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Hosting season is upon us! For those who know me, know that this is my time to shine! 😉 From my Annual Halloween Party through to the New Year, I love to take every opportunity to host or join in on someone else’s amazing party. While I’m sure to pop in here with some holiday guest tips soon, today is all about the hosting. Those who are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, Friendsgiving get together, Holiday open house, or Christmas shin-dig, this post is for you. While these tips work well for the holiday season, they really are universal for any home entertaining throughout the year.

6 Essential Hosting Tips for the Holiday Entertainer on KATU Afternoon Live

6 Tips for the Holiday Hostess

  • Invest in neutral serving dishes and service ware that can be used for many different occasions. While beautiful decorative platters absolutely wow, storing them year round can be a pain. While I do have a small collection of holiday-specific items, when it comes to service ware I try to keep it neutral. I collect white or dark wood platters so that they’ll coordinate together no matter the event. I also have sets of tongs and serving utensils in a simple metal so that it goes with everything.

Entertaining Essentials for Serviceware Affiliate Links: 1) Oval Serving Platters 14.5 Inches, 2) Large Serving Bowls – Set of 2 3) Large Serving Platter Set of 3, 4) Classic White Serving Platters – Set of 4, 5) Large Solid Acacia Wood Serving Trays – Set of 3 , 6) Acacia Wood Cutting Board, 7) Acacia Wood Octagon Serving Trays – Set of 3, 8) Mango Wood Serving Platter – Set of 3 , 9) 3-Tier Rectangle Plate Set with Metal Stand, 10) 3 Tier Serving Stand Oval Porcelain Serving Bowl Set, 11) Acacia Wood Cupcake Stand, 12) Acacia Wood Tiered Tray , 13) Serving Utensils Set, 14) Drink Dispensers

  • As the saying goes, you feast first with your eyes! When hosting a buffet, setting up a dessert spread, or prepping a beverage station for guests, avoid the school cafeteria look of everything lined up side by side and instead layer items in with varying heights and depths. While you can absolutely find wonderful serving dishes that are tiered and ready to bring height to your table, they too can be difficult to store when not in use. I often hide sturdy cardboard boxes filled with heavy items or books under the table linens to create the desired height I’m looking for. It adds the interest you’re looking for with no extra cost. The best part about this trick is that it is more customizable than one-size platters.
  • Prep. I can’t say that enough. Even people who throw parties as often as I can get behind on the day of a party. (Thank you to my amazing friends who always pull through and pitch in moments before parties begin!) When hosting a large gathering it is imperative to scale down your day-of plans by either prepping days or weeks before the party or going the store-bought or restaurant-catered route.
    • Before party prep. Many food items can be cooked in advance, frozen or refrigerated, and reheated on the day. This is especially true of many holiday favorites such as green bean casserole, mac and cheese, or sweet potato casserole. When doing something like this, avoid putting on the toppings in the first preparation of the meal. Get everything done and frozen and then heat up nearly til done before adding the topping and finishing it off. It will keep the dish looking and tasting freshly made. Some items can be done a few days in advance and simply refrigerated such as baking pies or making cranberry sauce. Prep doesn’t stop at the food though. Setting the table, serving platters and all, leading up to the event will save precious moments on the day.
    • Don’t fear store-bought! I love preparing home-made dishes for the people I love. I love cooking! However, when planning a large gathering, I generally will choose one to three items that I will focus on to whip up myself and then allow myself shortcuts on other items.
    • The big trick to making store-bought or restaurant-catered feel like it belongs at your special event is plating the items on your own dishes and garnishing them! Store bought pie? Add some cheesecloth or a beautiful napkin around it with some twine to cover the metal tin. Cupcakes? Add an extra cupcake liner! Putting out store bought vegetable platter and dip? Put the dip into a bowl and add the vegetables to your platter, maybe add some sprigs of parsley!
Free Printable Downloads: Thanksgiving Menu – Fillable, Thank You Leftover Tags, & Thanksgiving Food Label Tags | Print on cardstock in full color and cut to borders. Hole punch where marked on tags. Use a PDF reader to fill the text in the fillable Menu.
  • Of course if we are using our neutral serviceware then we will want to put some holiday spirt in somehow. I like to add in my own special holiday twist with linens, printables, home decor items found around the house, and the season’s bounty! In the Fall I’ll pick up extra squash varieties and use them for decor, they’ll make great soups later in the season. Add in some beautiful fall leaves and branches from the yard. In the winter I’ll grab pomegranates and cranberries for pops of red and rosemary or garlands for pops of green.
  • While some may scoff at this next tip as an extra step that may not be necessary, I think it is the one tip I love the most. Guests may have a variety of dietary restrictions or even preferences that would make it helpful to know what they are about to consume. When serving a plated meal I like to add a menu, but when it is a buffet I like to add printable table tents to highlight dishes and main ingredients. This saves me from needing to repeat myself over and over again throughout the evening listing off what items are. It also helps guests feel more comfortable choosing items they know they’ll enjoy or be able to eat.
    • One of my favorite things to do at a potluck with friends and family who enjoy cooking is to ask them to send me their recipe (or send recipe cards to them) so I can create recipe cards for the dishes. I’ll set them alongside the dishes so people can see what is in the meal, but then if they really liked a dish they can take home the recipe to recreate it!
  • Big holiday dinners with family and friends wouldn’t quite be complete without leftovers brought out to enjoy the next day. Give your guests the ultimate gift by providing to go containers for them to fill with their favorites and take home to enjoy. It’s a favor for them and for yourself, because then you have less to deal with in your own fridge! 

I for one am excited about the holiday hosting season, and I hope that with these tips you can get excited as well.

What are your best tips for hosting during the holiday season? I’d love to know! Share in the comments below!

It’s Fall, y’all! And, in the Fall I crave bourbon. For a recent low-key Fall party, I crafted a super simple, but delicious cocktail featuring Broken Top Bourbon, sparkling wine, and apple cider. I put it together on the bar so guests could make their own. However, you could also pre-prep and create a delicious punch! This cocktail would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving table and would also be a tasty addition to the winter holiday season!

This post is in partnership with Cascade Street Distillery. I was provided a complimentary product. All opinions are my own. Thank you for reading and learning more about the companies that support this blog. 

Bourbon Sparkling Apple Cider Cocktail Recipe | A Well Crafted Party

When I say that this cocktail is simple… I mean it. I love a well-crafted cocktail with gorgeous ingredients and garnishes, but I also really value simple (but quality) solutions to hosting events. There are a lot of things happening when you host, might as well make it easy on yourself if you have a great and easy solution! One way to really make this cocktail hit a home run with your guests is by picking really good ingredients. I picked a local hand-pressed apple cider and Oregon-produced, small-batch bourbon that has been aged in charred oak barrels and has notes of caramel and vanilla. Taking extra steps of garnishing your drinks with things like a cinnamon sugar rim, apple slices, or cinnamon sticks will also make this drink extra special.

Bourbon Sparkling Apple Cider Cocktail Recipe | A Well Crafted Party

Bourbon Sparkling Apple Cider Cocktail

Single Glass:

Combine 1.5 oz of Broken Top Bourbon (or your favorite bourbon), 2 oz of chilled apple cider, and 3 oz of chilled sparkling wine in a glass. Garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks, or a cinnamon sugar rim.

Punch: Makes 8 glasses

Note: When making this pitcher cocktail I recommend adding ice cubes made of apple cider rather than water so that the drink doesn’t dilute in flavor as the ice melts. Due to the addition of ice, there is a bit more bourbon than what you’d have in a single glass portioning.

Combine 2 cups of bourbon, 3 cups of ice, 2.5 cups of apple cider, and 1 bottle of sparkling wine in a punch bowl or pitcher. If you are creating a punch bowl then add in apple slices and cinnamon sticks for garnish.

What type of spirit do you prefer in the Fall? Do you have a favorite Fall cocktail? Share in the comment section below!

 

I don’t host Thanksgiving. Instead, I’m very happy to be attending a Thanksgiving with friends and family where everyone brings a dish to share and everyone is an AMAZING cook. I tend to do a lot of parties around this time of year so I don’t have a ton of energy to put into making something super involved for the holiday. Which means, typically, every year I’m bringing the potatoes and cranberry sauce. If those are the only two things I’m responsible for then I’m going to make them DELISH.

Cranberry sauce is often an afterthought to the Thanksgiving meal. However, a great cranberry sauce can elevate a turkey quite well. I have three fall back cranberry sauces that I love to make. Some years, when feeling extra on top of it, I’ll bring all three so guests can have their choice.

Cranberry Sauce for Thanksgiving | A Well Crafted Party

 

Traditional Cranberry Sauce

A traditional cranberry sauce is SO easy to make. You need a sauce pan, cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to make this sauce. Occasionally I’ll add in something like a cherry or orange liquor to give it a bit of a kick.

Ingredients:

  • 1 12 oz bag of cranberries
  • freshly squeezed juice of one large orange
  • 1 cup sugar
  • (Optional) 1 Tablespoon orange or cherry liquor

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally so the sugar doesn’t burn. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until your berries are bursting and the sauce has thickened a bit. The sauce will further thicken once cooled. Serve warm or chilled. It will be extremely hot once finished so wait until it has cooled before tasting. If you feel that your sauce is too thick you can thin a bit with water.

Apple and Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

Sometimes I want a little more texture to my cranberry sauce. Sweet apples are a great contrast to the tartness of cranberries.

Ingredients:

  • 1 12 oz bag of cranberries
  • 2 fuji apples diced (or other favorite sweeter apple)
  • seeds of 1 pomegranate + any residual juices
  • 1 cup sugar
  • freshly squeezed juice of two Meyer lemons

Directions:

Put all ingredients except for you pomegranate seeds into a sauce pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally so the sugar doesn’t burn. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until you berries are bursting a bit and you can put a fork through your apple easily. Add in pomegranate seeds and juice and stir to incorporate. Chill. Serve Chilled.

Cranberry Salsa

This rendition of cranberry sauce is my favorite and is perfect on a leftover turkey sandwich. I tend to like the spicy things in life and will always opt for jalapeño when asked, so if you are similar in your flavor profile think about adding this to you Thanksgiving menu.

Ingredients:

  • 1 120z bag of cranberries
  • 1 to 2 jalapeños seeded (depending on how spicy you want your salsa)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Juice of two large limes
  • 1/2 red onion diced
  • 1 small bunch of cilantro (this is according to taste. I think I had about 1 tablespoon in mine because I don’t tend to love a lot of cilantro.)

Directions:

  1. In a bowl mix your sugar and lime juice together until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Put the cranberries, jalapeños, red onion, and cilantro to a food processor and pulse until incorporated.
  3. Add the cranberry mixture to your lime and sugar mixture. Mix and let sit in fridge covered for 4 hours. The lime juice will soften the cranberries a bit.