Since I am in the midst of preparing for my son’s Birthday party, this entry is going to be about some time saving party tips. There will definitely be more of these in the future since we love to entertain. These are just a few tips that I encountered today while preparing for the party.
Potato Salad – If you want to make potato salad, but just don’t have the time to peel all those potatoes and your local deli’s just don’t measure up. Look for a recipe for skin-on potatoes. They’re are a lot of great recipes that use the baby blues and reds. It really makes it a quick dish as far as prep goes. Another upside to these types of salads is they are very rarely made with mayo, so they are less fattening as well. I use a recipe called “Three Potato Salad” from a book called “Salads” by Elsa Peterson-Schepelern. It’s really good and super easy to prepare and the colors are nice. Tip – when preparing the salad if you dress it when the potatoes are still fairly warm, they absorb more of the dressing and have a better flavor than if you let them cool overnight before dressing.
Kabobs – If you like to grill for your parties, kabobs are always a favorite. But who has time to soak skewers and put all the sloppy marinated pieces on them? Often the meat cooks at a different pace than the veggies. How many times have you seen your guests pick off the pieces that they like and leave the others? Consider deconstructing your kabobs. You have to take them apart to eat them anyway, so why not start with them that way. Marinate everything using your normal recipe and then you can just throw the marinated meat/seafood into one grill pan and throw the marinated veggies into another. This way you can control the cooking time and serve it separately. Also, then your guests can pick the items that they like best to eat, and not have to pick off certain veggies and their not stuck with a skewer full of veggies they don’t like.
The downside to this is that if you won’t be able to control the portions of your guest, especially on those higher ticket items so you may have to buy more seafood than you would if you were assembling the kabobs.
Another great time saver (if you have the space in your refrigerator) is to store your prepared foods in bowls you are going to serve them in that way you can just take everything out just before the guests arrive and put it right on the table – no transferring of bowls and no messy dishes to clean up.
That’s it for now, I hear the footsteps of the little one waking up from his nap.
Miss Quick Fix's Blog 