This month, Virginia Willis, the food stylist for "The Main Ingredient, " shares some hints for great entertaining without straining your budget!

Entertaining On A Budget

One of my dearest friends, Evan is getting married at the end of the month. Two of my other best friends and I are hosting a cocktail party in honor of the marriage. The three hosts live in different states so to plan the affair we had a conference call a couple of weeks ago. It was real comedy. We've all been friends for almost 15 years and we've seen it all. Not only are we all pretty strong personalities, but also we are all fairly opinionated. We each have our own ideas about just how this party will be, so we have to meet in the middle.

Small Budget, Big Plans

The point is that we are on a budget. There will be 50 or so guests and we're hoping to spend around $300 total. That's fairly restrictive for that many people. It may sound like a lot of money, but once you include food, drink, buying plates and napkins or renting wine glasses the money disappears fast. However, that's real life. We know a place in where we can buy simple white plates in bulk. If you are planning a party, get on the phone and shop around! Also, don't forget about the cost of invitations and stamps. My friend and fellow host, Stacy is a whiz on the computer so she's taking care of printing the invitations. Save when and wherever you can.

As a host you want people to eat, drink and be merry but you certainly don't want to run out of food or drink. Always expect guests to take two of everything. If you expect 45 people then you'll need at least 90 cheese straws. Some people eat more, some less - but that's a good "rule of thumb."

Planning is absolutely imperative. We have to divide and conquer to get things done. The first point is to figure out the menu. We are having light hors d'oeuvres and wine. We are having the party from 8:00 to 11:00 pm. That's clever time. It's after supper so people have already eaten. Also, stating a close on the invitations is a really good idea.

The Menu: Eat Luxe, Pay Less

So, where do we start? There's the ubiquitous vegetable crudite, but it doesn't have to be inherently boring. Some ideas:

Do not, I repeat, do not, buy the pre-assembled plastic platter from your local grocery store. Keeping color and texture in mind, try different vegetables. Don't buy lots of expensive red peppers but instead fill in with less expensive cauliflower. You'll need a mix of at least 6 or so vegetables. There is a nice farmer's market nearby, and I usually buy small red creamer potatoes or if I can find them, the purple Peruvian potatoes. If asparagus is too expensive or out of season I suggest using haricot vert (young tender green beans). I always blanch my vegetables to al dente in a flavorful court bouillon. They don't need to be fully cooked - just take the edge off. (Except of course, the potatoes.) When they are just right I "shock" them in ice water to stop the cooking. For the carrots I'll add a few pieces of fresh ginger and a cinnamon stick to the cooking water. For the broccoli florets I'll throw in a few whole peeled and crushed cloves of garlic and a tablespoon or so of rich, green extra virgin olive oil. For the yellow squash I'll add a few slices of lemon and a sprig or two of fresh thyme. These aren't really recipes and there are no hard fast rules to play by. The key is to give the vegetables a bit of depth. Use your imagination. Cheese boards can be expensive. Nice cheeses domestic or imported can be very pricey. But cheese is a good finger food. Instead, make a cheese dip to serve with crackers and bread:

Finely grate a nice piece of Gruy, re (the real Swiss cheese) and Parmigiano-Reggiano, the King of Parmesan. These cheeses are expensive but combine them with a less expensive cheese such as cheddar. (Grate the cheddar as well.) Add softened cream cheese, a bit of butter and flavorings such as finely chopped garlic, minced sun-dried tomatoes, freshly chopped fresh thyme and flat-leaf parsley A pinch of cayenne pepper will pick up the pace. Combine until well blended. Taste and adjust for seasoning. The mixture should be very flavorful. Don't forget dishes to be served cold should always be very well seasoned.

We are also going to prepare a spinach mushroom dip:

Both spinach and white button mushrooms are fairly inexpensive and I absolutely swear by frozen chopped spinach for purposes such as this. I simply saute a bit of garlic and shallot in butter or olive oil, Add the defrosted spinach and cook 3 to 5 minutes or so to heat through. Drain well to remove the excess moisture and blend together with sour cream and maybe a bit of cream cheese. Taste and adjust for seasonings. If you want to feature meat or seafood I suggest something such as smoked salmon. It makes a "statement" and my friend and fellow party-giver Lisa has told me that a wholesale club in her area sells sides of smoked salmon for around $18. That's a good price. No, it's not wild salmon netted from the fiords of Norway, but it will serve our purposes just fine. The beauty of serving smoked salmon is that people are not likely to eat a lot of it. The salmon is served in thin delicate slices that will indeed go

continued in part 2