I could probably swing a dessert party! Love that idea. I can bake, etc. just not an expert ‘main dish’ chef. Thanks for that thought!
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I know everyone is different about that they “require” for a meal. Some need the meat/starch/couple of vegetables route. Most of us probably lean toward being “meal pleasers for people”. But your party, your food decisions!
I’d be all in for a dessert party! I’d eat something protein wise a couple of hours before the event and then fully enjoy dessert as my meal!
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We occasionally have folks over for afternoon tea and snacks. The danger is that they occasionally stick around longer, and I then have to scramble to find something to fix for dinner! 
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We have the most pleasant couple coming over today at 4 PM with a plan of ‘drinks and snacks’ on the deck. We are having a nice charcuterie and wine and beer (including a German Radler) offering.
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So just as I was complaining that couples we invite over don’t often reciprocate, we’ve been invited over tonight. This is a couple that entertains in a more formal fashion than us, and it is always a nice time. We are expected to dress well. They will have spent a lot of time preparing the food. We are forbidden to bring anything; except we bring wine anyway. To top it off, this party will be at their French Quarter apartment, with several other couples. No way we were going to miss it, even though we have a lot going on this weekend. In-laws coming in to stay the night from out of town and want us to meet them at our house and help them with their bags even though they are not sure what time they will arrive? Sorry, y’all. Key is under the mat, bed is made and we’ll bring your bags in when we get back. Not going to miss this party, lol.
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We entertain a fair amount - while the kids were growing up, our house was THE house with the best parties for all! Memorial day BBQ and New Years Eve was always at our house - the number of people varied greatly - from around 15-150! Those big parties are no longer a thing now - but we still have people over fairly often.
Core group of 4 families - we’ll have these people over anytime. They are more like family rather than friends. Sometimes, it is an arranged potluck (we discuss what each one is bringing), sometimes we ask them to just come on over, we’ll take care of everything. My house when I was growing up was always open to friends and family - so was H’s. We’ve kind of continued that tradition. And interestingly enough, both S and D often host their friends! They tell us that our habits have rubbed off on them - in their friend circles, their house is the one where most people hang out.
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It is interesting to read about folks that don’t like dinner parties, folks that get stressed out about parties.
We have one friend who is like that. They used to come over pretty frequently before but now they almost always have an excuse. They have hardly ever invited us over to their place. Since she feels she can’t reciprocate (she gets unbelievably stressed out), she just declines invitations to our house.
I feel like after having 2 years off from COVID (and honestly the year before that with family stress), I am seriously out of practice in entertaining! Anyone else feel like that?
It’s definitely NOT like riding a bike, for me. It’s like a muscle that has atrophied. 
Having college friends over this weekend to ease me back into things. Luckily they are low maintenance.
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Yes, I feel out of practice. Pre-pandemic, I was pretty Martha Stewart-ish, liked things a certain way. Now I really just don’t care? I’m just so happy to see people - I don’t care if there are cocktail napkins or if the food is good…or if the house is spotless. It just feels special to see people at all!
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Yes. That is why we had the drinks and snacks tonight at 4 PM. The couple we chose is very accepting of anything and positive. The charcuterie went extremely well and was so easy to shop for, prepare, and serve. Really perfect.
Thank you everyone for the ideas. We used to do full dinners when we invited people over. This was so much better because it was easy for us and easy for the guests who got to choose what they wanted to eat and how much. Plenty filling if you wanted it to be. Really fun.
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I’ve always leaned that way… but more so now since Covid. For me, it all about the people. Well maybe the wine too.
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Just out of curiosity, how long did they stay? You started around 4pm??
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Until 8 PM. Time seemed to fly by. It was still light out. We nibbled the whole time in addition to walking around the house and yard. No need for dinner after they left.
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When we do a happy hour or cocktail party, the invite says “heavy hors d’oeuvres,” and we just graze the evening away. No need for a formal meal.
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rockymtnhigh2 - that sounds easy and an accessible entertaining option!! Can I ask what you served on your board?
If you are on Instagram you can search for charcuterie boards and get tons of amazing ideas.
I always put a salami rose or two on mine, though they are kind of hard to pull apart to actually eat them.
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Haha you are right Hoggirl - I’m sure that’s out there - I’ve heard of them, I know they are popular! When I look for recipes online though, I get overwhelmed by all the information and different options. Was sorta looking for a ‘this worked great’ shortcut LOL. I think with this type of thing it’s probably pretty easy to find online tho! 
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Natashaskitchen.com YouTube video of ‘how to make a charcuterie board’. H and I watched that video. It was great.
We then went to the local grocery store specialty cheese section and got Gruyere, St. Agur, Manchego, Camembert, and Brie and I cut and labeled them. Added sea salt crackers and French bread, green pesto, Italian honey, French mustard, prosciutto, greek olives, grape tomatoes, strawberries, green grapes, pecans and pocky sticks. We had a large platter I put on a bench in front of the seats.
Had bottles of white, red, and rose wines, corona beer and a German Radler.
Seriously easy, pretty and tastey. Kept well out on the deck.
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That sounds amazing, rockymtnhigh2! Lots more choices of cheese than I would have thought - good to know! All in all, seems like much less work than a full dinner and I am there for that!! Thanks! 
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We like it when these are available at Sams for entertaining
Other Sam’s items that have been popular with guests are Hummus (served with naan bread bites and veggies) and baked frozen appetizers. For a retirement party, we made small sandwiches with their mini croissants.
I like to have something cooked from scratch too, and the crowd favorite is a sautéed mushroom/garlic dish. Shrimp with cocktail sauce is good too. Both are tasty without being too much of a nutritional splurge.
Oh… deviled eggs are another popular appetizer item.
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