Hosting a meal can be often seen as one of the biggest challenges of owning a home, especially when you’re wanting to make the ultimate first impression to your guests. To find out how to host the perfect meal for your friends and family, we’ve teamed up with Oldrids & Downtown to create this guide on how you can make your guests leave wanting more, focusing on different types of evenings you could host, from game nights to first dates!

Golden rules of beginner hosting:

There are many rules when it comes to hosting for the evening, and these should not be overlooked. Before you go and announce your plans to your guests, you need to do some personal planning of your own. As this is likely to be your first time hosting a meal for your closest friends and family, you need to remove any feeling of being overwhelmed – minimising the amount of people you invite is essential to remove any added pressure and will allow you to test the waters with becoming a host. The fewer guests you invite, the less demand you must cater for – making first-time hosting a breeze.

Making sure you have all the right equipment is vital, the last thing you want is for your guests to arrive and you needing to pop out for a bottle opener! Here is our list of some essentials that never come in wrong:

• Bottle and tin opener.
• Measuring jug.
• Slow cooker (essential to the success of any meal).
• Plates, bowls, cups and glasses.

Knowing what you’re going to cook a few days before the event itself is tremendously important, with this knowledge you will be able to shop for ingredients a few days in advance rather than on the day – where you might find that the ingredients you so desperately need are sold out making you change your entire plans and leave you feeling less confident in the kitchen.

Once you have got the ingredients, you will have a few days to spare before the big day. Use this to your advantage and try a few test-runs to make sure that the dish you’re serving is going to be perfect for when your guests arrive.

You need to have some sort of entertainment planned and background music is a must! Create a playlist that you think will accompany the evening smoothly, whether this is some jazz classics or your favourite songs in the charts to get the party started.

One of the most valued rules of hosting is that when all of your guest’s plates are cleared, including your own, remove them from the table to create a more social area to chat for the rest of the night.

First Dates

First dates can either go one way or the other, but cooking for your potential love interest means that the ball is in your court. You’re at an advantage, so it’s time to prove that you’re the perfect person for them and this can only be achieved through the flavor of food. This is your chance to really impress them. It the same as wearing a nice outfit, or making sure you smell good, perhaps with the assistance of perfume from True Pheromones, for example. Cooking is a great way to show that you are interested in them. Since it will be just the two of you, you need to make sure that you don’t spend as much time in the kitchen – if your date has no one to talk to, they won’t shy away from asking for the Wi-Fi password and will turn to their smartphone. This means that you need to put a quick dish on your menu, something that doesn’t need your attention for too long and something that you can prepare for early in the day.

Your date is probably sick of the sight of pasta, they have had this on every date. It’s your chance to give them something new and this is when your slow cooker becomes your best friend. Brioche buns with a filling of pulled pork – you can’t go wrong. Chop some onions and garlic and then place them in your slow cooker with a stock. Then mix sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin and cinnamon and then dress your pork with it and place this into your slow cooker. Turn your slow cooker on and wait until your pork is tender in which you can then strip it off – usually around 6-8 hours on a high heat allowing you to prepare well before your date arrives. Remember to serve with fries (sweet potato fries could be a healthier alternative) to add a bit more variety to your plate.

If you think that this sounds like something you would serve for your first date, view the full recipe here.

Don’t be too intense with your table etiquette, forget about utensil placement and just make it feel a little bit more relaxed. You don’t want to overwhelm your date and make them wonder what fork they need to use for which dish. However, don’t be afraid to light a scented candle to create a more relaxed atmosphere.

Games Night!

If you have an aim to make your casual evenings more adventurous, organise a games night for you and your friends. Whether you’re going classic with board games or digital with game consoles, or even hosting a bar trivia-style quiz, we have a plan that will ensure it’s a much more relaxed night than your average get-together.

Forget the fancy dinner sets, you’re going to have a night around the sofa – so tuck that tablecloth away. But that isn’t to say you won’t be serving food, because as you know, gaming can take up a lot of energy. Go all-American with hot dogs accompanied with plenty of tomato ketchup and mustard (cheese is a surprisingly good topping to add) as well as a couple of pizzas to keep you gaming for hours on end. Later in the evening, opt for more snack-like servings such as nachos and a range of different sauces that will be sure to get those taste buds going.

Are you now feeling more confident about conquering the kitchen?