An open house is a great way to celebrate the holidays with family and friends without a lot of the hassle of trying to fit things into a schedule. Basically, you have a set number of hours in which your home is open to guests. Friends and family can drop by any time during these hours and stay as long as they like.
With an open house, your home will never get over crowded, and you will have more quality time to spend with each guest as they arrive.
When hosting an open house, you’ll want to have plenty of food on hand for your guests. Appetizers, cookies and other foods that can be eaten with your hands or a simple toothpick or fork are the way to go. Grab and munch is the easiest form of food for an open house.
While you may want to show off your culinary skills to their best, don’t be afraid to have a mixture of homemade food and prepared food on hand. You can also jazz up prepared food. For example, if you have mini meatballs or sausages, you can offer a trio of homemade dips or sauces.
Makes sure that you have a mixture of sweet and savory offerings on hand. Most of your guests will want to sample a little bit of each kind. Also offer a mixture of hot and cold (or room temperature) food, and a mixture of simple and fancy fare.
To keep food warm, use a warming tray or a crockpot. There is nothing worse than having lukewarm or cold “hot” dishes. At the same time, you don’t want to have to spend all of your time reheating or changing out food that has lost its warmth.
Keep food in reserves. Make sure that you have enough food on hand, but don’t place it all out at once. This will ensure that the food stays fresh and that your guests who stay for a longer period of time will have a few new surprises to try.
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