Food and Drinks – Party Decorating

Setting up for a party can be an exhilarating process that is not without its stresses and hassles. One of the most difficult elements of party decorating is figuring out how to present food, beverages, and other forms of culinary nourishment to your guests. In this arena your best method will be to take a measured approach which involves both decorative aspects, and functional selections.

The first thing to consider is the perishable nature of most foods. While crackers and chips might be able to survive unharmed in open air for a few hours, most salads, or cooked foods, will need to be refrigerated prior to the party in order to keep them fresh. Many foods will also taste best if they’ve been recently heated, and are still warm, prompting decisions as to whether you want to spend part of the party in the kitchen cooking.

Another problem with leaving food out before hand is the potential for bugs to be attracted to the delectable smells. If you do decide to leave various elements out, you should be sure to cover them, either with an appropriate lid, or with cellophane, or tin foil, to protect them from the ravages of creepy crawlers.

If you want to get fancy, a buffet table can be outfitted with burners that are placed under aluminum dishes to keep the food warm without you having to go to the trouble of reheating it. Again you will want to keep the dishes covered, and will have to control the flame to make sure the food doesn’t get dried out, or burnt.

Drinks are another consideration. Beverages often have to be kept either very cool, or very hot. If it’s cold outside, you can put cold drinks in a cooler and leave them outside to stretch fridge space. Ice can also help to quickly cool down a glass of soda or juice. You should be careful about placing beverages in a freezer to cool them down quickly, because if you forget about them, the liquid might freeze, expand, and cause the container it’s in to explode.

Often the best bet in a party situation is to set up all of the food and beverage accessories prior to having guests arrive. Then in the early twilight hours of the event, when only a few people have shown up yet, start extracting goodies from the fridge and warming or cooling them to the optimal temperature. Try to get as much work out of the way early as you can and then you’ll have less to do when the festivities begin.