On the Common 191
We come to the practicalities.
Hi there!
We’ve been visiting colleges this week with our youngest kiddo. College was so much fun for me; I’m very excited for her. Occasionally I’ll hear someone mention high school as “the best time of your life,” and I couldn’t disagree more. I was on a different planet in high school. College is where I settled in and enjoyed life.
The Part Where There’s an Essay: Hospitality Practicalities (Part I)
(I’ve been talking hospitality these past few weeks; last week’s entry brought us to a practicality. Part one and part two are more theoretical.)
Buckle up. I’m about to just shout a bunch of hosting advice at you. Please know that these are tips for when things are going according to plan; hospitality and having people in your home are things that unfold in real time, so know that you can’t/shouldn’t do all these things all the time. I do not do these things all the time, and that’s ok.
When you have little kids, you either invite people in to the chaos or you avoid the chaos altogether. When we had five littles, our regular routine was to invite people for dessert and tea. We would feed the kids, get them ready for bed, and then welcome our guests. Most people were excited to greet clean, jammified children and maybe even read them a book before bed. Then off to bed with the kiddos, and we could chat as adults. Otherwise, you’re inviting people to dinner, and they need to know it’s not going to be a typical adult conversation. That’s a different type of hospitality, and it still counts, but it’s just different.
An underrated time for hosting families with young children is Saturday morning breakfast. Pajamas welcome. Most people are fresh and can relax a bit. (This stops working when sports begin.)
My favorite kind of meal after church on Sunday is “meat plus two salads.” I make everything on Saturday, set the meat to cook in the oven or crockpot on Sunday morning, and then pull everything out when we get home. Without exception, people are starving when church is over, and this is the best method I’ve found for feeding people fast. Soup is also great. A close third is a massive charcuterie spread, but unfortunately, I am part of a family where such an arrangement is considered an appetizer, not a meal.
If you can, have the dishwasher empty (or close to it) before people come over. Having that available for receiving the dirty dishes after eating will streamline cleanup after dinner.
Let people help. Put some dishes into their hands and have them set the table. Ask them to finish the salad. I’ve noticed that people relax more when they’re part of the prep; immediately the setting is transformed from “we’re serving you dinner,” to “let’s have dinner together.”
Last week, I told you that you should avoid invention in favor of familiarity. Along the same lines, I am going to tell you to just make the same thing all the time. If you make a really good chili, make it for guests when they come over. I make this buttermilk chicken all. the. time, because it’s really easy and it’s very good, and nobody complains about really good roast chicken. If you find a soup that works, make it all the time. Do not apologize for this. It is smart! If you do this enough, you might even get a reputation associated with a certain dish. I have heard praise for “Kelly’s roast chicken,” which just means that I’ve made it enough times (usually for people who just had babies) that I know how to make it well. (It is not MY roast chicken; it is Samin Nosrat’s roast chicken. But I accept the association.)
Tacos and other Mexican food are a great budget-friendly option because you can stretch the meal with rice and beans. Sometimes I just make trays of loaded nachos for dinner; this is a huge hit with kids, because it feels like you’re eating chips for dinner. It doesn’t use much meat.
The best approach to guests with food allergies is some kind of bowl situation. Offer rice, an alternate grain, some roasted veggies, some raw veggies, and a meat. Put some sauces or condiments alongside. Everybody can pick and choose what works for them, and nobody feels singled out.
Does anyone have any Qs for As next week? I’ve already gotten a couple of hospitality questions in response to these posts. I’ll address them next week. If you have a question, add it in the comments or shoot me an email!
For the Anglophiles
I don’t know if this fits the category, but this is my newsletter, and I say it does.
Reads & Listens of the Week
How Metrics Make Us Miserable: Plain English covered our tendency to quantify everything and how we might reconsider some of that behavior. There’s some interesting stuff here for the game players, too. (Language warning)
I tend to like looking over orders of service from various churches, so this collection from Crossway was interesting: there are selections here for Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
Dangerous Talent: John Elway’s Quest for Greatness. My husband grew up a fan of Elway, so we watched this documentary pretty much the moment it was released. This article captures exactly how I felt when it was over.
The first mention of Peter Rabbit:
I do not expect old heads on young shoulders. - C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
That dramatic reading of Pand P made my morning brighter.
Enjoyed thoroughly. 😀