Come Dine With Me In Style

I love watching the TV program 'Come Dine With Me' - the voice over chap Dave Lamb is absolutely hilarious. He manages to reduce everything that occurs into quippy one liners, always tongue in cheek and sometimes very scathing but always extremely amusing.
Sometimes the foods is a bit hit and miss and the diners hover between being obnoxious or completely dim-witted. It’s curious how a table of five strangers turn up to dine and hope to build a brilliant relationship over a mediocre meal. The theme of the programme is that four or five people invite guests in turn to their home to sample a taste of their culinary expertise. After each evening during the week the other diners score the host or hostess on the event.
The score reflects upon the entertainment value, the food, how it’s presented and how welcoming the host was. This is always very amusing as everyone gets to slate the host or hostess and ridicule their menu choices and completed dishes. Bearing in mind most of the guests are by now well imbibed, the comments are always much different to what was said during the actual show in front of the other diners. As I say, hilarious.
It started getting me thinking though, what would my guests score me on for my evenings entertaining, if pushed to do so? Well I’m always careful to cook something that I’ve cooked before and ask before hand for any allergies or dislikes. I hate being stressed in the kitchen and so would always cook something that I liked doing and that wouldn’t require me being tied to the cooker all night. After all entertaining isn’t about you being a chef it’s about enjoying your guests and the food.
I tend to go for a starter that can be pre-prepared and isn’t time sensitive (guests aren’t always on time) like soup with home baked breads or stuffed mushrooms. That way you can meet and greet, settle your guests and then pop out for the starter at a convenient time.
Dessert is also a good choice to have prepped up earlier – dishes such as fruit brulee, good old fashioned tipsy trifle or tarte tatin can easily be cooked and left until after the main course is finished.
 I always think that little touches like sparkling cutlery and glassware (use steam from the kettle on glasses and polish with a glass cloth) create a lovely ambience. Flower arrangements, although simple also add a touch of elegance.
Last Christmas I designed little place card holders from small gift bags in gold with an angel name card sticking out of the top. I just found an ethereal angel picture on the web, printed onto card and then added each diners name by hand in gothic fonts. The bags were then filled with a scroll with information on the guests name and what it meant and a few famous people of that name, some after dinner mints and a small gift. This went done really well and proved to be very entertaining.
My top tips for anyone attempting a Come dine With Me would be; create a simple tried and tested menu, use the correct catering equipment and pay attention to the finishing touches like crockery, linen and flowers. But above all else – enjoy! 
You can find any equipment you need on this brilliant website here.