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Entertaining Notions Sections:
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| The holidays were made for buffet-style parties. |
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Whether it's the gang from work, your family, or a neighborhood holiday open house a buffet gives you the freedom to mix, mingle, and even eat!
While buffets are generally less formal than seated dinner parties, that doesn't mean you shouldn't offer your guests a place to sit. If you can round up a chair for everyone, it's a great idea to go the extra mile and set tables with full place settings, so guests don't have to balance full plates and drinks with a handful of silverware. If only partial seating is possible, guests can simply take a place setting from the buffet and find a place to perch. It's best if you provide chairs for no more than one-third of your guests so it is clear you intended for others to simply find a place to perch.
An open house is somewhat ambitious, in that your buffet must be kept fresh and inviting for several hours, as guests drop in. That's why it's best to put out food in small amounts, so you can refill and refresh frequently.
Finger foods, crudités and dips, small sandwiches, individual soup or casserole dishes and a cheese platter make perfect sense. Desserts can be offered on a separate table with coffee nearby.
A few open house tips:
- Stagger the invitations: Invite half your guests from 1 - 3 pm and half from 2 - 4 pm. Your life will be easier (and they'll never know!).
- As a courtesy to your guests who are eating standing or seated, circulate with red and white wine bottles to refill glasses.
Laying the Buffet Table
- The buffet table is the perfect opportunity to be creative with floral arrangements.
- Place the plates at the front of the buffet, so guests can serve themselves, but place silverware at the end of the table.
- It may seem to open up space to push the buffet table against the wall, but traffic will flow better and serving more sociable if guests can use both sides of the table.
- On a buffet table, menu cards are always appreciated. People like to know what they're eating, but don't always feel comfortable asking. Dietary restrictions and personal tastes are better kept private, and your guests will appreciate not having to share theirs.
- Don't make your guests juggle their utensils. Wrap them in napkins and place them in a basket or dish (so they don't roll off your buffet table). Better still, tuck utensils into the flap of a flat-folded buffet napkin to avoid the inevitable calamity of silverware flying out of an unrolled napkin!
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