Comments on: 9 Tips for Simple Entertaining

By: Mimi

Mimi — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:34:20 +0000

Food safety is such a biggie. Fetching my kids from a friend’s house on Shabbat once, I saw saw a potato kugel steaming away on top of a big tin hot water kettle. The moist, warm conditions were perfect for creating mold, and in fact the kugel was entirely green. I wonder how long it had been heating up on top of the hot water. The lady of the house didn’t think anything was wrong with it.

I didn’t allow my kids to eat there again. Yich!

Another time my husband and I got violently sick after eating Shabbat lunch with people who didn’t hold with using soap on Shabbat. The dishes came to the table having been simply rinsed with cold water – greasy from the Friday night dinner. The whole family had gastroenteritis, and of course we came down with it too. Double yich! I never ate there again, which was too bad because the host was my husband’s boss and his wife was a nice woman (just clueless).

By: admin

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:38:29 +0000

Thanks, Ilana, for your response. I agree that often it’s best not to have too many different items.

And good point about the games–you have to know your audience.

By: Ilana

Ilana — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:58:37 +0000

It can be fun for guests to have lots of different dishes to choose from, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. It’s often better to have a little less variety but more of each item. Also, it gets complicated making too much of a variety.

Some people like “social games” and other people avoid them. A host who is into these games should keep in mind that they will *detract* from the experience for some guests. They might prefer a more standard format of conversation.