T H E A RT OF
HOSTING
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The Art of Hosting | 1
A Letter From the Editor
H
osting a party can be scary. If you are like me, you love people and think hosting them is a great idea, until you actually have to plan everything. From planning, to cleaning, to shopping, to baking, to cooking, to prepping, to inviting, to hosting—having people over can be overwhelming. I started this magazine in hopes to help other 20 somethings learn the ins and outs, tips and tricks, do’s and don’ts, and hidden gems about hosting that your mom never taught you. Through experience, I’ve learned how to set expectations for your guests and please them throughout the evening while still having a blast yourself. I hope you enjoy the contents of this magazine, and I am excited to continue more publications with more recipes, decorating ideas, and planning tips. It’s party time! xoxo
emily young
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Preparation: Cleaning and Setting Up............... 3
The Preparation: Food and Drink........................... 8
The Party: Classic Party Games............................ 18
The Party: Music Playlists.................................... 22
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the
PREPARATION cleaning & setting up
So, You Want to Host a Party...
B
irthdays, holidays, bridal showers, baby showers, just because, you name it. You can pretty much come up with any reason to host people in your home. Hosting a party sounds fun, but there is a ton of work that goes in to it if you want your guests to feel welcomed and valued. In order to enjoy the party yourself, you have to put a lot of effort in at the front end. There are different things you can do months, weeks, days, and hours ahead to prepare yourself for a successful, stress free time. So, don’t fret. Here are some simple party prepping and day-of tips that will help you have a stress-free evening as the host!
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PRE-PARTY
DURING THE PARTY
++ Serve foods that can be turned in to meals or left over snacks. Also, plan according to various food allergies and label accordingly!
++ Guests like to help! Be willing to accept it when they offer to bring a dish or assist with final touches or cleaning up.
++ Think through the colors of the food you choose. Most people eat with their eyes, so you want it to look appealing! ++ Make pitcher drinks so your guests can help themselves. ++ Wait until after the party to mop your floors—most of your guests are going to keep their shoes on and make it dirty anyway. ++ Focus on clean bathrooms. Your guests will totally appreciate that burning candle and sparkly clean toilet.
++ Play music from the start to avoid any awkward silence. ++ Serve food all night and refill the platters often to keep your guests happy and impressed. ++ Dirty dishes can wait. Enjoy the party and clean up after everyone leaves. ++ Make sure you or someone else is taking photos! ++ Don’t draw attention to something that isn’t up to your standards—chances are, your guests will not notice it unless you point it out.
PA R T Y P L A N N I N G
CHECKLIST ONE MONTH AWAY ++ Decide on a date and time ++ Decide the type/theme of party ++ Finalize the guest list—for a fancier event, send out invitations at this time. If creating a Facebook/casual event, you can wait until 2 weeks out. ++ Figure out your budget
++ Recruit help from family or close friends ++ Create your party music playlist
++ Prepare as many menu items as possible that will remain fresh
++ Create a timeline for the evening/ plan games
++ Set the table, organize the furniture, and put up decorations
ONE WEEK AWAY
PARTY DAY
++ Send a kind reminder to guests to RSVP as soon as possible
++ Make sure your bathrooms are clean and stocked—this is one of the most important tasks!
THREE WEEKS AWAY
++ Complete the rest of your shopping
++ Choose your menu and create a shopping list for food and decorations
++ Start cleaning your house and conquer an area each day leading up to the party
++ Make a timeline for buying/ making food
TWO DAYS AWAY
++ Decide if you need more flatware, silverware, or serving dishes; try to borrow from a friend if possible! ++ Buy alcohol, decorations, and non-perishable food items
ONE DAY AWAY
++ Place any frozen foods in the refrigerator to defrost ++ Wash your serving trays and glasses that may have been stored for a while ++ Do any necessary last minute cleaning
++ Finish preparing the food and drinks ++ Start chilling the drinks about four hours before your guests are going to arrive ++ Finish getting ready after the final cleaning and food prep is done ++ Set up your serving area, special activities (like a photo-booth), and any other final details ++ Turn up the music and enjoy all your hard work!
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MRS. MEYERS CLEAN DAY
H OW T O
S E T T H E TA B L E “The fork, knife, and spoon had a fight. The fork went left because the knife and spoon were right.�
water glass red wine glass bread plate & butter knife dessert spoon & cake fork
white wine glass
salad fork
soup spoon dinner fork
dinner knife napkin salad plate
dinner plate
FORMAL OCCASION The Art of Hosting | 7
H OW T O
S E T T H E TA B L E “The fork, knife, and spoon had a fight. The fork went left because the knife and spoon were right.�
wine glass water glass
napkin
soup spoon dinner fork
dinner knife
dinner plate
C A S U A L G AT H E R I N G 8 | The Art of Hosting
new and only at
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the
P R E PA R Incredible Recipes Without Breaking the Bank
H
ave you ever been to a party that simply has way too fancy appetizers? It is nice to impress your guests, but if what you are offering them is a little “out there,” their hungry selves are not going to be as impressed as you anticipated. It is much more reasonable to make the classic appetizers and desserts everyone loves with a special twist. Your guests will appreciate seeing
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their favorite, familiar food, and you won’t have any leftovers to worry about! Depending on your guests and the occasion, sometimes fancier foods are fine. But we’re going to give you some practical, easy recipes that you can refer back to next time you host some friends over for a game night, birthday party, or other casual event.
R AT I O N
food & drink
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++ Sparkling Mint Limeade ++ Chip and Guacamole Bites ++ Watermelon Aqua Fresca ++ Bacon Wrapped Avocados
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AP PET IZE RS 14 | The Art of Hosting
Bacon Wrapped Avocados Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Servings: 20 slices ++ 10 strips of bacon ++ 4 avocados ++ 1 cup brown sugar ++ 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Heat the oven to 425°F. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and chili powder. Set aside. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
Cut open the avocado and remove the pit. Slice about 3/4″ slices lengthwise through the avocado, and then cut through the middle to cut all of the slices in half so that you have thick chunks of avocado. Cut each slice of bacon in 3-5 pieces and wrap each piece around the avocado. Roll in the brown sugar mixture and place on the baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven to a platter and stick a tooth pick in each for serving.
Chip and Guacamole Bites Prep Time: 20 min | Servings: About 30 bites ++ 2 bags Tostitos scoops chips ++ 1 batch guacamole ++ 1 pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, sliced ++ 1 bunch fresh cilantro ++ Optional: shredded cheese
On your serving platter, spread out the scoop chips, discarding broken ones. Put about 1 rounded teaspoon of guacamole in the center of each scoop chip. Top each with a slice of tomato and sprinkled cilantro.
Caprese Skewers Prep Time: 20 min | Servings: About 15 skewers ++ 1 cup balsamic vinegar ++ Cherry or grape tomatoes ++ Mini mozzarella cheese balls ++ Fresh basil leaves ++ Salt and pepper ++ Toothpicks or Skewers
Bring balsamic vinegar up to a boil in a saucepan, then lower heat to medium and simmer until it’s the consistency of very thin maple syrup, about 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cut tomatoes in half. Thread a mini mozzarella cheese ball, basil leaf (fold in half if large) and a tomato half onto a tooth pick. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with salt & pepper, then drizzle cooled balsamic reduction on top.
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DES SER TS 16 | The Art of Hosting
Cinnamon Buns Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Servings: 12 For the Dough
For the Filling
++ 4 cups of flour
++ 1 cup light brown sugar
++ 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
++ 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
++ 2½ teaspoons baking powder
++ 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
++ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
++ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
++ ½ cup granulated sugar ++ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature ++ 2 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
For the Glaze ++ 1 cup confectioner’s sugar ++ 1 tablespoon milk
++ 1 cup milk
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease the wells of a standard twelve-cup muffin tin and set it aside. In a large bowl, place 3 1/2 cups (490 g) of the flour, the xanthan gum, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the granulated sugar, and whisk well. Add 6 tablespoons of the butter, the eggs, and the milk, and mix until the dough comes together. The dough should be smooth and relatively easy to handle. If the dough seems sticky, add more flour by the tablespoon and knead it in with well-floured hands until the dough is smooth. Turn the dough out onto a piece of lightly floured unbleached parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough lightly with extra flour and roll it into a 12-inch by 15-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick (no thinner). Trim any especially rough edges. Make the filling. In a mediumsize bowl, place all of the filling ingredients and mix to combine well. With a small offset spatula or large spoon, spread the filling in an even layer over the top of the rectangle of dough, leaving about 1/4 inch clean around the perimeter. Starting at a short side, roll the dough away from you into
Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons Prep Time: 45 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Servings: 8 Macarons For the Cookie
For the Filling
++ 3 egg whites, room temperature
++ 8 oz cream cheese, 1 package
++ ¼ cup sugar
++ 1 cup powdered sugar
++ 1¾ cup powdered sugar
++ 2 tablespoons milk
++ 1 cup superfine almond flour
++ Strawberry jam
++ 3 drops red food coloring
Preheat your oven to 285°F. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Keep beating and slowly add sugar until stiff peaks form. Sift powdered sugar and almond flour over the egg whites. Fold the dry mixture into the egg whites. Make sure not to over mix or the macarons will not rise. Once the batter reaches a lavalike consistency, transfer half the batter to another bowl and add the food coloring. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix! Working quickly, put the white and pink batters into separate sandwich bags. Cut the corner off of each bag and squeeze the two batters evenly into a larger gallonsize bag or piping bag to create the multicolor effect.
a tightly formed roll. Slice the roll in cross-section into twelve equal pieces, each about 1 inch thick. Place each roll in a well of the prepared muffin tin. Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the rolls begin to turn golden brown and the filling starts to bubble out of them. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until the rolls are firm enough to handle (about 10 minutes), then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Be sure to remove the rolls from the muffin tin before they are completely cool, or they will begin to stick to the muffin tin. While the rolls are cooling, make the icing. In a small bowl, place the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix well until a thick paste forms. Add more milk by the 1/4-teaspoon, mixing to combine well, until the glaze falls off the spoon slowly, in a thick but pourable glaze. Add milk very slowly, as it is much easier to thin, than to thicken, the glaze. If you do thin the glaze too much, add more confectioners’ sugar a teaspoon at a time to thicken it. Drizzle or spread the icing on the cooled rolls before serving.
Let the cookies rest for 30 minutes to an hour, until they are no longer wet to the touch and a skin forms on top. While resting, make the filling by mixing the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and milk in a bowl until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside until ready to fill. When the cookies are dry to the touch, bake for 13-15 minutes until they have risen to form a “foot.” Let rest for 10 minutes before filling. To fill, pipe a circle of the cream cheese mixture around the edge of one cookie and place a small dollop of jam in the center. Sandwich with another macaron. Macarons are best kept refrigerated until serving.
Pipe 1½ inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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DRI NK S 18 | The Art of Hosting
Sparkling Mint Limeade Prep Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 12 drinks ++ 1 cup Torani Mint Mojito syrup ++ 1.75 liters Simply Limeade ++ 2 liters of Sprite
Mix syrup, Limeade, and Sprite together. Add in slices of limes as desired. Garnish glass with mint leaves and sugar on the rim.
++ Fresh mint leaves ++ Fresh limes
Blue Raspberry Lemonade Prep Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 12 drinks ++ 1/2 cup Torani Blue Raspberry syrup ++ 2 liters sparkling lemonade
Mix syrup and lemonade together. Add raspberries as desired. Garnish cup with a lemon slice and enjoy!
++ Fresh lemons ++ Sugar
Watermelon Agua Fresca Prep Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4 drinks ++ 2 cups watermelon chopped ++ 1 lime juiced ++ 2 tablespoons simple syrup
In blender, process watermelon, lime juice, simple syrup, and water. Pour into chilled glasses with ice. Garnish with mint leaves.
++ 1 cup water ++ Mint leaves to garnish ++ Ice
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the
PA R T Y
games & music
D
epending on the type of party you’re hosting and who your guests are, games are usually a fun, go-to choice. Especially if your guests are more quiet and need some prompting to come out of their shell. Board games, card games, word games, themed games, family friendly games, adult games, you name it. On top of your typical board games you can find at the store, there are some super creative, free, and easy games to play! Listed are some of the most popular, classic party games and their instructions.
FISHBOWL ++ Start by separating everyone into two equal teams. Each player will then take three strips of paper and write a word or familiar phrase on each piece. Players will have to guess the words or phrases later on, so they shouldn’t be too obscure. Each player then folds their pieces of paper in half and places them into the fishbowl. ++ The taboo round is first up. The starting team selects a player to go first. The 1-minute timer will start as soon as the player picks a piece of paper from the fishbowl. The player will then use words to get their team mates to guess the word or phrase that is on the paper. If the player thinks the word or phrase is too hard, they can “pass” and put the paper back into the fishbowl. ++ Each team continues to take 1-minute turns until all of the pieces of paper have been removed from the fishbowl. When the fishbowl is empty, each team tallys their score, fills the fishbowl with the pieces of paper and moves onto round 2!
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++ The next round is password. The player reading the paper can only use one word to describe the word or phrase. So, if the word is “Cheeseburger” this time they may use a single word like “McDonald’s” to describe it. The team needs to remember the words that were mentioned in the first round and use the “password” as a hint. The teams continue to alternate with 1-minute rounds each, then the pieces of paper are tallied and placed back into the fishbowl. ++ The next round plays out in the same way, with each team taking their one minute turns. The main difference here is that player with the paper cannot speak. They must use physical gestures to communicate the word on the paper. At the end of the game, the team that has the most points from all three rounds is declared the winner!
FOUR ON A COUCH ++ Fun, strategic memory game perfect for medium to large groups! The goal is to get four of your team mates on the “couch.” ++ To begin, mark four chairs or an actual couch as the “couch.” Four people can start in these seats, and everyone else can sit in a circle on the ground or unmarked chairs. ++ Split everyone into two equal teams (usually easiest if you split by gender), and add one empty seat to the right of the couch in the circle. When starting, each participant needs to sit next to his/her opponent on both sides (alternating team members), including the four people on the “couch”. Hand out small pieces of paper and pens to each person. Ask everyone to write
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their names on their piece of paper and to put their pieces of paper in the bag.
Two must be true statements, and one must be false.
++ After this, pass around the bag and ask everyone to draw one piece of paper with someone else’s name on it. Each person should read their own piece of paper without letting anyone else know what his or her paper says.
++ For each person, he or she shares the three statements (in any order) to the group. The goal is to determine which statement is false. The group votes on which one they feel is a lie, and at the end of each round, the person reveals which one was the lie.
++ Explain that the goal of the game is to get four of their teammates on the couch. The person on the right of empty chair/spot calls the name of a game participant. The person whose piece of paper has the called name sits in the empty chair. Whoever sits on the right of the new empty chair calls out another name. Continue this pattern. The first team to have four of their members on the couch wins the game.
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE ++ A classic get-to-know-you icebreaker. Ask all players to arrange themselves in a circle. Instruct each player to think of three statements about themselves.
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SIGNS ++ A simple party game involving stealth, silliness, and not getting caught! Players seated in a circle attempt to “pass” a sign (hand motion or gestures) to each other while a guesser tries to catch the person who currently has the sign. ++ After each person chooses a sign unique to them yet easily detectable by others (waving your hand, scratching your nose, patting your head, sticking your tongue out, etc) he or she demonstrates their sign to the rest of the group.
++ To play a round, choose one person to be the “guesser.” Have the guesser close their eyes while the group silently choose one person in the circle (randomly) to be the person who begins with the sign. ++ Player 1 (who starts with the sign) now “has” the sign, and his/her goal is to “pass” the sign on to any other player without being caught by the person in the middle. To pass the sign, Player 1 must perform his own sign and then any other player’s sign. ++ The process continues, while the guesser (the person in the center) attempts to catch a player who currently has the sign. The guesser constantly looks all around the circle, trying to detect any movements. The guesser is allowed 3 guesses. To guess, he or she points to one player and asks, “Do you have the sign?” If he or she is correct, then the guesser wins the round and the person caught with the sign becomes the new guesser. If he or she makes three wrong guesses, then the guesser loses the round.
MUSIC FOR EVERY MOOD.
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C U R R E N T FAVO R I T E S No matter what time of the day you are entertaining your guests, music is a necessity. We have put together some of our favorite current tunes for a few different occasions to help get your creative juices flowing. Your guests, specifically those who arrive first or might be more shy, will appreciate the thought you put in to a good, fitting playlist. Use these songs to make your own, fuller playlist!
Brunch Tunes
Chill Vibes
Dance Party
Perfect for those early morning guests.
Ambient board game, small talk music.
Glad it’s Friday? Us too.
++ You Are the Best Thing | Ray LaMontagne
++ Sunset Lover | Petit Biscuit
++ Tonight | Don Diablo
++ Electric | Alina Baraz, Khalid
++ Rhythm Is A Dancer | Breathe Carolina
++ Memories | Petit Biscuit
++ God’s Plan | Drake
++ No Sleep | Trinix
++ The Middle | Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey
++ Ocean Eyes | Billie Eilish, Astronomyy
++ Joy Rides | Mutemath
++ Mirage | Møme
++ God Save Our Young Blood | BØRNS
++ Pacing | Tep No
++ The Ways | Khalid, Swae Lee
++ Saved | Khalid
++ Havana | Camila Cabello, Young Thug
++ Young | Vallis Alps
++ Crazy In Love | Beyoncé, JAY Z
++ Warm On A Cold Night | HONNE
++ DANCE | DNCE
++ Drive | Oh Wonder
++ My My My! | Troye Sivan
++ Trouble | Ray LaMontagne
++ Wait | crwn, Jess Connelly
++ Issues | Julia Michaels
++ Smooth Sailin’ | Leon Bridges
++ Rosalyn | Jordy Searcy
++ Butterfly Effect | Travis Scott
++ Harvest Moon | Poolside ++ Everywhere | Fleetwood Mac ++ Love and Happiness | Al Green ++ The Walk | Mayer Hawthorne ++ Next To You | Poolside ++ Crazy Love | Van Morrison ++ Lovefool | The Cardigans ++ Feel It All Around | Washed Out ++ You Make My Dreams | Daryl Hall & John Oates
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T h e A r t o f H o s t i n g M a g a z i n e | Vo l u m e O n e | I s s u e 8
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