Rubs are a combination of herbs, oil and salt and pepper and other seasoning that you apply to a meat to get ready for cooking. These can be a combination of any items you like. I have several ingredients that I always include, like salt and oil, and the majority of the time I put in garlic. There are some already made rubs that are good but if you use a little creativity you can make any roast unique and tasty.

The food lover’s companion defines Brine as a strong solution of water and salt used for pickling or preserving foods. A sweetener such as sugar or molasses is sometimes added to brine.

Note that the brining process can be taken to the preserving level but when I am referring to it in the roasting sense it is just meant to add flavor. Let me explain it further. You brine a turkey for 12-24 hours and it makes the bird taste better, when you brine a loin of pork for 5-7 days then have Canadian bacon. When we refer to brining here we are only referring to the short bring process not to preserve or pickle the food.

Items that really benefit from a short brining period are poultry, pork, and some seafood, (like shrimp, scallops…). And some beef, although with beef and some other tougher meat you want to add an acidic ingredient that helps tenderizes the food, like wine, citrus fruit, cola …

When you combine the steps that we discussed earlier and use a rub and in some cases a brine your roasts will even be better.

One negative to the Food Network is the glamorization of cooking and being a chef. The book really put thing into perspective. You really have to work hard. You have to really dedicate your life to the restaurant. You have to do what it takes to make sure your restaurant will be successful. Most people can not do that, and that is why restaurants fail so often. When people ask me if they should go to culinary school, I tell them to work in a high turnover, busy, restaurant. And now I tell them to read this book.

1. Budget
If you are on a tight budget then pick items that are cheap. For instance, I love making soup. It is easy to serve in either small bowls or cups, and it is a cheap way to impress a lot of people at once.

2. Be creative.

Don’t play by the rules. Make your food the way you want to. Make it come alive with interesting flavors. Make something you’re proud of. If you’re going to do a mango salsa, grill the mangos first! If you’re going to do a salad, candy some pecans and don’t you dare use iceberg.

3. Time management.

If you want to spend time with your guests, think of recipes that you can make ahead of time. This could include almost any cold item like salads and many appetizers. Look at your menu. If you’re grilling chicken for a recipe, you can do that the day before. Also, many dishes taste better when its ingredients are given time to mingle and marinate and make merry. Get some things out of the way before the time crunch. Write schedule, so you won’t forget an important step, and you’ll give plenty of time for those potatoes to cook.

4. Shopping

Go shopping as soon to the event as possible. When you have your menu ready, take each recipe and write down all the ingredients you need for it. Then stack all these lists with each other and go to the store. Sure, you might have to walk back to the butter section four times, but you know you won’t forget it.

5. Get help

Who do you think you are – some unstoppable independent cooking machine? Don’t hurt yourself, you’re not me. Get help. Enlist the services of any teenagers loitering nearby.

Your menu needs to center around who you are inviting:

• Family
• Friends
• Business Associates
• Kindergartners
• Small woodland creatures

Also you need to look at your budget issues. Are you looking to:

• Blow their socks off
• Feed and have fun
• Lessen people’s expectation of you for the future. (in case you’re getting tired of always cooking)

Once you decide where you are and what direction you will go, then it is on to menu prep.

• Offer my services as a gift. It’s something that I am good at, and I don’t have to look at a single Bridal Registry.
• Get on the good side of the new in-law and his family
• Eat what you want for that dinner – you can “help” choose the menu. For instance, they might want boring chicken. As the chef, you can say “No, don’t do chicken. You know what is classy – Prime Rib! You should think about it.” Next thing you know you are cooking (and eating) the Prime!

I have done this in the past, and I think the most daunting element to the dinner is the amount of people. That is the whole problem with parties. I want to spend that next few posts going through some situations how I handle parties, how to plan, prepare, ect.. so stay tuned.

Disclaimer- I am not Martha Stewart’s long forgotten love child or any thing like that (at least not that I am aware of…) So please beware that this will all pertain to the culinary side of the party. Sorry-no centerpiece patterns here.