Do you ever throw dinner parties in your home?

My worst memories was of a Beef Wellington that arrived at table at midnight. My French hosts were drunk, I was exhausted, stuffed full of brie and had a bad headache.

And there were the beef fondue parties of the late fifties and early sixties. It was important that some hot oil squirt into your guests’s eyes.

I’m no help. Sorry. I am a veggie and no longer like cooking.

I actually forgot what we cooked, but we invited all kinds of groups to the dinner party. It was great because as hosts, we kept everyone doing stuff – to include a wierd little game.

Don’t remember what it’s called, but we put a secret word under everyone’s plate. Before we started eating, I announced that everyone had a word under their plate and they have to try to say it without getting caught. It was pretty fun I’d say.

My favorite was a hanger party for Christmas. We invited friends from all different aspects of our life. We had work friends and all our employees and vendors, we had church friends, we had flying friends, scuba friends, and neighbors. We even invited the fire department a few hangers down.
We made it a family party too and envited everyone to bring their children.
We told them to mring a $10 to $15 gift for their kids so Santa could deliver it.
It was the year oxygen bars came out so we had an oxygen bar and some active games for the kids.
Santa flew in and was followed by a fire truck with lights blaring.
It was exhausting because although I bought food I didn’t have caterers to serve so keeping the buffets full was tough. The bar was self serve and I made sure people were keeping the teenagers out of it.
That party was several years ago and I still have people (some I don’t even remember) thanking me and telling me that it was the best Christmas party they ever went to.

When i was with my former girlfriend we threw a cooking-night every month.
Together with my brother and his girlfriend and my girlfriend’s brother and his girlfriend.
Every month in someone else’s house, the hosting couple being the cooks.
We did three or four courses, and after dinner we drank.
And drank.
And play games.
And talked.

I once made “alligators” made out of bread (with teeth) and in the mouth of the beast i put chicken.
It’s belly was filled with potato-salad.
I got lurve for that :-)

Since my girlfriend was the main contributor to our meals i had to star in dish-washing.

@NowWhat; I love the idea of the secret word. I’ll steal that one!

@rebbel Dude thats what we did too, but props to you- we never explored making stuff like alligators with the food

Back when Ben and I used to both live in SF we’d have Monday night dinner parties since it was Equity day off. We’d get 6–8 people (the size of my dinner table), but we’d try and hand select between our circles of friends so that it’d be an interesting night but no one would feel alone or uncomfortable. It was quite a success.

My favorite was when we decided to make the main course pizza—but we made the dough ahead of time and let each person choose their own toppings. It was really, really fun.

@NowWhat Yeah, i am a little daredevil, i am.

http://www.celebrations.com/dinnerparties-games

yeah alot…...im really annoyed but my parents do that so that our family bond with our relatives remains strong…..pheeuw! its very hard for me to set the table…

So far I haven’t thrown any kind of dinner party but I have one planned for a couple of weeks time for four of my friends.The best part of it is, I’m not cooking! One of my friends is cooking (sausage, mash and onion gravy if you are interested!). It will be in my flat but I have been banned from cooking (because apparently no one is safe when I cook!). Is that cheating?!

I do it all the time. I invite people over, then come up with something easy to make (or something that I can prepare earlier in the day and just warm up when they get here). Most of the time though my friends are just geeks who come to play board games and bring along some crisps and coke, or we order pizza.

Our last dinner party was right after we moved here at the end of May. Our friends came for the weekend before we had even unpacked completely. We ate at a card table. I made sauteed Chesapeake Bay softshell crabs with thai green curry seasoning, corn on the cob and roasted asparagus. It was very summery and delicious.

I like to do lamb tagine if my guests are known to me to be fairly adventurous eaters.

My favorite dinner party I ever threw was when back in my corporate days I bought a catered dinner for eight at a charity auction. I loved working with the chef on the menu. We went mediterranean with a torta rustica as a main dish. There was a salad and appetizers (simple like cheese and olives.) (memory is a little foggy on exactly what the sides were.) Dessert was a chocolate hazelnut pavlova. Best of all, all I did was enjoy my guests.

Right after college I was living with a friend, and we had a HUGE kitchen in our apartment. So we started having pot luck dinner parties about once a week – all our friends came by with food.

I don’t have formal dinner parties often, but I often have people here to eat. Usually it’s takeout, but I’ve cooked before.

@andrew: You stole my story! When I lived in SF, some friends frequently invited me and then-boyfriend over for dinner. My favorite nights where when they made dough ahead of time, and we were responsible for toppings. We’d do lots of little pizzas topped with caramelized onions, artichokes, fresh herbs from their garden, or my favorite, an egg cracked on top.

It was so fun I brought the tradition down to OC and had some friends over for homemade pizza night a few weeks ago. It was almost like being back home.

When my husband was healthy we used to have big parties in the summer that revolved around beer, my husband’s famous Teriyaki Brisket, and lots of wading pools for kids. As the kids tired out and were taken home, the kidless folks would sit around chatting and admiring the sunset.

We also used to have Pancho Villa parties, where every guest had some sort of tie to Pancho Villa. One friend’s grandfather owned the candy store in El Paso Villa used to patronize. Another friend’s great grandfather was executed by Villa. My grandmother’s laundry was stolen by Villa’s men so she faced him down and demanded the clothing back, and so on.

We don’t like “formal” parties. We prefer parties where some kids might be there and maybe we end up with a few extra guests. We also like parties where everyone brings ingredients and we all get together in the kitchen and cook. One of the best of those was when a friend’s fiance came down from Chicago and cooked Chicago-style pizza (and set the oven on fire) and a number of Greek goodies. Another great one was when a bunch of us got together and made different Indian dishes.

I love having friends over for dinner, and my very favorite memories are of our fondue parties. We make a huge pot of cheesy, delicious fondue, with toasted bread cubes and sliced up fruit (apples pears, grapes) to dunk in it. Then, if we’re feeling really ambitious that night, we do a chocolate fondue for dessert, with more fruit (strawberries, bananas, pineapple), angel food cake, marshmallows and pretzels to dunk in the chocolate.

Fondue is a really great ice-breaker, if you have friends who don’t know each other well – the fun (and challenge) of crowding around a fondue pot and not dropping the food off your fork and into the cheese definitely brings people together like nothing else!

i’ve always thought of dinner parties as something that the rich and formal did, though i absolutely know that isn’t completely true. when i get older and a house of my own though, i totally want to have some of these dinner parties. they sound so lovely. and i love decorating and little events and whatnot. these stories are all so interesting, i love reading them! (:

I’ve had and attended a large assortment of dinner parties, starting when I was a teenager. My friends and I would all get dressed up and have a formal sit-down dinner… and then proceed to drink Black Label beer! In my adult years, our dinner events changed. Most frequently now, we have a few good friends or relatives over for a casual meal (usually prepared by my husband – yay!). A big pot of chili and bowls full of all assorted toppers is always a crowd pleaser.

My favorites, by far, have always revolved around holidays. We’ve always opened our home to friends – and friends of friends – who might otherwise have a dinner for two (or alone). When I was married to a Jewish man, our Passover Seders were often attended by more Christians and Atheists than Jews! It was a great way to learn about traditions most are unfamiliar with. Christmas dinner always included friends and their families, occasionally Thanksgiving, too (including the time the marshmallow topped sweet potatoes burst into flame). These days, my second (and final) husband and I host a huge Easter dinner/party. Everyone is invited, including my ex-husband. A great time is had by all. Don’t tell anyone, but this usually involves copious amounts of alcohol.

I used to have full tables of 10–15 people almost weekly and really enjoyed it.

With a name like hungry, I don’t doubt it! ;-)

Yes, every chance I get. I love to cook, and I love to have large family gatherings. My children and grandchildren are now adults and bring additional people to the settings. My son and his wife, their two sons, her mother, her grandmother, my adult grandson and his friends. I love it.

@augustlan It’s comforting to learn that someone else besides me has had dinner party food burst into flame. It lends a bit of extra excitement to the proceedings, don’t you think?

I recently had a picnic supper for 30 people at a public band concert. I took the day off to cook, made really wonderful food, and hauled it all to the park where the concert was. I had fun cooking, and everyone enjoyed the food and music.