I Just Play One on TV

I like to entertain. One of the reasons we went through the painful and expensive process that is a home remodel was so that we could better accommodate guests during our parties. We have this fantastic dining room now that is perfect for small dinner parties...of which we've had exactly zero in the two years since we've remodeled.

Much of our entertaining tends to revolve around sporting events: Louisville basketball and football games, the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl. For a while it was because we were one of the few people to have a 50-inch high def flat screen TV and satellite dish. Today, that's probably known as a starter set. But people still humor us and come over for sporting events because I like to provide a lot of food, and also because we have the beer fridge (we even have a sign that points to it, so that later in the evening people can find their way there).

Back in the days before a child happened on the scene, I used to insist that I cook all the food for each party. It didn't seem right to foist pre-prepared crap on our guests; or so I thought. Plus, it was a way to show off one of the few skills in which I'm pretty confident -- my cooking skills. Well, it turns out that all my fantasies of a perfectly prepared set of dishes laid out on the table when guests arrive are just that -- fantasies. While I'm good at the cooking thing, I'm terrible at the timing thing, so I invariably would spend most of the party in the kitchen cooking like crazy while the guests mingled and watched whatever sporting event we happened to be featuring.

Little by little, I have rid myself of that neurosis. First, I began outsourcing the appetizers and dips, then the desserts. Now I pretty much just make the main dish, and let Trader Joes or Costco or Harris Teeter or Whole Foods pick up my slack. The pinnacle was our Derby party last year -- I made the requisite Derby Pie, but had the rest "catered" by Whole Foods. I received so many compliments on how fantastic and beautiful the spread was, and how I must have spent so much time slaving over it, I realized that even when presented on cheap plastic trays, guests don't really notice whether or not things are home-cooked.

So today we are having a small group of neighbors over to watch the big game. I'm trying out a new recipe for slow-cooked smoky chili. But the rest of the spread? Thank goodness for Costco.