Spread the Love and the Food Around.

     I was thinking about the set-up for Thanksgiving 2.6 yesterday, and it occurred to me how differently I am doing things compared to 2 years ago. This past year I made a special effort to put a substantial amount and variety of food in the living room and our middle room, while adding a second place for drinks outside. This fixed an issue I noticed during a Christmas party I went to last year and a few work functions I have been to in the past, and I can't understand why people don't address the issue of too many people in too small of a space. Let's explore it and see if we can spread this nugget of vital party information around.

     I was invited to a "work Christmas party" when this traffic issue first came to my mind. This event was at a private residence with a bar in the finished basement and 2 gathering areas. The first was in the foyer and informal dining room on the first floor and what was a combo of the bar area and their children's play room. To get a drink of any sort you had to venture downstairs, and we were told the food would be available in the dining room. Now for the first45 minutes the mingling happened solely on the first floor until the first person was told the drinks were in the basement. Then the crowd of course all went downstairs to stand in line and continue to mingle while in line for soda macro beer and wine. At the 90 minute mark it was announced that food was available back on the first floor. I was starving at this point, so we made our way back upstairs to get in the second line of the night while we perused the table of tiny foods. I think it was when I had to get in the third queue at dessert time when I had my epiphany. Why aren't these people putting the food and drinks in more than one place. Unless you are at a buffet I feel it is silly to stand in line for food. It is awkward, does not allow for proper food decision making time and totally disrupts any socializing that was going on. The family/company that was in charge of this party could have made a couple simple changes and it could have been significantly nicer. Simply spreading the food to 2-3 rooms to stop that awful log jam. They could have had the drinks separated into a couple locations so the alcohol was in one space and the non-alcoholic was in another. I find it silly to be 6 people deep while trying to get a bottle of macro beer. 

     After such a wonderful night of standing in-line I decided to try and improve TH2 and not repeat the issues I encountered. Last year I made a decision to place a mildly decorated table in the living room and place appetizer/finger foods on it with a small selection of rolls and butter. The second step I took was to move our kitchen table into the middle room place a few small decorations on it. I went with a different array of appetizers and one or two heavier foods such as a soup or stew, and again some rolls and butter. As far as drinks are concerned I decided to change that up as well. We have a portable island in our kitchen and that was the key. Since TH2 is in the winter months I am able to take advantage of the cooler temperatures outside and have the whole porch be the beverage area. The island I placed on the opposite end of the porch and placed the hard liquor and wine on it. I wanted to draw people away from the beer, soda and juice section of the porch. Thankfully, with the self serve set-up I have cultivated over the years, there is never a line or a wait for anything to drink. The multiple food locations did work last year. I had to add deviled eggs to the living room table more than once, and the soup on the dining room table was almost gone by the end of the night.

     Depending on the temperature outside this year I may add a table, or some equivalent and place a small amount of food in the alfresco gathering space. The rough part will be finding a food that will stand up staying outside for a few hours at a time. Stay tuned for the food location document. Then you can map out where you would like to hit first.  So to all of the party throwers, gathering organizers and event coordinators out there, spread your food and drinks around. No lines should be seen, ever.