Tip of the week: How to host a last-minute dinner
Don’t experiment; Cut the prep work; Let the numbers decide; Dress the part
Don’t experiment. The “key to spur-of-the-moment entertaining” is serving a meal that’s “rustic but really well-made.” Pick an entree you’ve mastered: “No one wants to watch you sweat it out attempting a wildly complicated Julia Child recipe.”
Cut the prep work. “Hors d’oeuvres should be simple”: cheese, charcuterie, and some olives. The same goes for dessert. Any fruit in your kitchen can be the basis of a “quick crumble.” Or just serve ice cream sandwiches on plates.
Let the numbers decide. A salad and entree will do if it’ll be just you and a friend. Add a dessert if there’ll be three dining and an “easy side” for four.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dress the part. No matter how simple the food, use china and crystal if possible. Guests should feel they’re “eating a little better” than they usually do.
Source: Allure
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
June 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize, a crispy heatwave, and congressional consultation
-
Sex, drugs and a royal ruckus: the US play with a future gay Prince George
Talking Point The controversial off-Broadway show is a hit with audiences in New York
-
Labour's brewing welfare rebellion
The Explainer Keir Starmer seems determined to press on with disability benefit cuts despite a "nightmare" revolt by his own MPs