Dinner Party Blog

Make-ahead appetizers

Make-ahead appetizers minimize last minute dinner party hosting stress. Here are some perennial favorites to light up your guests eyes when they walk into your living room.

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Dinner party: Dinner party ideas and party planning

Put the zest back in your dinner party. Cherry pick this website for table centerpiece ideas, table-setting basics, make-ahead recipes,dinner party etiquette & more

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Appetizer recipes

Appetizer recipes to whip up well in advance of your guests’ arrival. From cheese and crackers to vegetable trays to shrimp rings, all are perennial favorites

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Thanksgiving Dinner ideas

Thanksgiving Dinner ideas and make ahead Thanksgiving dinner recipes to make sure you spend time in the living room with family and friends instead of by yourself in the kitchen.

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The CD, "Dining With Jazz" by the group Dining With Jazz

I like to use this CD for dinner music because it is produced just for use as dinner music so there are no long solos or far out abstract jazz; just very

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Hollywoods Golden Age

I like to play music from the 40s and 50s-Hollywood. Like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin

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Favourite Dinner Music

Soft understated Jazz, Classical, Relaxation

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Make ahead recipes: Main dish recipes to make ahead

Make ahead recipes for the main dish. Bliss! Imagine choosing from these make ahead chicken dinner recipes, cooking one and tucking it away in the fridge

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Favourite Dinner Music

Soft understated Jazz, Classical, Relaxation

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Yanni

He has the perfect mix of soft flowing music and then some dramatic which moves the room to conversatio

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Quiet Jazz, Blues and Classical

I like quiet, understated jazz or blues, or sometimes quiet classical music. But I also like to mix it up and have several styles of music on the CD stacker

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Lounge-style music

A compilation CD of lounge-style music - Putamayo World Lounge CD, or the Sequoia Buddha Lounge CD - a melodic line but also gently repeats and

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Dinner Music Choice: Under the Missouri Sky: Pat Methany and Charlie Hayden

My general rule of thumb is keep it lyrical in tone, avoid the frantic stuff (e.g. be bop, some classical stuff with annoying frantic flourishes).

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Madeleine Peyroux

Madeleine sings a very soft blues/jazz type of music. Very soothing. Her music is not jarring or invasive but soft and mellow. Perfect background

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Choosing Dinner Music

Dinner music creates a soothing environment, but be sure to make it a supporting player, not a star at your dinner party. Choose quiet background music for this occasion.

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Holiday Dinners

Holiday dinners can make create as much stress as joy. But you can change that. Find the secret here of relieving stress and keeping the joy of your holiday dinners, throughout the cycle of the year.

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New Years Eve dinner menu

New Years Eve dinner menu - it's a time for sophisticated dining. Read how to choose a New Year’s Eve dinner menu to serve a ravishing dinner without spending all your time alone in the kitchen.

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Easy recipes and easy cooking tips

Easy recipes make for easy dinner parties. Yes, with easy recipes and easy cooking tips you can throw a delicious AND stress-free dinner party. Take a few minutes and browse for your tips now.

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House cleaning tips for a dinner party

House cleaning tips to sparkle up your place in the shortest time when you're hosting a dinner party

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Traditional Christmas dinner

Three tips to make sure you can host a traditional Christmas dinner that is also an easy Christmas dinner . This is a time for you to enjoy the day along with family and friends.

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