Ehh, I just spend every waking second two days before a party cooking and the 4 hours immediately before are crazy! I like things hot and fresh from the oven, at least things that count. Many items can be made ahead and frozen without loss of quality, a lot of Christmas cookies, for instance. But slow cookers only work well with certain types of food.

My family parties ranged from a high of about 50 to a low of just the two of us. Before we moved, I had a small kitchen and one oven. The only way I could cook for 50 was to make pies and dinner rolls ahead of time, prep or cook the vegetables the night before. The day of the party the turkey went in the oven, the ham into an electric roaster. The sweet potatoes were always forgotten and left in the microwave, LOL. Mashed potatoes got peeled and cut up the night before but cooked and mashed the day of. Someone here finally mentioned keeping the mashed potatoes hot in the slow cooker and that worked well, as did making vegetable side dishes in the slow cooker. Pickle dishes and relish trays were made ahead and stored in the fridge, along with things like cheese balls or meatballs, which were heated the day of the party in more slow cookers.

Now I have two ovens and my parties are usually between 10 and 15 people, but I still make pies, cheesecakes, dinner rolls the day ahead, prep the vegetables the night before and put together appetizers and pickle dishes ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. That way I can dump meatballs into a crockpot with sauce, pull out the spinach dip, the cheeseball and the pickles/olives/etc and people have things to snack on while I finish up dinner.

Annie

The more I entertain, the more I am about just streamlining the menu, serving a few very yummy things and not sweating the small stuff. I'm kind of the Sandra Lee of home entertaining but I don't care. I realized I much prefer enjoying my guests and making them feel welcome and relaxed in my home than impressing them with the food. I used to serve 3 appetizers at least, now I just serve one. I used to make everything from scratch, now I am not adverse to a store bought salad or relish. I use my crockpot mostly for soups if I'm entertaining. Yes, it is great for keeping mashed potatoes warm while you do other things. Great for hot milled wine or cider. Great for baked bean for a summer picnic. Another dish I make that impresses folks is Moroccan chicken in the crockpot, served over rice or cous cous. That is easy entertaining. I'll do pita chips and store bought hummus or spinach dip for an appetizer, Moroccan chicken over rice, and then store bought salad mix of some type. I like to make cake, cobbler, crisp or pie for dessert, since I rarely have a chance to eat them when I'm my usual solo cook. Gone are the days when I feel like doing spanikopita from scratch for a party. Maybe those days will come back, but not in the foreseeable future. The best you can hope for from me nowdays is baked spaghetti with feta and spinach, and maybe store bought baklava for dessert.

You can use the crockpot, but the real key is to make simple yet tasty menus if you want to avoid stress. For example, stuffed pork loin or stuffed cabbage or spinach or butternut squash lasagne are wonderful things, and I have served them for parties. But they are fussy and mess up the kitchen. If I'm in the mood for doing a lot of dishes, sure, I'll serve them. But if not, it might be something like baked ziti made with jarred sauce, pre-shredded cheese and frozen vegetables added, store bought artisan bread, store bought salad ingredients, and then maybe coffee with store bought liqueur and some store bought biscotti. Lots of wine and everyone goes home happy and I put the lid on the casserole dish and put it in the fridge, rinse out the spaghetti sauce jars and put them in the recycle and and have very little dishes to wash! No regrets! When I had SO around to run the grill, that was great too, but now I tend to favor casseroles or roasts that can be made ahead. If you want a whole roast or a whole chicken for presentation, then oven is probably the same as crockpot, very little fussing. But a pot roast in the crockpot is easy peasy too.

Thank you for the responses! You have given me great ideas.

Nesco roaster with buffet servers....hmmm. Always thought they were a one trick pony but now I'm seeing one might be a great asset for keeping food warm/reheating premade. The roasters and buffet server accessories are on sale right now from nesco.

Just measured my slow cooker as I never knew what size it was. Its a 4 qt and I would really like a larger one. One of my silly reasons for getting a new one is this one is badly stained on the outside. No amount of scrubbing will get it clean looking. It is very old but works great, just doesn't look good. Would oven safe paint work on this?

One reason for my stress at entertaining is making things I never made before or making them in a larger quantity which doesn't go well. You may remember my post from last January about my "bundles" that did not bake well when I put in two sheets of them in the oven instead of the usual one.

I do always have great ambition to make many dishes from scratch which as said above is not always practical and just adds to the stress.

Debra, the Nesco is definitely not a "one trick pony". I use mine to roast the hams or turkeys, I use it to make large batches of beef or chicken stock, just let it simmer all day, I use it to simmer apple butter until thick. You can turn the heat down and use it as a slow cooker, or crank it up and bake brownies inside, as long as your baking dish will fit. I have a big one and a smaller 6 quart, and the 6 quart is used often for beans, for chili, for roasting chicken or pulled pork. The big one is used for turkeys and hams, or for baking beans for family parties, or for making the au gratin potatoes, and for the above named broth, so I can make batches large enough to can (or freeze if you'd prefer).

Annie

The Nesco roaster is also fantastic for reheating the casseroles/strata/lasagna you made a day or two before. So long as they're not taller than the edge, and the dish is rigid (not foil), you can stack them! (Not like papers--you have to leave room for steam to get out, but they can overlap.)

So, you've named your problem. If you want easy entertaining you must never try something new. Last Spring I wanted to use my new sous vide circulator and make turkey roulades for Seder. I'm a pretty experienced cook and pretty much know what I'm doing, but how do you anticipate the outcome without trying first? So I tried first! About three weeks out. Just to make sure.

This is probably why the sausage and sauerkraut was so great: You knew what you were doing! It's okay to make a somewhat ambitious menu if it won't make you nuts. I do for small entertaining. But you have to be willing to accept failure gracefully (like the time my consommé over clarified (it was fine on the test) and was barely better than water. Doing something you've done many times before rather than just once, is the real way to ease. There's a cooking equivalent of muscle memory, because you really know how to make your dishes. Planning, planning and more planning, plus tests and experience, will save you in ways no crockpot could ever think of.

BTW, if you want to make poultry, and are unsure of your timing, sous vide is fantastic! Unlike what some of the hype says, it is possible to overcook it--it gets mushy if cooked too long--but you have at least an hour leeway. The new immersion circulators are under $200. You use your own pot of water. Which is great in itself because you can use a 2 qt. pot for something small, and a roaster for a whole bunch. You can do steaks and roasts this way too, but you really have to finish them in a pan or oven to get the browning on the outside, whereas poultry in many instances can go naked. I'm sure you can also do miracles with fish this way, but I don't cook fish so don't have info.

Oh yeah, pulled pork or pulled beef, both great in the crockpot and I have served at informal gatherings, always a hit. Nothing like throwing a bunch of ingredients in the crockpot and letting your dinner party cook itself while you are up in bed sleeping! But that's my entertaining style--casual. If I'm doing something formal, I'll splurge on ingredients, but still keep the prep simple. Christmas dinner two years ago was broiled salmon with a store bought sauce on it, roasted root vegetables which are easy and colorful/pretty, and store bought salad in a bag and cranberry relish. With something simple like that, I'll make a home made pie, bundt cake or cheesecake for dessert. I always use store bought crust and never regret it. I would never do pie otherwise, and no one has complained yet. But I'll jazz it up with a lattice crust or a egg/sugar wash, or a fancy edge, etc. One year though, I did cherry cranberry crisp, and it was super delish. Easily made since I used frozen cherries and cranberries don't need much prep, and then dried berries too. But it is a little unusual ingredients, so it's a hit. That's something to do when you want to try a new recipe for a party, just do a new twist on something you already know will be a hit. A new kind of carrot cake, maybe one with pineapple this time, or pear upside down cake instead your usual apple cake, a fancy garnish for one of your tried and true soups, etc. That way you've got the general gist of the techniques.

As for the crockpot, I try a new recipe practically every time I make pot roast for my dad. I know it will be delish no matter what, because unless I did something totally weird and out of character, what's not to like about pot roast? But I have already figured out how to layer the veggies, and cut and do the meat for pot roast, so the most critical things to insure success I've already mastered. That way I can play around with it. So for example, if you already know you make a mean meatloaf, mix it up with meatloaf muffins "frosted" with mashed potatoes, or a meatloaf roll, which is in my "to try" recipe folder. But if I've never made that kind of meatloaf before, I'm not going to try a new meatloaf recipe AND some fiddly shaping technique both at the same time. If I decide to do a puff pastry thingie, then it will be store bought sides all the way for the rest of the dinner party! But honestly, now days it would be chicken stew in the crockpot served over dropped biscuits. I've made many other kinds of biscuits, and mine aren't anything to write home about anyway, so if the flavor profile is the same and one has a little fancier mouth feel, well the time and stress investment isn't worth the payoff for me. Serve turtle brownies and enough wine for dessert and no one will remember the biscuits anyway!! At least not at my crowd.

I had this revelation at a friend's New Year's Open house. She serves lasagne, store bought garlic bread, corn chips and guacamole for snacking, salad which her hubs preps, and she makes one kind of cookie and her friends bring other sides and desserts if they want. Everyone has a blast, and she can make the lasagne ahead of time in those big aluminum pans you can buy, and the biggest stress she has the day of the party is mashing up all those avocados. That was when I realized that I was WAY overthinking my holiday entertaining. My friend said she used to do the same thing but then she hit upon this formula and has never looked back with ANY regret, she is much happier and everyone loves the food. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, you do NOT have to precook lasagne noodles. That is another revelation that can rock your entertaining world! Google "one pan lasagne" too, you can make it all in a pan on the stovetop, either using broken up lasagne noodles, or some type of curly ribbon pasta if you can find it. I make that all the time, it is super yum. You might be able to make it in the crockpot but you'd have to brown the meat first, so I just do the whole thing in my dutch oven on top of the stove.

I used to do a LOT of big parties....not so much any more. By big I mean 22 to 75. Never owned a crock pot...always have had 2 ovens. And I am very leery of "keeping things warm". There was a case of food poisoning in a school this week about taco meat that was 'kept warm" too long and grew something I had never heard of that made a lot of people very sick.
I do like Annie does, make rolls and breads ahead and freeze them, prep vegetable the day before and do the meat just before. For a big party, I keep it down to meat and 2 sides, with a salad rolls and dessert.
I am not a fan of crock pots, but for things like warming mashed potatoes and the micro does that just as well...in my china bowl....ready to put on the table!

The last thing I want to do before a party is futz with my microwave to heat something up. I'm already futzing with the fridge, oven, probably sink and countertops. Meanwhile, my crockpot can be set up already in the dining room with whatever is in it read to serve when my guests arrive. But then, I have always had TINY kitchens, so for me, another plus for the crockpot is I can move it out of the kitchen once it is loaded. Same would be for a nesco roaster. I lived without my crockpot for about a year, and got a dutch oven instead. I can make many of the same things in that, but the darn oven heats up the whole tiny kitchen and right now, almost my entire house, which depending on the season, is not always a good thing. That's why I love it for summer entertaining for things like baked beans and pulled pork. Also, why heat the whole oven for just one pot? And the dutch oven is heavy as all get out, not fun to move around when fully loaded with food. I love my dutch oven, but I also love my crockpot, the crock is much lighter!

Heating things in the microwave always seems to take forever when you have guests. I keep relearning that lesson each time I have guests.

Yes, and unless you're an expert at microwaving, there can be cold spots.

About warming: When you use a crockpot to keep things warm you still have to follow good food safety practices. You shouldn't keep the food out for more than four hours even if it's above the danger level of 140° F. The center might be warm enough, but the top and edges might not be. And the warming setting isn't for warming things up, it's for holding already hot things at a pleasant to eat temperature. Boil your soup on the stove, and simmer for 15 minutes, then transfer it to a crockpot you've heated (check the directions for whether you should put water in the crock during heating. I usually have a lull about 1-1.5 hrs. before company between that which had to be done and that which needs to be done at the end. That's a perfect time for starting heat up on things.

Roasters, slow cookers and warming trays are all great for get togethers.

How fast your microwave heats and how evenly it heats depends very much on your microwave. Mine doesn't need "futzing" with...I just set the power level and the time. Then I stir it and do the same thing again> Another thing I have learned is don't try to heat a gallon of stuff...heat it 2 qts at a time, serve that and put the next batch in the micro....or oven. Huge bowls of stuff don't heat well in the oven either.
And I don't serve food to my guests out of a crockpot any more than I serve them out of a sauce pan.....different strokes I guess.
My house is not huge by any means nor is my kitchen, but the traffic flow is very party friendly, you can get from the kitchen to the family room, deck, dining room or the hall. and from the hall to the livingroom, den or the stairs. One time I counted 72 people in the family room. I was trying to remember if there was a center support post!!
Another time my kids and husband were in the community theater musical and I issued a cattle call invitation after a Friday performance to come to our house and I would cook! Holy cow! Had about 120, people were sitting on the stairs with plates on their laps. I had a ham and a turkey and the bones looked like the hyenas had picked them clean. Thankfully there is always lots of cheese here so no one went hungry, but that was an adventure!

My two old slow cookers do not have warm setting, just low and high. No idea what the temp is on low but it is hot enough to cook.

I do serve people out of slow cookers. While I try for presentation, I don't really have friends or family that cares about that. I have to remind myself of something I read on the decor forum about living the life you have not the one you wish you had. A nice looking slow cooker or roaster would be good enough for my guests. In the past I used to stress about making things look nice etc. (still do to some extent) but found that no one cared. No formal dinners ever served here. Family used to wonder why I wasn't using disposable plates etc when having them over?!? I still do insist on using real stuff, plates, glasses etc. unless it is an outdoor picnic.

I can barely fit 50 people in my house (living, dining + kitchen)!!!

Don't want you to think my friends and family are a bunch of ...... whatever words I use here I may insult someone so hopefully you will get my point. They are just average people who don't expect anyone to go to a lot of trouble to entertain them. They are just happy you invited them and only expect a cold beer, glass of wine, or cup of tea and some good food. Some are big eaters and like meat and potatoes in large quantities Others are just excited that dessert will always include chocolate at my house. So basically they are just happy you invited them and want to enjoy each others company. Whether you serve them hot dogs and chili on paper plates or fancy smancy on fine china.

Don't worry, Debra, I think the point came across. I do sometimes do formal sit down with all the utensils and glasses and folderol, including table service. I also do nice buffets with pretty tables and if there's disposable, it's the pretty kind from the catering supply. And I also do family style even for a couple of dozen. Or kitchen come and get its. And paper plates for everybody. And grab a napkin because I'm not washing your dish.

Each kind of occasion has its place, and some of them may not have a place in your house. My guests appreciate when I set a beautiful table, but it's not a requirement and they're happy enough just to get fed. :)

I never use paper plates but to send food home with someone. Way WAY back when I started to entertain a big group, I realized what good quality disposables cost, and how much they added to the cost of a party. And I was an antique collector and auction goer, so I bought china plates. I first remember buying a stack of 12 Johnson Brothers white dinner plates for about $2.50....and a stack of white haviland for $.69 each....etc. I now have about 50 white haviland``9 inch plates, none of which cost more than $1. They have earned their keep many many times over> I also have about 40 dinner sized plates in a plain white porcelain....again $1 or less each....and there any many more...in different patterns.
My point is it's cheaper to use real china, and I am willing to have a stack of dishes sit on my counter while the dishwasher runs for half the next day.
My friends entertain as I do. And even for a drop in, fix a mess of hot dogs and open some cans of beans meal, I use china.
And I strongly disagree about living the life you have rather than the one you wish you had. It's been advice to young people for many years to dress for the job you want, not the one you have>
Classy, good taste, putting on the "Ritz" for company is a good thing....not a bad thing. People say they love to come to my house because it always shows that I go the extra mile.

plllog, like your "most are happy just to get fed".

linda, I agree that it is cheaper and nicer to use real plates that is why I insist on it except if it's a big outdoor bbq. Frustrating when some people feel uncomfortable when you put on the ritz even when it's very very minor. I've had that happen and it's hard to explain that you wanted to go the extra mile, that you actually enjoyed taking the time to make that dessert, that doing whatever you did was fun. I think my own mom always felt guilty coming to my house for dinner. Even though my entertaining style is very relaxed, to her it was a big deal.

Sometimes it's little things that people appreciate. My DH's parents did not drink coffee and never served it. Most holidays were at their house and the coffee drinkers never said a word. I personally hate the taste and smell of coffee but always serve it if I know at least one coffee drinker is coming over. One of the coffee drinkers said he always enjoyed coming to our house as I made coffee.

I think the saying about living the life you have not the one you want is that some people are never satisfied. Once met a woman who said she never saw an airplane in the sky she didn't wish she was on, never visited a nice house that she didn't wish she owned, and so on. She was actually bitter about everything that was "better than hers". She was a miserable person as she was always trying to live a life that wasn't hers.

My name is Lpinkmountain and I have poor microwaving skills. Yes, I am a BAD microwaver!

Paper plates (the good kind, not the ones that dump your food on your lap) are definitely more expensive, and the plastic ones even more than that. They're fine for some things, however, especially when you don't have anywhere to hide the stacks of dishes! When I have sit down for dozens I have two women in the kitchen washing for hours, and that's just enough to clear out enough to make it possible to approach the pots and serving pieces, and that leaves stems, waters and bar glasses, dessert plates and coffee/tea service, for the next couple of days. Sometimes paper just makes life easier. I have casual company dishes for a dozen people. After that, they get paper. Usually the themed ones to go with the party so it looks fancier rather than can't be trusted with the china. Of course, the paper is made where they have water, and we don't have wash water to be tossing around willynilly.

I'm with Debra on the living the life you have, but I appreciate Linda's point. That is, if you want the life where you put arranged flowers on the table, don't hold back just because some of your friends think it's la-di-dah. Instead, laugh it off and say, "Aren't they pretty? I was fooling around with them in the garden (that doesn't mean you grew them, just that you fooled around with them in the good light) and thought you'd like them too." That wrong foots them and they have to agree. :) But if you want flowers on the table, yet you don't have a garden, can't afford the flowers you want, don't know how to make the ones you can afford look good on your table, and know that the boys will throw them at each other anyway, save the flowers for just you, and live the life you have. Maybe decorate with Nerf balls. :)

The life you have doesn't HAVE to be ungracious, messy, slap-dash. I can't imagine anyone being so rude as to mention that the flowers on my table were "la-di-dah". My daughter has 4 kids and a full time job. She sets a table every night, with place mats, china, knives and forks in the proper spot and napkins.....and "something" as a centerpiece. either flowers from the yard or the grocery store or a plant. She does use a crock pot a lot, but it stays in the kitchen.
Frankly I think lack of "niceties" like good manners and a set table are part of the increasingly rudeness and disregard for others that so many young people exhibit today. I hang on a "Good Old Days" site and it seems people are continually moaning about rudeness, violence and longing for the days when people didn't wear their pajamas and slippers to go to the grocery store.

l pinkmountain

My name is Lpinkmountain and I have poor microwaving skills. Yes, I am a BAD microwaver!

******

There are no bad microwavers, just bad microwaves.

JK!

Linda, the flowers were hyperbole. I didn't want to get into specifics so made a silly example on purpose. I agree about set tables, even with paper plates (the grab a paper towel one was a joke), but I also don't think that people who have more than they can manage need to worry about table settings. And I've been to gorgeous parties, with gorgeous food that was inedible. I'd rather go to great food, great people, and grab your own plate buffet that gorgeous room, limited conversation and bad food, so if it can't all be good, I choose people then food, and tablesettings are way down on the list. Of course, I've also never seen someone in PJ's at the grocery store. Perhaps, you're fighting so hard because the people in your area have moved so far away from your standards?

I actually agree with mimipadv's joke to a certain extent. :) Some microwaves are significantly better than others.

Well, my microwave occasionally needs to be beat on to start, but when it does, it's 1200 watts of pure zappin' power, baby!!

Of course, people first, then food then ambiance....but in my experience all 3 go hand in hand. People who are good cooks, serve it well....and people who aren't good cooks? Well let's not even go there....this is a cooking forum!! ;-)
I remember being invited to dinner at someone's house who were obviously trying to put on the dog, with no though to guests comfort. There were what appeared to be "wedding gift" candle sticks with lit scented candles, on a miserably hot night, with no airconditioning and the windows closed, because we don't want the candles to drip on the tablecloth. And the food was awful! I have eaten a hot dog cooked on a stick over an open fire, sitting on a log, with my front baking and my backside freezing, where the host said "let me grab you another beer, it's cold when you get away from the fire"...that was better than a fancy dinner where the hostess was worried about the candles dripping.
One time about this time of the year, I invited a guy I was dating over for dinner. The evening was lovely and warm, and it seemed like it would be the last night eating on the deck. The deck and table covered with leaves, had not been swept....so I dumped the leaves off the chairs and table, grabbed a picnic table cloth, put tea lights into a couple of jelly jars, poured the wine, plated the pork chops and baked potatoes and we had a wonderful dinner amid the crunchy leaves.
It's all about the host or hostess being willing to go the extra mile. Not thinking "it's too much trouble...I am busy.." I can't imagine making a lovely beef stew and home made bread and serving it from anything but real dishes. You may be on the way to a show or a game and not have time to wash the dishes until the next day....but to me a stack of dirty plates in the kitchen is a small price for a nicely served meal.

"There are no bad microwavers, just bad microwaves.

JK!"

One sure way to mess up good food is to microwave. Unless you are serving only hot water. Microwave will not overcook water.

Unless you have the newer microwaves which uses "Inverter Technology", which can actually give you much better heating for warming food.

dcarch

As I read this thread again I have the following thoughts that I'm going to print out and post somewhere I will see before planning any parties.

Have REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS of....

Your GUESTS. Your COOKING ABILITY. The FOOD and RECIPES. Tried & proven with the quantity and quality you want? Your KITCHEN, house, & plumbing to handle the number of guests in the fashion you wish. Your family or your HELPERS to actually assist you. Your APPLIANCES & COOKWARE, both big & small. The TIME & EFFORT needed. Your BUDGET. What are you trying to accomplish? An opportunity to dress up and drink champagne, serve gourmet food, invite as many people possible, or kick back and watch a football game? Do you want your guests to rave about the food or say they had so much fun they laughed until they cried? Shoot for the moon but be happy to land among the stars.

Please add your own thoughts!