Recently I had the bright idea to throw a little Christmas party. “Wouldn’t it be fun,” I said to John, “to have a bunch of people over for an open house? I can make hors d’oeuvres and desserts and people will come over and some of them will bring their kids and we’ll have a great time.”
But now the weekend is approaching and with it, the date of the party and I’m a little freaked out. My house is not nearly as clean as I thought it would be by now. I started buying some of the ingredients for the appetizers, and I realized that I don’t have any idea how many appetizers I should have per person. I’m not sure how many different appetizers I should make so that people have some variety. And I really, really am not sure what to do about beverages.
The last time I threw a party (aside from my wedding reception, which was catered) I think all we worried about was buying chips and dip and making sure we had a lot of beer on hand. As I recall, that party was not exactly a smashing success. We got a great turnout, but everyone showed up very late for some reason, and I was irritated with one of my housemates so I drank way too much, way too quickly and ended up hiding out in my room throwing up in a trashcan for a couple of hours.
I can guarantee that won’t happen this time, but now I’m concerned about dust bunnies in the corners, clutter under the coffee table, and not making enough food or having enough wine. You know what is not helping? Watching Top Chef on Bravo, which is what I am doing right now. I’m almost positive that the Top Chefs would laugh at my little menu, as none of my ingredients are infused with anything else. I’m not putting any weird combinations together, and I’m not using 15 ingredients for one tiny little creation. I do think my food will taste good, and I know my baked goods will be excellent. So I guess I just have to hope for the best. And be glad that my friends are nice people who won’t be mean if something does go wrong!
Now who can tell me how many glasses of wine I can get out of one bottle? I really don’t know how many bottles to buy.
One standard 750 ml bottle of wine will get you about 4 glasses or so. The general rule I've heard for wine at parties is 1/2 bottle per person, per hour, I think.
When I was working in restaurants, we were always told five glasses per bottle.
As for how much to buy, I'd say that depends an awful lot on the alcohol tolerance of your guests.
This has nothing to do with helping you with your party issues (which I have already assured you will turn out fine!), but do you think Ilan on Top Chef is gay? If not I'd really like him to come be my boyfriend.