Getting Ready for Weekend Guests

We do a LOT of hosting around here, and I especially love having houseguests because everything feels less rushed and more homey. This weekend, we are hosting college friends and since I’ve done it a lot, I am going to share my tips on how to do it without running yourself ragged, and minimizing your time in the kitchen while your guests are visiting.

I ask my guests if there are any food restrictions that I need to be aware of, so that I can develop a menu with those in mind. I usually do that 7 to 10 days ahead of the visit. In this case, one of our friends can’t have tomatoes, potatoes, or peaches–which she hates because she loves those things, but they do not do her any favors. So, here’s the menu for the weekend:

Friday Dinner:

Grilled Chicken and Pesto Flatbread Pizza

Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Saturday Brunch:

Smoked Salmon and Boursin Cheese Frittata

Sauteed Spinach

Mimosas/Sparkling Rose/Bloody Marys

Afternoon Treat:

Bruschetta with Whipped Feta, Fig/Balsamic Jam, with Broiled Red Onions

Limoncello/Prosecco

Saturday Dinner:

Chicken Piccata

Pasta with Olive Oil and Parsley

Caesar Salad

Tiramisu

Sunday Brunch:

Open Faced Egg Sandwiches on Sourdough Toast with Havarti and Prosciutto

Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Cherries

Here’s How I Organized the Work to get ready:

Tuesday:

• Clear out refrigerator and freezer to make room
• Make Grocery List including stops at the Liquor Store and Target for sundries
• Grocery shopping
• Make Bruschetta for Saturday afternoon treat
• Clear out some space in guest room closets/dressers

Wednesday:

• Wash bedding on guest beds
• Make Whipped Feta
• Make Pesto
• Defrost Chicken for Grilled Chicken Flatbreads and Chicken Piccata (I had some, so I didn’t add to the grocery list)
• Make Lemon Vinaigrette
• Vacuum and dust guest rooms

Thursday:

• Get any items you missed on your first grocery run–I need to get Dark Rum (tiramisu), Aperol and Amaro from the liquor store, and Smoked Salmon, and Flowers
• Make up Guest beds
• Dust and clean floors in the rest of the house
• Create tablescape and set the table for Friday dinner

Friday:

• Clean guest bathroom.
• Season and grill chicken for flatbread pizzas. Cool and slice.
• Make Chicken Piccata and chop parsley for the pasta–cool and refrigerate
• Make Tiramisu
• Get ice for the cooler (my husband will do this)
• Cut up the fruit and store in separate containers to keep the cherries from staining everything.

Our guests are supposed to arrive around 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon and after we get them settled, we’ll have a cocktail (Paper Plane) on the deck. I will put the prewashed arugula in a bowl and get the flatbreads in the oven. This will take about 10 minutes. While everyone is still enjoying cocktails, I will take the pizzas out of the oven and put them on a cutting board to let them cool some and I will dress the salad. We’ll chat for 10 to 15 more minutes and then it’s time to eat.

A few tips on picking menu items:

• I ALWAYS choose items that can be put together ahead of time or are really fast to put together and hands off from a cooking standpoint. So think, lasagna, heavy dinner salads, sandwiches that can be assembled ahead of time and finished just before you’re ready to eat them, casseroles, etc. Some of my favorites are shrimp and grits, Cuban Sandwiches, and a Grilled Chicken and Tortellini Salad. The shrimp and the salad were out for this weekend because they have tomatoes.
• For breakfasts, I try to avoid the traditional pancakes, waffles, bacon, etc. that keep you chained to the stove. The frittata that I am planning to make is my go to because it’s so easy and it’s delicious. The wilted spinach takes minutes to prepare with bagged spinach and can be done while the frittata is in the oven. For the open faced sandwiches on Sunday, I’ll use my oven to toast the bread, and we’ll cook all the eggs at once.
• I limit the menu to just a few items per meal–for refrigerator space, but also to keep prep to a minimum, which is why I do casseroles, salads, etc. rather than a grilled meat which is pretty plain and requires more intricate side dishes to keep the meal interesting. Although there are ways to make that work as well–like twice baked potatoes.
• I definitely rely on pre-washed lettuces as side dishes for a lot of meals.
• I try to do a nice appetizer and cocktail which helps take the pressure off the meal itself because your guests will have already had something delicious and a little fancy.

I’m going to try to do a few more posts on this topic.