First Dinner Party
October 30, 2009

My husband and I hosted our first dinner party in our new condo last night. We originally wanted to start inviting people over for dinner in August but our house renovation project did not finish until a few weeks ago.

I was curious about how the open kitchen affects the dinner party. On the one hand, it is great to be part of all the conversation before dinner and people tend to like hanging out in the kitchen anyway, so for that it is a great advantage. However I don't like the fact that everyone can see all the dirty dishes piling up as the dinner progresses. Hard to cover up dropped food too!

I believe I am a clean cook -- I wash and put things away at each stage of the meal and try to keep my working station as clean as possible. But during a10-person dinner party, I just don't have time to do that. I always notice that cooking show hosts put dirty dishes under the counter as they cook. Perhaps I'll find a hiding place behind the kitchen island to help conceal the clutter...