Our top 5 tips for entertaining this summer!
We all know that feeling when you are hosting a big summer BBQ or a family dinner in less than two days time and you have no idea what you are serving your guests. You don’t know if anyone has any allergies, what your guests like to drink and how you will possibly have time before the event to organise it all. Sound like you? Well don’t worry we are here to help!
With Esatto’s ‘Top 5 tips for entertaining this summer’, hosting your next event will be simple and fuss-free, just the way we like it here at Esatto.
1 / Lock in your guests.
No, we don’t want you to lock them into your house during the event… that is absolutely not necessary, but confirming who can come and who can’t come at least 5 days before your event will make planning your event smooth sailing. With your numbers confirmed you can easily move onto the nitty gritty of planning your event!
2 / Menu planning is a must!
This one is the key to success! By planning in advance what you are going to serve your guests on the day you can start preparing up to a week before the event. The one thing to keep in mind when preparing food and drinks early is how much fridge/freezer space you have! Consider a Hybrid Chest Fridge/Freezer to help you store all your extra food and drinks while entertaining, which can be easily set up in your garage or storage room. Alternatively, simply upgrade your fridge to one of our larger fridges such as the 460L Side by Side Fridge to ensure that you can store and prepare in advance where possible.
Here’s a rough suggestion on how you could spread the load over the week…
1 week before the event: Shop for all non-perishable and frozen items.
1-2 days before the event: Shop for all other items and start to prepare all menu items that can be kept in the fridge or freezer. By doing this you will have way less to do on the day and be able to enjoy yourself!
On the day: Prepare all other menu items (hopefully with your preparation this week, there shouldn’t be much left to do!).
3 / Be prepared for a range of drinks requests.
‘No sorry I’m not drinking alcohol today’
‘Actually do you just have sparkling water?’
‘Yes, I’d love a cold beer.’
‘What wine options do you have again?’
Prepare for whatever your guests (politely) throw at you by having a plentiful supply of wine, beer, soft drink or water. For your wine one of our 34 Bottle Wine Cabinets will do the trick to ensure your supply is fully stocked and stored at the right temperature. When it comes to beer, soft drink and water a compact Bar Fridge will do the trick. Why not check out our 87L Black Bar Fridge for a stylish solution with separate freezer storage to keep ice readily available too, or the 196L Bar Fridge with a greater capacity and ample door storage.
4 / Start the day with an empty dishwasher!
The one thing that everyone wishes they had done but never remembers to do! If you can easily load up your dishes throughout the day as soon as they get dirty it will help you keep your kitchen looking spotless while you have guests over. Plus it makes for a very simple clean up at the end of the day simply turn your dishwasher on, and voila!
Another thing to consider when getting your empty dishwasher ready is to make sure you have pre-adjusted the upper basket to suit the dishes you are using at your event. If you are going to be using tall champagne glasses you can lower your upper basket, or alternatively if you have large dinner plates you you need to load in you can raise the upper basket to ensure they fit!
If you are looking for an upgrade check out our 60cm Freestanding Dishwasher which also comes empty (with plate racks and a height adjustable upper basket though, of course), perfect for your first summer BBQ.
5 / Have a wet weather plan.
Finally, ensure you are prepared for all types of weather. We all love an outdoor event but an outdoor event in the rain isn’t as much fun. So be ready with a backup plan just in case the weather turns and you can remain calm and collected no matter how the day pans out!
