#3 Keep the Main Spring Flowing:

Use only the best ingredients: "The Best" liquor for a drink is not necessarily the most expensive; it's the one that you think the most agreeable.  The best ice for any drink is plentiful, clear and brilliant.  Keep ice maker scrupulously clean; and if your ice still looks cloudy, consider using ice cube trays with filtered water.
Use only exact measurements:  Pouring by eye introduces variables even for pros.  Measure so you can repeat your successes exactly.  Measure for only one round at a time.  And don't confuse generosity with hospitality:  a reliable 2 ounces is smarter than a freehand pour.
Line up the tools before mixing a drink:  Set up all ingredients before beginning to mix.  A drink that languishes in the shaker while you round up a glass or garnish, is a drink bruised.  For quick pouring, have glasses lined up rim to rim.
Use pre-chilled glasses:  Drinks that start cold should stay cold, which means pre-chilled glasses of the proper size and shape.  (The function of a stem is to keep warm hands off cold but iceless drinks.)  When you haven't time to refrigerate them in advance, fill glasses with crushed ice and let them shiver while you mix the drinks.  Then; dip ice, wipe glasses, pour drink.
Further fine points on making particular types of drinks are:
One-The-Rocks:  Crack the ice a little (those extra surfaces will help chill the liquor faster).  Then, before putting ice in glasses, drain it of excess water; a strainer slung across the ice bucket does it.  Ice in glass, then liquor; a jostle, not a stir, to hurry cooling.
In A Pitcher:  Pre-chill pitcher.  Use plenty of slightly cracked, drained ice.  Measure ingredients quickly onto ice; swirl or stir only until cold.  Strain pronto!
In A Shaker:  Use cracked ice, small pieces drained of excess water.  Really shake; don't merely rock.  Ten seconds of shaking will add about half an ounce of water per drink so hurry.
In A Punchbowl:  Pre-chill ingredients to avoid excessive dilution.  Dissolve sugar first, partly fill bowl, ease in ice block, pour punch over.
In A Blender:  Any drink recipe that says "shake and strain" may be made in an electric blender, but the ice tends to liquefy, so use less and run the motor the shortest possible time.  Follow manufactures' instructions about crushing the ice before adding it to the blender in order not to bend the blades.  Most blenders will not crush ice.
For Frappes:  Strain the drink of its shaker or blender ice onto fresh, fine-shaved, non-puddling ice in cold glasses.
With Carbonated Mix:  Ice first, liquor over, then cold mixer.  Stir gently to preserve sparkle with glass.
With Sugar:  Use extra-fine granulated sugar.  This, and not confectioners' sugar, is what bar books mean by "powdered" sugar.  When mixing in a glass, make sure sugar is completely dissolved in a bit of liquid before you add the ice and liquor.  To make it, dissolve one pound of granulated sugar in one-half pint of warm water; store it in bottles in a cool place.
To "sugar-frost" the rim of a glass, dip the rim of a pre-cooled glass first in fruit juice, then in sugar.
With Egg:  To avoid the raw taste of egg white, use less of it.  To avoid the curdly shreds that too often ruin a Tom and Jerry, or any drink make with hot liquid and egg, first warm the egg with a very little bit of the hot stuff, then add the warmed egg to the hot milk or water.  In both operations, add slowly, stir wildly.
With Fruit:  Wash skins first if they're to go into a drink.  The peel should have no trace of white underskin;  a paring gadget makes this easy.  Slices should be about a quarter-inch thick; slit with knife before slinging on glass rim. Juices should be fresh except when recipe says otherwise; squeeze and strain just before using.  All garnishes should be moist-fresh and cold.  When prepared in advance, cover with a damp dish towel, and store in the refrigerator.

How To Make Your Parties Run Like Clockwork

What follows is #2 of the 17 Jewel, clockwork planning:

2.  Make the invitation crystal clear:

Whether you invite people by telephone, by note, by evite or computer e-card, or in person (all correct for all but formal affairs) be sure to make the following specific:  the place, the date, the hour or span of hours, and the kind of party.  (People want to know particularly if you are going to feed them or if they should make other plans for the meal that might conceivable fall into these hours.)  Add, unless this can be safely taken for granted, the appropriate dress.

You would not, we hope, say, "Come take pot luck," when you knew very well you were going to have a dressy crowd and a caterer.  Nor would you lead your friends to get all duked up if you knew that you were going to be tie-less and the other guests were coming straight from the golf course.  Ignorance is not bliss, particularly for women, so give them a straight steer with your invitation.

The word you use, of course, means a lot:  with "supper" you suggest a buffet, probably large and late, where "dinner" means a sit-down meal at a prescribed hour.  "Tea" means what it says, and guests are adequately warned.  In very formal circles, "We're not dressing," means quite opposite to the normal mind; it means black tie instead of white.  There's no code word for blue jeans, so give direct clue and live up to it yourself.

Your invitations should be out at least a week before the event - two weeks if you expect replies.  Three weeks is not too far in advance for large parties or busy seasons, but, except for a wedding, for weeks' notice has all the vise-marks of a bear trap.

What Follows is 17 Jewels: How to Make your Parties Run Like Clockwork

What follows is 17 jewel, clockwork planning:

1.  Balance the Guest List Minutely:

To begin with, give yourself an even break on the company.  Invite only people you like and who will get along together.
For a small party, where the guest will have no escape from each other, it's vital that they have interest in common.  Therefore, they should not be too much alike.  They want stimulation, should complement, not compete with each other.  For this reason, stick to only one prima donna per small dinner table.
At a large party, you can relax with the invitation list if you will take a little more care with the on-the-spot matchings, and be alert to its pitch as the party progresses.  You can invite both the Republican and the leftist, if also you have two or three others whom each will enjoy: a fellow fisherman who won't mind a few political edicts; an attractive woman who will bring the subject around to her specialty when the atmosphere gets charged.  You stack the cards your way if every guest has at least one talkable interest in common with every other guest.
Having constructed this great and congenial guest-list, the next cog in the gears of good party-giving is to...

How To Make Your Parties Run Like Clockwork

Behind every perfect host and every perfect party is perfect planning...

Planning that starts with the guest list and ends with the umbrella that guides the last guest to their car.

Planning that anticipates a guest's needs before they do.

Planning that provides memorable food and drink as casually as if it were food for the gods.

Planning that permits a host to be so relaxed, that lets a party flow so naturally, that no one ever wonders what makes the wheels turn, only says, "What a good time I had!"

What follows is 17 jewel, clockwork planning:

Rules of Good Hostmanship

6.  Wind Up the Evening with an Individual Good-Night:
You started the party with a warm and personal welcome; now wind it up with a warm, personal good-bye.  Not a long doorway discussion, however.  So don't be guilty of a "that reminds me" just as you turn the door-handle.
If you live in an apartment, you should see your guest into the elevator, while your apartment door remains ajar.  If you've tipped the doorman, let your guest know that "Richie will see that you get a cab."
In the suburbs, you should see your guest to their cars and stand there until they drive from your property - whether or not you've over-coatless and freezing.
And whether you live in the city or the country, you must see that no woman has to go home alone, however she may insist that she is not afraid of the dark.  Either arrange in advance that she be dropped off by another person or couple, or ask her to stay so that you can see her home - leaving with, not after, the last guests.  In the rare instance where neither of these is possible, at least see her into a cab and telephone later to make sure she has arrived home safely.

Rules of Good Hostmanship

5.  No Clock-Watching Allowed
Even when the joint is out of time, etiquette says you must be tireless.  You are at the mercy of an overstaying guest.  And so long as they care to remain, you must appear delighted with their company and regretful when they leave.
Your invitation, it's true, set a now or never for departure, (well, at least "dinner" doesn't ordinarily mean "for the week-end") yet if some guests simply cannot end an evening, you must make the best of it - perhaps even be flattered.  While you may learn to refer casually to morning meetings, or lead up to gourmet discussions of breakfast, you must resist the temptation to close the bar, prepare black coffee, or yawn.

Rules of Good Hostmanship

4.  It's Central Standard Procedure to Stay Sober:
It is a hallmark of the perfect host that they enjoy their own party, but not too much.  Though they seem to be just another guest, they must never let their own drinking interfere with their navigation duties.  Of course, every person determines early in life how much liquor they can carry without losing their poise, equilibrium, reputation, and civil liberties, but their capacity-quotient is especially important, and possibly lowest, when they are host.  Watch for your own danger signals!