Bash Basics: Mastering Your Menu
Contributor Post
Entrepreneur: Brittany Garman
Company: BashBLOK
Title: Co-Founder
Industry: Event Planning
Entertaining can be an exhausting task and not to mention, very stressful. Despite all the hosting woes, I have to admit I absolutely love it. The planning, cooking, time with friends and family and best of all, the excuse to pull out fancy china never ceases to excite me. After a few years of feeling frantic anytime I hosted an event, I decided I’d had enough of the planning roller coaster and thus, designed the BashBLOK application. My goal was to create a single destination to collect ideas, collaborate with others and manage the “unfun” aspects of event planning such as tasks and budgets. BashBLOK has indeed made planning fun again and ultimately, has enabled myself and many others to master the art of entertaining. Keeping the process enjoyable all comes down to starting with the basics and taking the planning process one step at a time.
Start with a Menu
When planning any event, it is best to start with the most basic component of all…food! Food is something all will experience at an event and does have a large impact on decorations and activities so keep that in mind. With the BashBLOK application, planning a menu is a piece of cake. Keeping a BashBoard (see above photo) solely for menu items is extremely helpful especially when it comes time to start cooking if you choose to do so. Having this visual collection also allows you see if menu items compliment one another and makes editing a snap. And bonus, if items in your menu BashBoard are sourced from a particular website, say a recipe on FoodNetwork.com or other cooking sites, clicking the picture (see below photo) will take you to the recipe. This is SO much easier than bookmarking a webpage or cluttering your countertop with multiple cookbooks.
Stick with What You Know
With any menu, make sure you are comfortable with the food you are serving. Do not feel like you have to make a big culinary statement when you are entertaining because guests are honestly just happy they received an invitation. We do typically applaud being adventurous in the kitchen but experimenting without the appropriate preparation can lead to a disaster. Trying a new recipe the day of an event is never recommended unless you are a professional chef or really, really know food. Making smart menu choices can help lower the stress of entertaining and sometimes it is just better to stick with what you know. With all that being said, may your next bash be a smash!
Want tips and help planning your next event? Be sure to sign up at www.bashblok.com to experience the easiest and most collaborative way to manage all your events for free!
Providing a daily digital source for motivation and inspiration for the perfect work/life balance.
Responses