I am interested in organizing a Progressive Dinner Party....?!
I am interested in organizing a Progressive Dinner Party....?
Has anyone ever done this? How many courses should there be? Do you pull names from a hat to decide where to start and help determine which course each participant is responsible for? Is the main course all at one home or can it be split up too?
Answers:
The number of courses and what to bring needs to be based on your number of participants and how far apart the chosen homes are. Things to keep in mind:
1. Decide well in advance where and when and then printing up the courses along with maps of where they should be.
2. Make sure everyone knows how much to make of whatever they are making and at which course it needs to be delivered.
3. Decide whether people should drop off their dishes at that stop before the dinner begins or as you progess.
4. Make sure everyone knows and sticks to the time tables.
5. The host at each stop needs to stay at their own house until that course is over - kind of a downer, but that way they can answer the phone for directions and be the first to arrive and last to leave their own house.
6. Pick themes for the dinner - Italian, French, foods that begin with F, red foods, etc.
7. Do a dry run drive - make sure you know if roads are under construction, are going to be hard to get to during your time of night, etc.
8. At each stop, do a count or check to make sure everyone is there - never leave a diner behind!
You can definitely have a good time with a progressive dinner - I've had fun with several. Three homes is a good start - especially if they are close (walking distance is fabulous), and then you can go with starters (salads, appetizers), main course (with sides), and dessert/cheese course. If you have a ton of people, you can be as ambitious as you like and have a full on 7 course dinner, as long as it's well-planned.
I have been to a progressive dinner party. You can really do it however you want. The one I went to had three stops: appetizer, soup and salad, dinner and dessert. But you could split it up however it works best. Drawing names out of a hat is a good way to do it.
You don't really need to stress yourself over this Dinner Party. You should just ask each guest to bring at least 1 dish (anything they want) and you can supply the dessert & drinks. You can use your dining table to put all the food, drinks and dessert on it. Then every one can serve themselves when it's time to eat (kinda like a buffet serve yourself type of thing). The party will be fun and fair because everyone brought something to eat, they can all share each others opinions on recipes or how they like it. GOOD LUCK!
I'VE DONE THIS WITH A WORLD THEME that way you can serve different foods from different countries and nothing has to be specific...Chinese is a really great theme because there are so many type of appetizers to choose from...you. can actually have them at more than one home....then the main course can be divided up between one or more homes....I 'VE DONE THIS by having one main dish at one home...like a sweet and sour dish...and then a vegetable and beef dish at another home...and the last home ...wow the coffee, brandy and desserts..... THE world food ideas gives way to some really great gift bags to send home with the last stop including gifts from Pier one or world market..even cool hand painted wooden items that I HAVE found at wholesale import and dollar stores....and it's great to even include all the recipes from the evening at the end in your gift bag.........fondue is a great item to try...you can do anything from desserts to main dish with fondue......I'VE EVEN RENTED A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN for my event before...BON APATITE!