Entertaining

I make way too much out of parties. I know this about myself, and yet I can't ever seem to keep myself from overthinking each and every detail of the entertaining experience. I have a pillow on my couch that says "WWMD-What would Martha do?" and people regularly come to my house and comment on how appropriate this is. But for some reason, even if my previous party bombed, the slate is wiped clean and nothing can keep me from being excited about the propsect of having the next great event.

One of my recurring party rituals is to produce way too much food for the number of guests in attendance. Always better to have too much rather than too little, right? My most recent gathering made no exception to my rule. Billed as a simple lunch/brunch/snack, I could have kept the meal pretty straightforward. Instead of just one kind of sandwich I insisted on three: ham and brie, turkey and cheddar, and egg salad, for the vegetarians in the group of course. I set up a yogurt parfait bar with berries, granola and yogurt. There were raw veggies and dip, including green beans and pea pods, my favorites. There were Terra chips that everyone thought was pot pourri--those didn't go over too well. Since it was cold, very late last night Peter made a white chicken chili in the slow cooker. I had lemonade and fruit punch, and orange juice and champagne that never made it out of the fridge. For a sweet finish, cupcakes of course (white cake, raspberry filling, white frosting), and chocolate covered strawberries. Wait, did I forget to mention the lemon hummus with pita bread?

All this for about 10 people, when clearly I was more prepared for 20 to 30. I was feeling under the weather Thursday-Friday, which made the preparation challenging, and in the end I feel a little let down. Why did I make so much food and now what do I do with the leftovers? I fear the leftovers will rot and mold as they tend to do in our house, when our fleeting attention spans have moved on to the next meal. Am I left with so much extra because summer is approaching and people are more eating more sensibly and exercising portion and calorie control? I'll figure it out, and will still look forward to the next party. But with me and party food preparation, it's kind of like drinking too much alcohol. You swear you'll never do it again but then find yourself right back in the midst of the exact same thing. And enjoying it.