Entertain?

[imoldernu]

No... not on stage... Talents are for another thread.
I'm not sure I would have answered the question, but...

Entertaining has varied over the years. Now, not very much, at least with friends and neighbors. These days, it's usually family. Typically, most of our neighbors and friends do the same. When we get together, we "go out". In our case, mostly a matter of age, and the simplicity of not having to "prepare" for company. DW has "the ladies" over for bridge every few weeks, and if we have company from out of state, of course.

It wasn't always this way. In our Florida community, for 23 years we had a small social group of 5 couples, "Thursday's Child", and did the moveable feast thing every Thurday, alternating between homes. The community activities made up for any other entertaining, usually with more than one party, dance or pot luck each week.

Prior to that, in the w*rking years, most entertaining was very informal. with 4 kids, and working for a very large company, there was no such thing as having the "boss and his wife" over for dinner.

Except as a chld, in our 750 s.f. house, never had a formal dining room. Our dining room for 8, was 9ft. by 10ft. Lace tablecloth and all, including a piano. We were a very close family.

So the question... Do you entertain? Who and how often? More or less?

Again, if I were asked, I'm not sure I'd respond.

 

[Marita40]

I'm single and still working. My favorite way to entertain is to invite friends over for a drink and appetizers, and then we all go out to dinner. I am not a confident cook and therefore really don't like giving dinner parties. The vast majority of my friends are the same. We live in an urban area with a fabulous restaurant culture, so going out and trying new places is our entertainment.

 

[pb4uski]

We entertain frequently. Typically drinks and dinner for 6-8. Dinner and a football game and cards for 6 this past Sunday. Prior to that dinner and cards for family last week. Big breakfast for departing family just this morning.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Still in harness, but our practice is to have a small party every now and then. We try to have a theme, like Mardi Gras or Aften of Sankt Hans or Thanksgiving (Canadian or US--machs nicht) or something. DW and I like to put these together.

When home, it is mostly family get-togethers. For big ones, we assemble at a residence inn or similar and have a blow-out. Otherwise, we get one or two families together and cook neat stuff and drink good wine.

I do get together with old comrades on whatever Thursday I am back in town and DW joins me from time to time.

We do have our favorite restaurants.

I am sure this will tail off with time.

 

[FIREd]

We don't entertain often, maybe half a dozen times a year not including casual family get-togethers. We used to be pretty formal about it but since we moved to the West Coast, let's just say that our standards have slipped quite a bit. I like to entertain people at home even if it's a lot more work. That way, people can linger after dinner for as long as they want (often times past midnight).

 

[martyp]

Not anymore. Haven't entertained at home in maybe 10 yrs. We go out with friends for drinks and dinner. We have family over for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

[F4mandolin]

Friends? Hmmmm....might want to try getting some of those.

 

[Katsmeow]

No, we don't entertain except for occasional family related events. DH and I are both introverts and we just don't have friends that we socialize with in that way. We've had more of our friends be people involved in some past time we were involved with and so would see them there. For example, when we were in the dog breed club we would go to meetings which were usually in a restaurant or we would see people at dog shows. Since we moved to our current house we haven't done that though.

 

[Sarah in SC]

We have giant infrequent parties, with full bands and tons of crazy folks. Our best knows was a five year run of St Pat's parties with costumes where most people camped for the weekend at our place.

In between, we have people over, say 6-8 at a time, for grilling and playing around with fire, the minibike, and the potato cannon. Probably that at least a couple of times a month.

When we had the boat, we had happy hour on board every Friday night during the good spring and fall weather, plus we'd take it out with a small crowd for evening or weekend cruises.

Our friends are a very important part of our lives and we are very social people. I love organizing parties, a trait I'm sure I inherited from my party-giving parents. Mom was an RN before she retired, and her parties back in the 70s and 80s were LEGEND. She still has the touch, though, and is having a "welcome home" party for us in a few weeks for about 30 or so.

I hate to think of a time when we'll not be able to do this, but I do know that mom and dad's social circle narrowed quite a bit with time, and they are 71 and 72 now. That might be because they are kinda cranky these days, though.

 

[SumDay]

We always host Thanksgiving for DH's side of the family. That's my very favorite event. No presents, no pressure, just family and food. I almost enjoy the prep day (Wednesday) as much as I do the actual event.

We probably have a group of 8-10 long time friends over once a month or so. Normally it's potluck. DH smokes meat, I make a side dish, and assign something to everyone else. We always have enough to feed 75 and then sit around and complain about how much we ate.

We just refinished our basement and put in a shuffleboard table which is enjoyed more than we'd guessed it would be.

I've always liked to entertain. In high school, a friend's dad called me Perle Mesta.

 

[Larro Darro]

We like to go out for birthdays and the like when we can. It's just easier, and with my work, I don't get to go out at night very often. The who is family for the most part. My mother and sister live across the road from me, and for the biggies, ie... Mamma's birthday, Christmas and Thanksgiving, we have it at our house or my sister's.

The one exception is when the Broncos are playing on ESPN. Then my sister will call and say, "I'm coming over to watch the game. Is that alright?" Luckily I always work on Monday nights, so the DW gets the pleasure of watching a team we really don't like. I showed Sister the NFL channel on Mamma's Dish TV the other day. So if the Broncos have a Thursday night game coming up, that may save us.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I've always liked to entertain. In high school, a friend's dad called me Perle Mesta.

Best part of that was the Richard Nixon quote.

 

[Meadbh]

I am an introvert and big parties would stress me out completely, to attend, never mind to host. I do like to cook and enjoy having small groups of friends over for dinner or for coffee, the latter when we are on our way to or from some other event. I recently joined a social club where one of the activities is "dining in" and I have stipulated the maximum number of people I can accommodate at my table, as well as giving preference to single people, who often find themselves as "fifth wheels" at social events. We will see how it goes!

 

[bbbamI]

When we w*rked (we were both employed by the same Megacorp and w*rked in the same building), we'd announce 'happy hour' at bbbamI's house. It was not unusual to have have 50 people attend. We did this on a regular basis and it was a lot of fun. The party would start around 6 p.m. and end around 2 a.m.

Seating was not a problem as we could seat eight people in the backyard, and twenty people in the house. Seems like most folks congregated in the kitchen.

Now that we are both retired, we just usually meet friends at a restaurant for dinner.

Our retired friends are either traveling/too lazy (like us ) to throw large parties. ..and the ones still w*rking... Eh, we just don't have much in common anymore.

 

[Walt34]

We're both introverts so rarely found ourselves hosting any large groups and certainly less since we moved to "The Sticks" in WV as it's been called. DW's sister and her husband always wanted to do the big Christmas Dinner thing and we were always happy to not take that away from them. Seriously, they'd be offended and we certainly wouldn't want to do that! (tee hee)

We may end up doing Thanksgiving dinner this year. If so we'll cook the turkey and perhaps some mashed potatoes but everything else will be potluck. Everything will go well but then, being introverts, it will take two or three weeks to recover. But if someone else decides they'd rather do it it'll take about a half-ounce of arm twisting pressure to get us to give in.

 

[meekie]

I enjoy entertaining, and one of the reasons we wanted a different house was to better entertain in. We do groups of 8-12 on a pretty regular basis (0-3 times per week), I much prefer cooking for a group instead of cooking for just the hubby and I.

I also like to throw larger parties, where we take care of everything, the food, drinks, entertainment. Lately people seem to be less comfortable about these and are always worried about what to bring.

I do a sushi night every so often, and people were so concerned about helping out, but splitting up the shopping was such a pain, that I told people they could just pitch in $10. It seems super odd to me to charge people for dinner, but it's way easier and cheaper for me to do the shopping.

I think I'm old fashioned when it comes to hosting, even though I'm only 38.

We also meet at restaurants and bars quite often, but I'm trying to get people to come over more often, since it's so much cheaper.

 

[Lsbcal]

Friends? Hmmmm....might want to try getting some of those.

Funny !!!

 

[WhoDaresWins]

My late husband and I used to host casual barbecues and large family dinners at our home.

Since I moved into my own smaller home in 2004 I have had a couple of (early on) large buffet-type parties for about 20 or so. Also had some dinner parties of six or eight but none recently (last 3 or 4 years). I get some week-end guests comprised of friends and relatives (singles and couples) but might only cook once while they are visiting. We tend to go out more to restaurants or get take-out.

I plan to retire next July and will do the cake in the office thing and drinks after in some local watering hole on the day I take the plunge. I do plan to host a large catered affair at my home a couple of weeks later by way of celebration. After that, who knows? Maybe I will have the occasional dinner party as I will have more time to shop, cook and entertain in some semblance of a civilized manner.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I also like to throw larger parties, where we take care of everything, the food, drinks, entertainment. Lately people seem to be less comfortable about these and are always worried about what to bring.

This is us, too. For many years, we'd always make sure to provide everything, but folks seem to really want to at least BYOB. It finally occurred to me that we should just let them, which saves money and also perhaps liability, if it comes to that.

Like you, though, I'm old fashioned, at 42, and think when you entertain, you should provide everything! Though I must admit that quite a few of our friends have BYOB as a default, if not also bringing a dish. And one particularly annoying case, she reminds us it needs to be a "homemade" dish, not storebought. The nerve!

 

[Moemg]

I used to entertain all the time but after 62 I lost interest . I did have a party at a local restaurant on the water . I picked up the tab for appetizers & drinks . It was a lot of fun & no clean up . I do host a huge Christamas Eve party & this year I am also doing Thanksgiving .Occasionally I also throw a Father's Day party or a small dinner party.

 

[pb4uski]

T....Like you, though, I'm old fashioned, at 42, and think when you entertain, you should provide everything! Though I must admit that quite a few of our friends have BYOB as a default, if not also bringing a dish. And one particularly annoying case, she reminds us it needs to be a "homemade" dish, not storebought. The nerve!

I hear you but it seems to have changed over the years. Around here, we pretty much expect to bring an appetizer or dessert to share when going to someone's house for dinner, as well as a bottle of wine. Just part of the culture here that people ask what they can bring when invited and the typical response is just an appetizer or dessert to share.

While it is sort of an unsaid rule that the dish should be homemade, I would find a host saying it annoying as well.

 

[jclarksnakes]

Friends? Hmmmm....might want to try getting some of those.

I got a couple of them you can have for free.

 

[F4mandolin]

I got a couple of them you can have for free.

Do they come with (good) references? Like.....do they pick up your tab at dinner? Do they come help you move? Do you have to talk to them if you are feeling like a b*stard? If so......