Five Hosting Tips for the Holidays
Five Hosting Tips for the Holidays is a simple guide to make your entertaining at home feel like a breeze. These five simple steps will set you up for success by providing guidance on what to serve to curating your guest list to activities!
I recently returned from my seventh Fresh Air Retreat! Hard to believe I’ve co-hosted so many food blogging retreats with the incredible Liz of The Lemon Bowl.
In case you want to walk down memory lane, we’ve traveled all over the country: Scottsdale, New Orleans, Park City, Austin, Miami and recently to vibrant Palm Springs.
Fresh Air Retreat is a unique experience where high-level influencers and sponsors come together in a private home to connect, learn and of course, eat delicious food. As a co-host, I’ve learned so much about entertaining at home that I wanted to share my expertise with you so you can plan and host a seamless party.
With the holidays arriving soon, I wanted to share Five Hosting Tips for the Holidays. These tips will not only set you up for success, but leave you wanting to host more parties. BECAUSE! Parties should be fun and as a host you should get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Ready to dive in?
#1: Guest List is KEY
This may sound like a no brainer, but it’s the foundation of any party you host. Think about your circle of friends and who gets along, who’s funny, who would help make people feel comfortable, who’s dropping interesting factoids, etc. The mix of these people will help elevate and keep people engaged. You don’t want to invite people who are Debbie Downers or bring drama.
Case in point: I must say our Palm Springs retreat had a fantastic lineup of attendees. These ladies were not only incredibly charming but brought a wealth of knowledge so everyone could learn and continue to grow their businesses.
- Liz Della Croce (The Lemon Bowl) known for my authentic Lebanese hummus with toasted pine nuts
- Lauren from The Curious Plate known for her French dip pinwheels
- Ansley from The Fit Peach known for her lemon baked salmon
- Christina of Dessert for Two known for her easy pumpkin bread
- Jean from What Great Grandma Ate known for her Italian sausage soup
- Jordan of JZ Eats known for her baked chicken tenders
- Lexi of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen known for her meal prep frozen burritos
- Molly from What Molly Made known for her boursin mashed potatoes
- Sarah of Live Eat Learn known for her marry me butter beans
- Shelly from Cookies and Cups known for her copycat Crumbl cookies
#2: Ready to Serve Cocktails & Appetizers
Our number one rule at Fresh Air Retreat is to always greet a guest with a refreshing drink and something to snack on. Whether it’s water, coffee, wine, cocktail or a charcuterie spread. You want your guest to feel welcomed and nothing relaxes folks more than a festive drink and elevated snacks.
The folks at California Walnuts had happy hour dialed in while in Palm Springs. We had the chance to sip a festive mocktail – Pomegranate Spritzer that was batched ahead of time which is a great tip when serving drinks to a large gathering. Besides the refreshing mocktail we also enjoy a make-your-own-charcuterie board featuring 3 different spiced walnut recipes created by Chef Trimell. My personal favorite was the honey lime!
The great thing about walnuts is there are endless opportunities to incorporate seasoned walnuts into your favorite dishes for holiday entertaining. Pairing walnuts with your favorite seasonal flavor profile is a great way to elevate any holiday charcuterie board, and more!
#3: Flexible Menu
When it comes to serving meals, I highly recommend being flexible depending on your guest list. If you’re serving a larger crowd, I would lean towards a family style meal. If you’re serving a smaller guest list, I would recommend doing a plated experience. Either one is completely approachable as long as you have an idea of what you are serving. Below are a few easy to serve your guests whether for breakfast, lunch or anything in between!
Family-Style Menu:
One of our generous sponsors Albertsons hosted two different family-style options featuring their brand, Signature Select. First up was a meze of breakfast options to make a DIY protein bowl. I went all in starting with Garlic & Herb Potatoes, eggs, Signature select convenience sliced fruit, and salsas for a scrumptious bowl to start the day.
Besides breakfast we also had the opportunity to make a snack bowl with their Afternoon Picnic-Me-Up. This was a great way for attendees to grab and assemble their own snack bowl consisting of Signature Select pre-made Chopped Salads, nuts, hummus & crackers, veggies, and of course, seasonal ice cream sandwiches. I’m already thinking of how to incorporate Signature Select products into my kitchen to help save me time!
Signature Select is available only at Albertsons Companies’ family stores including: Safeway, Albertsons, Tom Thumb, Jewel-Osco, Acme Markets, Shaws & Vons.
Plated-Menu:
If you’re looking for more of an intimate style breakfast when serving your guests try a plated menu. The folks at Happy Egg delighted us with a four course meal featuring their Happy Eggs – classic deviled eggs, shakshuka, and a banana pudding. In case you didn’t know, Happy Egg hens require a minimum of 21.8 square feet of range for every bird, which equates to 10 acres per 20,000 birds.
Also, inside every Happy Egg, you’ll find a rich amber yolk; every egg has a quality you can see, and a difference you can taste. I really appreciate that they support small family farmers and currently work with 103+ small family farms throughout the midwest. Make sure to check out their store locator to see where you can find them in your area!
Another option for serving a plated meal is at lunch. We were spoiled by the Onions 52 folks who work with farmers to supply quality onions 52 weeks a year! Incredible!! They are dedicated to using sustainable farming practices to ensure the quality and environmental responsibility of every onion. They pride themselves in quality products and have even developed a “Smiley” sweet onion that is virtually tearless! Pretty cool, huh?
It has taken over 40 years to roll these naturally tearless onions out, but Smileys are grown to be sweet and mild, transforming any dish into an enjoyable culinary experience without the discomfort of watery eyes. These onions develop their unique sweetness as they mature, making them versatile and perfect for both raw and cooked dishes.
Curious, what we ate? Well, Chef Trimell curated a full onion experience where we dined on: fresh pico, a flight of tacos, grilled onions and veggies, and finished with a sweet onion pudding.
#4: Master of Seating
Going to a party and having nowhere to sit can be a mood killer. You want to create space (if you can) to have a few sitting options starting with breakfast to lunch to cocktail hour to dinner. It helps keep the event flowing if people can transition to different areas. If you don’t have the space, just make sure there are enough seats for folks to sit down and eat a meal!
What was great about Palm Springs was the option to split tables or make one long table. Having the flexibility to display food or simply sit was a game changer!
Also, even though we did a lot of eating, a majority of our time was centered around mini business sessions. Our seating arrangement with Grocers List (another wonderful sponsor) in the living room where we could chat about tools we can use to incorporate into our websites and social media strategies was invaluable!
#5: Activity
Guests are kind of like kiddos, they need one small thing to do while at a party. It could be a simple game like playing jenga, putting their feet in the pool, game of corn hole, or an interactive experience like making their own s’mores! People do better when they have a small task to accomplish that’s fun!
Case in point: we had the local California Date Commission come in and do a date flight taste test. Who knew there were so many different kinds of dates? Fun fact: a single date has the same amount of potassium as 4 bananas.
****HUGE THANKS AGAIN to our incredible sponsors: California Walnuts, Happy Egg, Onions 52, Albertsons/Signature Select, Grocers List, and California Date Commission. Also, thank you to our wonderful attendees who made the journey and who I now call best friends! Thank you to Amanda who captured all these amazing photos and to our in-house executive chef, Chef Trimell for keeping us well fed! Until next time!***