by Ara Jansen
Want to throw a great gathering this festive season? We asked an expert for some tips on how to make Christmas and festive parties memorable.
Anne-Marie Denney knows how to throw a party. As the event, fundraising and partnerships manager for Save the Children in Western Australia she has thrown plenty of successful balls and parties.
She also organises her family Christmas get-together every year. The 20-strong gathering spans four generations, from 3 months to 95 years. Usually held at someone’s home they’re vibrant and colourful affairs which don’t break the bank.
“I tend to choose a colour theme,” says Anne-Marie about the best way to decorate the space or the table. “Last year I did bright block colours – I used six different colour placemats alternating across 24 settings, brightly-coloured cushions on mismatched dining chairs, coloured water jugs and low vases of brightly coloured flowers. This year I am going for silver and pale blue – fresh and twinkly.
“It’s great to decide your colour scheme first and then you can start getting a mental picture of how you want everything to look, which can also inspire your menu and drinks. Once you have a colour theme, don’t get too excited about everything matching or you risk looking like a motel suite. It’s far more charming (and budget friendly) to have mismatched items like wine glasses that don’t match, side plates from different dinner settings or op shops, seat cushions or bows that fit within the theme but are different fabrics or patterns.”
Fresh flowers are always a great idea and can match your colour scheme or general theme reasonably easily. Liliums would be perfect for a light and open but dramatic feel while orange, yellow and pink roses in low vases are cosy. A flower at each place setting adds colour to your table.
“A Christmas tree decorated with love takes preference over a perfectly turned out one anytime. A fun thing for the kids to do when they arrive is to decorate the tree. Even if you have had it decorated for the last month, take your decorations off and let them do it again, or have a second tree especially for the purpose. It means they have something fun and immediate to do which gives parents a breather to enjoy a drink before the madness begins.”
When it comes to food, Anne-Marie suggests going for food with visual impact. Salads with edible flowers always look amazing and there are simple desserts which look great and can be made early. Plan and set the menu well ahead of time. Think through what can be done in the days prior and how long things will take to get ready to put on the table.
“I always ask my family to bring something but the lesson I have learned is to be very specific. If you want someone to bring a chicken – make sure you specify it needs to be cooked and hot or one of your brothers is bound to show up with a frozen chook. If you want a salad make sure you specify it – potato, green or fruit. People love to bring something so don’t be afraid to ask.”
At Christmas nutritional common sense often goes out the window so putting dressing and butter on the side, serving yummy salads and vegies, offering a fruit-based dessert option and having lots of sparkling water means people leave feeling great. If you serve bowls of chilled strawberries and grapes with pre-dinner drinks people will tuck into them and eat less rubbish at the other end of the day.
“Don’t try and be perfect,” encourages Anne-Marie. “On the day you must have a sense of humour and work around any obstacles that pop up with a giggle and a sense of fun. The food might burn, the freezer might defrost, it might be 40 degrees, it might rain, the Christmas tree might fall over and break all the presents, your sister might get embarrassingly drunk before the meal. When some disaster hits everyone will look to the host for a cue on how to react. If you laugh and carry on everyone will relax and have fun.”
www.savethechildren.org.au
Part of Anne-Marie’s philosophy is to make things flow as smoothly as possible on the day. This is her idea for a festive dessert which tastes great and can be made before the guests arrive. It’s like a trifle but much easier, can be lean on the calories if you choose light ingredients and won’t be too heavy if it’s a really hot day.
Anne-Marie’s Christmas Dessert
Ingredients
Vanilla yoghurt
Mixed berries
Vanilla ice cream
Crushed nuts
Shaved or crushed chocolate
Preparation
If you are making a number of these, do them at the same time. It’s easier to fill 10 containers with each ingredient rather than making them one-by-one.
Anne-Marie does these desserts in highball glasses but you can choose any fancy glass or cup. You might even make the kids ones in melamine cups (the ones you use on picnics and by the pool) so there’s less chance of breakage.
Start at the bottom with the vanilla yoghurt, then add mixed berries and vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle crushed nuts and chocolate on the top.
Serve with a spoon. Use long spoons if you’ve chosen tall glasses or find some fun and decadent ones.
Salad-e Shirazi
Ingredients
4 vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
3 shallots, finely sliced
6 breakfast radishes, cut into small wedges
2 tbsp shredded flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp chopped dill sprigs
1/4 tsp dried mint
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Edible flower petals (rose, nasturtium, chrysanthemum), to garnish
Preparation
Combine the tomato, cucumber, shallot, radish, parsley, dill and mint in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice and oil. Pour lime mixture over the salad. Season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Garnish with the edible petals to serve.
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