With Chanukah around the corner, you might be starting to get
into the holiday party frame of mind. And maybe this year you want to
skip your second cousin twice removed’s boring party with stale latkes
and throw one of your own.

Th ere are plenty of ways to throw a festive holiday party this season
without breaking the bank or setting your kitchen ablaze with over-
cooked meatballs.

One tip for throwing the ultimate holiday get-together: Play to your
strengths, said Keri
White, who frequent-
ly writes the food col-
umn for the Jewish
Exponent and its food
blog, Philacatessen.

When you’re pre-
paring a party and
you’re not the greatest
cook, don’t try a su-
per involved dish that
those Tasty videos
make look so easy.

“If you are really
creative into cooking,
then make that your
KERI focus. If you love to
set a beautiful table,
make that your focus
and then simplify the meal. Don’t try to do every single thing,” White
advised. “Don’t make a completely new recipe that has 4 million ingredients
and 77 steps, and weave your own linen tablecloth, and grow your own
fl owers for your centerpiece,” she added. “Focus on one really big pri-
ority and then make everything else manageable.”
Th at includes making the cooking manageable.

As the host of the party, you don’t want to miss the actual party
because you’re in the kitchen for two hours.

“Don’t plan a meal that requires tons of last-minute preparation.

Try to do something that you can do ahead, pop in the oven and then
pull out and serve,” she suggested.

(Or if you’re like me and are not great at actually cooking, you could
try a Crockpot meal.)
Make it something scalable, as well, to better increase the amount
of food depending on how many guests you’re expecting.

“Do a big braised lamb shoulder or a couple roasted chickens or
something like a big casserole that you can do ahead and you can dou-
ble and triple and make for a big crowd,” she said.

If a big dinner isn’t your thing, you can stick to appetizers — but
make them mess-free and easy to eat.

Namely, skip the bruschetta. Yes, it’s delicious, but it also falls apart
as soon as you take a bite.

Instead, White said, make appetizers that are small and simple, no
bigger than a quarter. If you make a cheese plate, cut the pieces up so
they’re easy for people to just take and eat.

“If it’s something people have to work to eat or you do a crispini with
a slice of fi let on it, people are not going to take that because it seems
like it’s going to be messy,” she said. “If you’re doing a sit-down dinner,
don’t overdo the appetizers because people pig out on the appetizers,
and then you cooked this beautiful dinner and nobody eats it.”
You’ll also need some drinks to go with your delicious meal,
of course.

White suggests creating holiday-centric concoctions — skip the
Manischewitz — but don’t forget to create an accompanying non-alco-
holic drink for your underage cousins or party guests who don’t drink.

Th e Daily Meal has plenty of Chanukah-themed recipes that would
surely provide some inspiration.

Th e Chocolate Gelt Cocktail, for instance, requires 3 ounces choc-
olate vodka, 1 ounce Goldschläger and cocoa powder for garnish. Put
the ice in a cocktail shaker and add the chocolate vodka. Shake well,
and strain it into a martini or cocktail glass. Add Goldschläger and
gently stir.

Or the Chanukah Gift Cocktail, which uses 3 ounces chocolate vod-
ka, 1/2 ounce Sabra (chocolate-orange fl avored liqueur), and a small
chocolate gelt coin, chocolate kiss or chocolate Baton (unwrapped).

Add the ice, vodka
and Sabra in a cock-
tail shaker. Shake well,
and strain it into a
martini or cocktail
glass. Garnish it with
a chocolate candy.

Beyond the food
— though that is
arguably the most im-
portant — there are
other ways to create a
festive atmosphere.

Scan Spotify for
some holiday play-
lists to have on to fi ll
WHITE the awkward lulls in
conversation or just
provide some festive
background noise. Or if you’re like White’s family, you might end up
just dancing, which is OK, too.

Some suggestions: Th e “Hanukkah” playlist by Spotify, which
features holiday tunes by such artists as Carole King, Neil Dia-
mond, Matisyahu, and, of course, Adam Sandler; PJ Library cre-
ated a Hanukkah playlist there as well; fi ll the room with the a
cappella sounds of groups like the Maccabeats or Six13; the Ru-
grats Chanukah soundtrack, if that exists; or just Sandler’s “Th e
Chanukah Song” on repeat the whole time if you actually hate the
people at your party.

Setting the table — and perhaps creating a seating chart to avoid an
awkward game of musical chairs — is also a key element to a successful
holiday party.

You could scatter some plastic dreidels and gelt across the table for
aesthetics, or a mid-meal snack.

White outlined a few suggestions for a centerpiece: fl oating candles,
a vase of fl owers, or you could even create a bowl and have people
write questions on pieces of paper and pull them out during the meal
to get to know each other.

Ask open-ended questions like “Where would you like to travel this
year?” or “What is the best fi lm you’ve seen?”
Another suggestion was to have everyone bring a small gift and
play a round of Yankee swap or white elephant, where you can swap or
keep gift s (it is Chanukah, aft er all).

But no matter what, one key tip White suggests: Hire a clean-
up crew.

Aft er the party is over, having a cleanup service, even if it’s just a
local teenager out to make some extra money, clean up the party is a
lifesaver, White said.

It helps the host enjoy the party without picking up trash the whole
time or having to save it all for the next day.

Change around your budget if necessary — skip the Champagne
and opt for prosecco or swap the fi let for a pot roast to save some mon-
ey for the cleanup service.

“It’s like, the best holiday gift to yourself you can give,” she said. l
“If you are really creative
into cooking, then make that
your focus. If you love to set a
beautiful table, make that your
focus and then simplify the meal.

Don’t try to do every single thing.”
— JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
mstern@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
WINTER HOLIDAY MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 23, 2017
19