1. Make a List and Timeline. Your best defense against holiday entertaining stress is to make lists, schedules and timelines. We like to use Google Calendars, a free online service. Start a calendar for your event and you can access from anywhere there’s an internet connection. You can also allow other folks access which is handy if you have helpers or if you are throwing the party with someone else, as everyone will be on the same page, know their duties and responsibilities, and when the tasks should be accomplished. To start your own Google Calendar click to www.Google.com/Calendar.

2. Prep Food in Advance and Freeze. Cheri likes to prep as much food in advance as possible and refrigerate or freeze it until party time. A good freezer cookbook like Holly Clegg’s Trim and Terrific Freezer Friendly Cookbook can help (Holly always includes lots of great entertaining recipes in her books).

Go through your entire menu and see what can be done in advance and put those tasks on your planning calendar (see Tip #1). Even some refrigerated foods like cranberry sauce can be made as much as 2 weeks ahead of time.

A favorite prep-ahead holiday party food of Cheri’s (and her guests) are tamales. Sure they take work to make, but it can all be done well in advance. Keep tamales in your freezer and simply heat at party time. Bags of tamales also make fabulous homemade holiday gifts that everyone loves to get. Click here for the FabulousFoods.com Tamale Tutorial, which will teach you everything you need to know about making Latin America's favorite party food.

3. Simplify the Concept. Instead of a full dinner, consider a simple party especially if you’re a beginner host/hostess. You don’t have to take on a full dinner in order to throw a fabulous holiday party. One of the three themes below are ideas for simple parties that nearly anyone can accomplish:

• 1. Winter Warm-up – Soups, Breads and Dessert – This is an easy buffet. Simply set out 2-3 (or more, depending on how many guests you’re expecting) tureens of homemade soups, a nice assortment of good quality breads and rolls (visit your favorite bakery if you don’t have the time or inclination to bake yourself), and pick a nice dessert or two (which could also come from the same bakery as the bread). Chafing dishes, which you can rent at a party supply rental, make an elegant presentation for the soups and keep them hot all evening long, but you could also use slow cookers (borrow a few from friends) for a more casual gathering (see also Tip #7). Stock the bar with beer, wine and soft drinks.
  
• 2. Cocktails and Finger Foods – A cocktail party is much easier to accomplish than a dinner party, so much that it can even be a stop-by-after-work affair with a little planning. Either stock a full bar or see Tip # 5 for easier and less costly ideas for cocktail parties. Put Tip#2 into play and prepare your food completely in advance so you’ll just have to heat and/or serve at party time.
  
• 3. Glitz and Glamour Dessert Party – Make or a buy a variety of desserts and serve with some gourmet coffees, teas and/r hot chocolates (cocktail or eggnog optional). A dessert party makes a great later evening get together top put a fun finale on holiday evening plans – like an after skating, theater going or church gathering. Holly Clegg did a complete easy Dessert Party Plan for us, click here to check it out.

4. Calculate how much food you’ll need. For hors d’ouevres and appetizers figure about 4-6 pieces per person per hour (at least for the first few hours of the party). For desserts, calculate about 2-3 small pieces per person. Then make a little extra – it’s better to have leftovers than not enough food, and it’s always nice to send guests home with a few treats.

5. Choose 1 or 2 Cocktails. You can go crazy, not to mention broke, trying to stock a full bar. Instead choose a couple of special holiday cocktails and have the ingredients on hand to make plenty. You may or may not opt to round out the drink service with beer and wine, depending on your crowd. Below are some favorite festive cocktail recipes to get you started. Prep cocktails and mixers as much as practical in advance, so it’s quick and easy to mix up batches of drinks and keep the party flowing. It’s also nice to have a special festive non-alcoholic punch on hand for kids, teetotalers, and designated drivers.

Favorite Festive Holiday Cocktail Recipes

• Chocolate Espresso Martini
• Brown Russian Hot Chocolate
• Mistetoe Martini
• Reindeer Martini
• Frostini
• Hot Buttered Rum
• Emeril's Eggnog
  
• Larry Doll's Famous Cranberry Margaritas
  

6. Don’t forget non-food items. In the heat of preparing for a party it’s easy to forget about things like dinnerware, silverware, napkins, serving utensils, etc. Shop for these and stock up as early as possible in the season. Save a ton of money (anywhere from 50-90%) and shop the after holidays sales to stock up and be prepared for the following year’s holiday festivities. Also don’t forget about seating – if you don’t have enough chairs, arrange to borrow or rent some folding chairs.

7. Ice, Ice, Baby. Don’t forget the ice and bring out the cooler chests. It’s easy to forget about ice until guests are arriving at the door. Plan in advance and get plenty if ice. To save on refrigerator space, pull out cooler chests and ice down beer, wine and soft drinks several hours ahead of party time. In addition, figure on about 1 pound of ice per party guest as a general rule of thumb.

Need more places to ice down drinks? Consider filling any of the following places with ice and drinks:

• unused bathtubs and/or sinks
• the washing machine
• the dishwasher

8. Make Use of Slow Cookers. Slow cookers are a host/hostesses best friends. Not only can crowd pleasing dishes like soups, hot dips, fondues and other hearty fare be prepared (well in advance) and served in them (freeing up stove and oven space for other uses), they can also keep all kinds of foods warm and ready to eat throughout the evening. Hamilton Beach even makes a specific “Party Crock” which is the perfect size for hot dips and can go from electric power on your countertop to candle power on your buffet table. Click here for more information or to purchase at Amazon.com.

9. Choose Fabulous Music. Music sets the mood for a party and can make a HUGE difference in a party’s success. Plan play lists well in advance, matched to your crowd’s tastes and the mood you hope to create. Below are links to some of our favorite holiday party music collections that are just the thing to keep your party rocking and rolling (click the links for more information or to order through Amazon.com).

• Rhino’s Swinging Christmas
  
• RCA Swinging Christmas Party
  
• Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails
  
• Martinis and Mistletoe: Cool Tunes for Your Christmas Cocktail Party
  

10. Delegate. No matter the party, don’t try to do it all yourself. Try to delegate some responsibilities. Enlist a few friends to help cook, or at least delegate some of the other duties like making sure there’s enough chairs, ice, soft drinks, etc. to friends. People always want to help. Let them. See also Tip #1 to keep you and your helpers coordinated.