Fabulous Food

Fabulous Food - Yummy Menu Planning Tips
Fabulous Food & Yummy Menu Planning Tips …

Party Idea Pros is pleased to offer menu planning tips, menu and cocktail suggestions, and recipe secrets from some of the country’s greatest chefs.

We must be upfront … to Party Idea Pros, a party is only as good as its food. Ok — maybe not quite but you get the point. We do recognize, however, that for some people food matters and for others it truly is a second thought. Even if you are not a “foodie” remember food choices can compliment your theme as well as help set the tone of the evening.

Skip the chunk of dried out chicken breast served with overcooked string beans and rice pilaf. Instead take that same chicken breast, sliced into 2 x 1 pieces and place it on top of a bed of lettuce, lentils, or basmati rice. Then offer your guests an array of garnishments from around the world such as yogurt sauce, curry sauce, fresh basil or cilantro, raisins, coconut, and fresh salsa. With no extra cost you have turned a ho hum meal into an interactive delight.

Party Idea Pros one word of advice … always keep it simple, especially if you are hosting a large event. Try not to get too fancy or too saucy, unless you are are extremely talented in the kitchen. Even then, remember who you are serving. We are members of a gourmet club. Upon being invited to join, I sent out an email asking if anyone had any dietary restrictions. The universal response was “we’re easy” however when I compiled the final list of restrictions, the forbidden foods included: shellfish, pork, beef, chicken, sushi or anything raw, wheat products, sugar, and all white and spicy foods.

Admittedly, we can’t please all the people all the time, but we try to honor individual restrictions as much as possible without destroying the cohesiveness of the concept or the enjoyment of the rest of the guests. In this case we tend to serve a simply prepared fish as the main course but will spice up the evening with lots of interesting appetizers making sure there are at least 2 or 3 items everyone can eat.