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1 |
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Go
through your recipes and decide your menu, from starter to dessert.
Write your menu down on a piece of paper. |
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2 |
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Organize your menu around the vegetables
and fruits in season, take advantage of what is in season at the time. |
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3 |
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Make a detailed list of all ingredients
you need for each recipe. |
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4 |
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Check your inventory of ingredients, write
down what is missing, and cross out of your list what you already
have. |
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5 |
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Identify the best sources for your ingredients, ask people where they
get ingredients. |
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6 |
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Walk
through your menu, figuring out any difficult and/or tricky parts, so you can
slot the necessary time for them.
You may even want to make a particular
dish once before your dinner party so you know the time it takes to make,
and any changes/ improvements you may want to make. |
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7 |
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Pay attention to all the notes you have
taken or any drawings you have made on your copy during cooking classes. I do encourage my students to make drawings, as they do help in remembering
how certain dessert or dish should look like. |
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8 |
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Make a note of who you have invited and
what you have served each time you have a dinner party or when you
invite people over for a meal. Try not to serve the same people the
same dish twice within one year.
Keep a file under the heading of
home entertainment where you keep all this information for easy access. |
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9 |
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Choose the most appropriate wine with
your menu. If you don't know a lot about wine, ask someone who knows or refer
to a good reference book on the topic. Below are 2 useful guides you can
get: "Oxford Companion to
Wine", edited by Jancis Robinson, Oxford University Press, 1994
"Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine", edited by Christopher Foulkes,
Larousse International, 1994 |
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10 |
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Pay attention to what your guests like and dislike. Note who pushed a
particular ingredient aside while eating, who is vegetarian and who
likes meat, fish, or chicken and who doesn't, who is allergic to a
particular kind of food, etc.
When you invite them next time, you
will be better prepared for them. It is always a good idea to ask your guests
beforehand if there are foods they can't or don't like to eat. |
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