Planning a Dinner Menu:
It's a Piece of Cake!

A little-known (okay, well-known and rather obvious) secret: planning a dinner menu that your guests will love --but that won't make you work your fingers to the bone-- is just a matter of striking a balance. This means choosing dinner recipes that don't require a huge amount of time and effort to be impressive.

One thing that really helps to make this easy is choosing a theme. Is there a holiday approaching? Go with it. Do you love Indian food? Choose an Indian dinner party menu. Love Italian? Do an Italian dinner party. Thai? Then do Thai. You get the idea.

There are lots of benefits to planning a dinner menu with recipes of the same cuisine. For one, if you have to buy any special ingredients, chances are that your recipes will use many of the same ones. Even more important, the flavors will always go well together… because chow mein with a side of mac and cheese works for almost no one.

Especially for beginners, picking a theme makes planning dinner party menus easier-- and makes eating it more fun for your guests. Coming up with perfect dinner party menus shouldn't have to be a struggle-- it should be fun. Even if it's your first dinner party.

Using a chart to write out your themes and corresponding menu options makes planning a dinner menu a cinch. Just write in a dish you like for each course and each dinner party theme. One menu will probably stand out as easier, cooler, more impressive, or... whatever. It all depends on your priorities. You'll also know that you've considered each element of the dinner party menu when making your decision-- so you'll know you've make the right one.