Living a meaningful life: hosting family and friends and the importance of social connection
When I feel like cooking or getting lost for a while in the flow and process of making a full course meal – or just something a little indulgent and sweet – for the people who mean something to me, it means I’m in a great space. I’ve always been a fan of hosting and making people feel special. We all have our own way of expressing love and care. For me, one of those ways has always been through food. Food also connects us and brings us together. We are human beings who are wired for connection. It can be a very social thing.
Currently sitting in my fridge and pantry are the ingredients to make chocolate chip muffins which I plan to drop off for my son on his weekend away. Currently going through my head are the recipes I’ll search for tonight on some of my favorite sites to make over the weekend. I am certainly no expert at all on hosting people but as I look at the year ahead and the ones that follow, I hope to create more memories with people I care about and host them in my space and so I share some of the things I’ve found special about hosting people and making it an experience. I would love to invite anyone reading this to comment as well on what you do when hosting people at your home and the little things you enjoy most about hosting or being hosted.
-Think of what you want to serve in advance and plan it out: Knowing what I’ll make and finding the recipe(s) that feels right is always a first step. If I’m making more than one thing, I’ll try to stay (or I might just stray) on a certain theme or style of cuisine. If it’s a day to stay home and it’s winter, I try to think of warm comfort food. With an upcoming book club I’ll be hosting at work, I think of bite sized desserts or some classy things to snack on like bruchetta or a warm dip. Having a plan is only the beginning though. Next comes shopping and carving out some time to get it all done.
-Getting in the mood for cooking. It should be fun and an experience. I often will put on music or a meditation and just get lost in it. I prep my ingredients and think strategically of what there is to tackle first in order to get everything out on time.
-Making it special. I think of who I’m serving and what I can do to make it look good. For my son, this often means making smiley faces with homemade energy balls and a banana or even the cute owl pancake I attempted one Christmas morning. If I’m hosting kids, I like to have fun with it and make things colorful and fun. The dishes often end up having very fun names. When I’m hosting family and friends, I think of plating things nicely, adding little touches like herbs on top, maybe getting some fresh cut flowers.
-Involve people. It’s fun to do something different and gets people involved to make their own version of what you’re preparing. Think homemade pizza where people chose among ingredients to create their own personal size pizza.
-Plan accordingly. It’s good to check in with yourself on what is realistic for you to prepare right now and where your energy levels at. Probably not realistic to pull together a lot of complicated recipes when you're going through a very busy life period. Remember that simple can be amazing and all you need are some good quality ingredients to make something sure to satisfy.
-Think of what you’re going to serve to drink. This is usually the part I forget. Our home often has just water or some form of milk or milk alternative. Although I love juice I often don’t buy it much because it won’t last – I’m a little bit of a juice addict when it’s at my disposal. But when company is coming, it’s fun to have a sparking beverage, whether alcoholic or not, or to whip up a nice homemade mocktail.
-Make as much of the meal in advance. I love being able to spend time with the people I love when they arrive and not being distracted in the kitchen. This doesn’t always pan out, but it’s good if possible to prep your ingredients in advance and start cooking and getting most of it done before your company arrives. Nothing better then arriving to a meal that’s ready to go.
So what are the things that you keep in mind when hosting family and friends? What tricks do you have to make it great?
A little something extra: In writing this article, I fell upon a book that I am definitely adding to my reading list and that may catch your attention too if you're interested in the topic of social connection: “The art of gathering: how we meet and why it matters” by Priya Parker
