Organizing Your Dinner Party

When I first started throwing dinner parties, I spent an awful lot of time being excited about what was on the menu. Something with Foie Gras?! YES! Ooooh, tempura bacon! A night of cheese and tapas???? All of these thoughts plus a bottle of wine could easily provide me with a night of fun. However, what I didn't spend a lot of time on was how long it might take me to actually COOK everything... and plate it. Thank god my friends and family are kind. And patient. It was many a dinner party that didn't sit down until 10pm! The biggest complaint was my guests saying I spent too much time in the kitchen and not enough time with them. Then came school! One of the best things I learned in culinary school was time management. It's not an overnight fix, but, it's a start. Whether at home, teaching class or private cheffing, I make a complete production list telling me which items I can make in advance as well as the order in which I should make them. This helps to keep me from forgetting things. Forgetting to make bacon (me forgetting bacon, I know I know)for my BLT bites was a quick reassurance that I needed my lists. I use multiple timers and alarms. My probe thermometer that goes into the oven the same time my roast does keeps me from burning my main course! I set up multiple alarms on my iphone to keep me on track too. My last piece of advice... if you're easily distracted, limit the amount of things going on in the kitchen while you're cooking. I have a small tv in my kitchen at home and I LOVE to watch movies while I cook. However, I learned I can only put in movies that I can listen to as opposed to watch. It once took me an hour to make mashed potatoes because I was stuck in a Lord of the Rings marathon. I also can't put in peppy music. I end up dancing and singing around my kitchen as though I'm in a bad 80's montage. Catching a reflection of myself dancing with a raw chicken to Annie Lenox's "Walking on Broken Glass" was both hysterical and disturbing. I now listen to classical music when I cook.