How to Host a Successful Dinner Party Part II

WOW - I guess I hit a nerve. Everyone seems to have an opinion on this one. Let's go in order:

• Marissa, who are you kidding, you always bring something ;)
• Katy, now that I have it off my chest, I feel much better, and I might actually be over it. It feels great.
• Delilah, welcome to the party.
• Noelle, huh, a southern thing, that hadn't occurred to me...ditto for you, Soggy. BTW, I like just calling you "Soggy".

And that's not counting the truly verbose opinions on Nancy's blog. I truly hope I haven't offended anyone. It was meant in good fun. Back to the dinner party questions:

Mona: what to serve 10 mommies and 10 kids for lunch. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy (thank Tank for that one). Mac and cheese. Big batch, creamy, lots of shredded cheese on top. Put out a dish of peas so those worry wart mommies (you know who you are) can jack up their kids on nutrients if they are so inclined. You won't offend the vegetarians, it's easy and you only have to make one thing. For the mommies, have some "add-ins" like crab, jalapenos, green onions or sauteed veggies or more exotic shredded cheese for sprinkling - anything else "adult" you can think of. Let them add it in!! Put it all on a tray. People love to have something to do. The alternative for the kids? Muffin tins.

I realize this may be out of vogue in the age of swine flu, but try a kids' muffin tin buffet (with the hand santizer at the first stop). The first 100 times you do this with your kids they go nuts and think you are Hannah Montana...then they just start complaining again.

BTW, I saw Barbara for highlights this afternoon and have to hate you a tiny bit for having naturally perfectly colored hair.

Okay, y'all. How to host a successful dinner party is now a three part series. Part III tomorrow.

I used to think I would have a cooking/entertaining advice line, an 800 number, and call it "jeny from the wok"..huh huh...get it? Jeny from the WOK. See, it's a play on words thing. Oh, never mind. ;)