All components of planning for parties, including emphasis on principles of menu planning, resource management, table setting, food preparation and etiquette.
Any good food and nutrition textbook.
Basic management principles must be integrated with a knowledge of meal preparation and social etiquette in order to engineer a successful party.
If menus, preparation time, and sequence are correctly planned, meals are more appetizing. Successful parties must also be correctly planned. All elements of resource management, including management of people, are integrated to allow success in entertaining.
Review the four principles for appetizing meals:
Remind students that menus planned and presented, keeping the above principles in mind, will be appetizing.
GOOD AND BAD EXAMPLES OF MENU PLANNING
Correctly mixing and matching color, shape, texture and taste result in appetizing menus. Restaurants often hire people whose job is to check their plates to see if the four basic principles are correctly utilized.
Using actual foods (if possible) discuss good and bad examples of menu planning. Brainstorm examples. Following are a few examples.
COLOR
Bad - eggs, orange slice and toast w/butter
Bad - spaghetti, beets and red punch, raspberry jello
Good - potato, green beans or peas and carrots, chicken
TEXTURE
Bad___scalloped potatoes, chicken a-la-king, creamed peas
Good___potatoes and gravy, steak, green salad
SHAPE
Bad___hamburger patty, potatoes and gravy, sliced round carrots
Good___fish sticks, scalloped potatoes, mixed vegetables
TASTE
Bad___orange juice, lasagna, sherbet for dessert
Good___grape juice, lasagna, vanilla ice cream
There are also BASIC RULES TO PRESENT A MENU IN WRITING for a formal occasion.
NOTE: Beverage is always listed last. Others, except bread, appear in the order consumed.
INVITATIONS are the first impression of a party. Some guidelines can help in making inviting invitations.
Guidelines in planning an invitation are:
LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TEACHING STRATEGIES
OPTION #1
Review the resource example of a luncheon menu and allow the students to use the rules to formulate their own menus.
OPTION #2
Students will practice making party invitations and in correctly writing a menu for a formal occasion.
OPTION #3
Students will complete a work plan for a party using the following worksheets:
PARTY PLANNING
SAMPLE PARTY WORK SCHEDULE
PARTY PLANNING PROJECT SCORECARD