Label Those Dishes!

Here's a very simple idea that my mom used to do that really simplifies hosting a big special meal: Long before the food for the meal is ready, find serving dishes for everything and label them for whatever food you will be filling it with. "Post It" notes work great for this or just little slips of paper are good, too. This eliminates that annoying problem of running out of serving dishes and having to frantically search for a dish while the food is getting cold and people are getting hungry. And if you get the serving utensils ready ahead of time and paired up with the dishes then that's even better!