece to speak to your guests. Again, this is a
personal choice.

Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it. You now know how to set a table in an informal setting.

A formal setting is more extensive, and changes with certain foods.

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