Entertaining Made Easy - Renuka George

Community and relationships have always been at the heart of everything we do as a family. We love people, we love food and we find that whatever context or season we’re in, gathering people around our dining table over curry, canapes or cake have made for some of the best memories!

While I really love making a huge effort dreaming up the perfect menu, curating cohesive flavour combinations and being deliberate about choosing plates and tableware that best compliment my dishes, I always try to remember that anything I do is to celebrate the people I’m hosting and that this is my way of loving them. I’m not on a cooking show or on reality TV, my goal is to invite people into our lives and create memorable experiences and that often takes the stress or pressure out of hosting. 

I started cooking in my early twenties as a newly married homemaker with absolutely no skill or experience, but I always found cooking and hosting other people so pleasurable. So I would experiment, practice new dishes using unusual ingredients and draw inspiration from conversations where people might have mentioned their favorite restaurants or flavours or something they remember eating as a child. I use that as my starting point, to recreate an experience or dream up a dish or menu. I’ve organised elaborate themed parties with pretty decor and chic plated restaurant-style service and I also just have friends help out with the chopping, tossing or baking. The point has always been to have a good time, so whether it’s a well thought out sit down dinner, or a more rustic grazing-gathering, here are my top tips to gather people around a meal and make entertaining fun!

Plan

I work full time and I have two young kids (one’s just a baby!) so it’s vital that I try and make things as easy as possible. I always think about which parts of a dish can be made and which parts can be store bought - it’s usually a combination of the two. Most of my dinner parties are after-work spontaneous hangouts with my friends and colleagues in which case I’ll just extend what I’m cooking for my family anyway by adding a side salad or dessert! I always have a well stocked pantry of staples so it’s no stress coming up with something quick. I find rice salads are really easy to make and can be a substantial meal but also so easy. I also love making pies, they are easy to serve up in a big family size dish or even portion out for a more fine-dining vibe and most times I serve up a banoffee pie because it’s such a crowd-pleaser and always a win! For a more elaborate setting, I usually create a menu with a theme. The theme can be an ingredient, one that’s found in every course, or a colour or just a type of cuisine. This takes a bit more planning but doesn’t have to be anymore stressful. I usually pull out my favourite plates for each course and imagine the colours and textures that would look good on it and work backwards from there! I imagine a neat little swirl of angel hair pasta with some protein intentionally laid on top. Steak and mash made pretty by placing it off centre and piping the mash on and brought to life with a random scattering of micro herbs! Or perhaps bright yellow lemon curd peeking through beautifully browned meringue peaks on a royal blue plate! 

Prepare

I like to work on a few classic recipes, both sweet and savoury, and often just add simple twists to it. My classic olio aglio pasta recipe for instance has been served up several times just with a few minor tweaks, like using browned butter instead of olive oil for more nutty flavour, adding peas and bacon vs adding chicken and asparagus or mushrooms and truffle oil topped with parmesan shavings if I’m trying to be extra fancy. Basically the same dish that takes more or less the same amount of prep but just accented in different ways. I also take classic recipes and reimagine them for a bit of a wow factor. Like one time I made a 'deconstructed' Thai green curry. I just used a ramekin to shape a little rice mound on the centre of my deep-dish plate, added mini skewers of a satay style chicken on top and then served my smooth and creamy curry in individual little jars on the side for guests to pour on. An all time favourite presented with a bit of theatrics on the table, but took no more effort on my part. Win! 

Present 

This is probably the part that excites me the most. I’m always trying to make my dishes look instagram-ready. I have a few tools and tricks that I’ve picked up over the years that help and I’m happy to share them with you! 

Textures; I always try and have contrasting textures on a plate. Like nuts in my salad, or a crumb ‘soil’ with my creamy dessert. Adds a bit of variation to each.

Plates and boards; using extra large plates for small bite-sized food is such a great way to wow your guests! Or setting up a ‘cheeseboard for one’ on a mini board instead of a communal large board is also sure to bring out the cameras! 

Melon ballers; nothing cuter than several tiny scoops of vanilla ice-cream next to your warm apple pie! Or a messy pile of miniature scoops on a perfectly square piece of brownie! 

Mandolin slicers; cheap and easy to purchase but deeply satisfying when you can use evenly sliced vegies in a dish or in your salad! 

Unflavoured popping candy; my secret way of elevating a monotonous dessert like mousse! This one guarantees a surprise reaction.

Individual portions; I almost always serve things up individually for each person rather than bringing big mis-matched serving dishes to the table. It just makes it a little more special for your guests and they often will help you with the washing up! 

Table decor; whether it's standing around my kitchen counter, or seated dining at the table, I keep things simple and minimalist. Usually some foliage and plain but brightly coloured tableware for the day and a tray of assorted candles on one side with muted colours of plates and dishes for the night. It doesn't take very much if the general area around the dining table is clean and clutter free! 

Mood lighting; my husband always does a great job making our guests feel warm and cosy with perfectly soft lighting in all the right spots!

These are just some of the ways in which I make my entertaining easy and enjoyable and I hope you can too!

Written by Renuka George

Renuka is married to Sparkie and they have two beautiful children, Tobias and Selah. She is on team at Kingdomcity.