Prepared for Hospitality – Supplies

Martha Stewart always said being prepared makes accomplishing tasks quicker and easier.  She showed us how to give a Party, but I’m just talking about having someone over.  And yet having just a few supplies will help you be ready without fretting for having guests, whether take-out pizza or your own spaghetti carbonara.  The look of the popular entertaining selections has certainly changed over the years but the functions are the same.  I think it is interesting to see the gifts brides choose for wedding registries to keep up with the trending styles.  A few versatile pieces will be adaptable for many types of presentations.  I just need to remember where I store them.

I’ll start with hot beverages.  Coffee is a gourmet pursuit these days.  But really you just need to be able to produce a cup of brewed coffee.  I prefer a simple method for brewing, but I’m aware that others value the process and taste more than I.  Just have a strategy available at home.  And a hot water source, whether an electric kettle, pan on stove, or microwave cup.  Mugs and cups, not disposable, are of course preferred if possible.  Cold beverages are simpler.  Plastic cups are so convenient and no clean-up (with a sharpie marker nearby to keep names when having a crowd.)  Bottles and cans are easy and disposable.

White and wooden trays and serving pieces are appropriate for serving most any foods.  I will have to agree that white showcases the food, an obvious goal in these epicurean times.  Decades ago I would have suggested silver and china, but now they deliver a vintage style to the spread.  Your food menu will appreciate your selection of different sizes of bowls and baskets.  I’m partial to white and red serveware because red is key for so many holidays, and white, well, for anything.

Finally – silverware and paper goods.  Plastic silverware and paper plates are essentials to keep in stock; also napkins or paper towels.  I find everyday uses for paper plates in my daily cooking and eating, so I usually have a lot around.  Serving spoons and spatulas are useful and somehow I could always use one more.  Real silverware is preferable to breakable plastic, but the no-mess practical solution often wins out.

Stock up your hospitality supplies and you will be more likely to say yes, come on over.  Connect with your heart.