Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time when you wanted to give a party, you called Ye Olde Family Retainer and said, "Dinner for 12, please James."
But that was light-years ago.  Now when you want to give a party, it's on you.  You plan it; you shop for it; you cook it; and nine times out of ten, you serve it.
Now, entertaining has become very personal.  So that today you must know a lot about food and drink and etiquette, for your parties either make it or they don't on the strength of your hostmanship, your planning, and your mix of the vital elements.
The ready-made party plans in this blog will help you with all three, for they are tested go togethers that make entertaining easy, right around the clock from breakfast back to breakfast.  Of course, if they're not right for you, change them; they're just a take-off point.  If you hate chicken under glass, unglass the chicken and eat it under the bare blue sky.  If black-tie dinners of ten scare you, get comfortable and serve the food suggested for six before the fire.  The joy of today's entertaining at home is the chance it gives YOU to make each party your own - your style, which is after all the best style for you.
We said that much of your party-success depends on your hostmanship.
First, then, a warning:
On The Face Of It,  it seems that a warm spirit of hospitality is the major ingredients of good hostmanship.
But To Our Alarm we find that the famous "warm spirit of hospitality" can lead you astray.  It may drive you to urge your guest to make themselves at home - a pretty terrible thing to do to them since they can't, and they won't, and if they did you'd wish they hadn't.  It may force you to urge them to eat and drink and amused themselves to the point where they have no appetite for anything.  It may lead you to entertain people whose tastes and habits are completely different from yours.  And it may cause you to try to be something you are not.
In This Case I think the requirements for a good host are self-confidence, self-respect, and a clear idea of the affection for entertaining guest.
So now is the time for all to come to the aid of the party-spirit by learning these Rules of Good Hostmanship.