Me Me Me

In our 32 years in New York, we have given a lot of cocktail parties. A LOT. For years, we threw a Christmas party featuring a spiral-sliced Honey Baked ham from Georgia, and I made weird things like bourbon balls and 70s-style marinated mushrooms and swedish meatballs. I toasted pecans, and my mother would ship up a batch of cheese straws  – it was all vaguely southern. Mix your own drink in a plastic cup. 

Now we’ve moved up to caterers and rented glassware and helpers to pour drinks and round up abandoned plates and napkins. We had 50 people over last night to celebrate our fabulous new minister and his wife. Did you know that Presbyterians enjoy cocktails? Well, in Manhattan, they do. And I had much more fun than when I attempt a (stressful!) dinner party. I love seeing a steady stream of people come through my door, smiling and ready to have a great time on a Friday night. And when the party guests know and like one another, so there’s no pressure to help different “worlds” of people mingle? It’s just the best!

I have a book called Entertaining Is Fun!, written in 1941 by the society decorator Dorothy Draper and filled with hilarious tidbits about olives wrapped in bacon and choosing caviar and how the maid should behave. But I’ve gotta agree with Dorothy when she advises, “Plan your party so that you and your husband (we hope you have one) will have a good time and your guests will have the time of their lives.” Amen.