Party Planning Ideas – How to Plan a Successful Party

Party planning ideas - brought to you by OPH Good Housekeeping & Homemaking – are here to help you out if you’re organizing an upcoming house or garden party. We’ve got some excellent ideas for party food and finger food, easy party snacks, how much alcohol should be ordered and a checklist of party items; so if this tickles your fancy, read on you won’t be disappointed.

Before you do anything an excellent party planning idea is to draw up a checklist of all the party items you’ll need for your extravaganza. Luckily I’ve already prepared one for you. Just copy, paste and print (to print: highlight the list, click the right hand-side button on your mouse, select copy, open a word processing sheet such as word pad, click the right hand-side button on your mouse, select paste and print the party planning idea checklist). The list is follows.

N.B.You can add items are take items off the list before printing, when you paste it to your word processing sheet.

Once you’ve written up the ‘party items’ checklist and decided on the drinks menu it’s time to get ready for your big bash. The key phrase here is preparation; this is because a party is only as good as the ground work put in, in order to make it special.

OPH Good Housekeeping & Homemaking have come up with some key party planning ideas to give you a helping hand.

Don’t cross contaminate food
See to it that you don’t use boards, plates and knifes which have come into contact with raw meat with other foods without washing them thoroughly first. If you fail to adhere to this fundamental rule you run the risk of giving your guests a bout of food poisoning, as the germs possibly contained on and within the meat will be transferred to ready to eat foods.

Keep work surfaces clean
An essential party planning idea to take on board is that of good housekeeping when preparing dishes before and during your party. It’s important that you keep work surfaces clean. This may seem like an arduous and mundane homemaking activity but it’s decisive in ensuring hygiene levels aren’t breached, which in turn sees to it that cross contamination doesn’t take place and germs can’t breed – or at the very least make it less likely.

Be careful with cold food
If you plan to add cold food to your party planning idea menu then care must be taken especially in hot environments. In these climates cold food can perish pretty quickly. In order to counter act this flaw see to it that you put small amounts and regularly top up from the fridge when things are running low.

Again, doing this will help ensure none of your guests come down with food poisoning.

Keep hot food hot for parity
In order to maintain parity a good housekeeping tip is to cook hot food in small portions, fresh from the refrigerator when it begins to run low. This will ensure that there is a nice steady stream of hot food coming through on a regular basis. If you manage to pull this party planning idea off then your guests will look upon you as the archetypal party host, trust me.

Wash plates and platters before you refill them
When ever you refill plates or platters it’s imperative again that you adopt good housekeeping practices and clean them thoroughly in hot soapy water. Doing this will give your guests a sense of security, that they are being looked after properly by their host. In addition, this makes you look more professional as the plates and platters look nice and tidy.

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