The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

E very so often you find yourself hosting a big event. It could be a local school fund raiser or a larger philanthropic annual event like an auction. Dallas, where I live, is terrifically philanthropic, and I both participate in and cater to lots of events. Each year it seems the American palate becomes both more diverse and more ad venturous. You do need to have some of the standards—I don’t think cold poached shrimp with a spicy horseradish and tomato sauce will ever go out of style. But a cocktail party can now include lamb kofta, sushi, black-eyed pea falafel with yogurt sauce, spoonfuls of spicy Mexican ceviche, and even tiny lasagna “muffins.” If you are going to host a big event, you will need help. So by all means give an “all hands on deck” shout out to the PTA parents’ or develop a formal budget with the charity you hope to raise funds for, including money for rentals of tables, chairs, decorations, music, waitstaff, kitchen helpers and even valet parking. The bigger the event, the more time spent organizing it all, and to help, I’ve laid out some entertaining tips in the last section of this book. But don’t forget that doing good should be fun! When the day arrives and the first guests pull up to the house, it is officially go time. Get the food on out of the kitchen, have the music pumping and the cocktails flowing. Time to party! COCKTAILS & FUN(D)RAISING

99 SUMMER · COCKTAILS & FUN(D)RAISING