Hosting 101 for the holidays

Holidays are all about making memories, but hosting can sometimes feel like it's a full-time job. So we are making entertaining a little easier and a lot more delicious with three simple tips from the founder of Eventful ATL, Taylor Kelly, and one of their instructors, Morgan Prime George. They are both here with me this morning to make guests feel special without all of the extra stress, which is right up my alley. Good morning to you both. Absolutely. Good morning. It is that time. I know we were talking during the break. The holidays are just It's rolling right along on us awfully quickly. Yeah, we have a tree up already in our holiday space. It's time. It's time to get to these tips. And I know we've got a lot to get to. So, Morgan, I do want to start with you. And something that, you know, people think of as being very luxurious, but you have a way of making it accessible. Tell us what you've got here. Yeah, so here we have a simple caviar set up. There's many different types of caviar that you can get. This one here happens to be an Etcetera. But there's also like a smoked trout roe that's really good, really simple. But my favorite thing about hosting caviar is you really don't need a lot of the pomp and circumstance, right? That comes with maybe like a traditional pairing or, you know, a pairing that just involves too much. A simple kettle-cooked potato chip is a perfect vehicle for caviar, some fresh chopped chives, and a little creme fraiche. That's really all you need. Keep it super simple. I was going to say, again, something that sounds so fancy, but making it approachable so anybody can really enjoy it here. Exactly. And a host for a holiday party, have this simple setup, let people come and graze as they want. It's perfect. It's easy. And the host can get back to the party. And already elevated that party experience. Absolutely. Kind of right out of the gate. Okay. I will admit, I didn't know this, mostly because I have never served caviar myself. But if there's leftover caviar. Yes. So very, a little controversial. However, I have tested this. It works, but you can actually freeze it. Okay. You can freeze it for about up to a year. But what's important is that if you do freeze it, you want to slow thaw it back in the refrigerator for about a week, and then it'll be ready to enjoy again. Okay. And perfect. Good to know. Yeah. Because you don't want to waste any. Absolutely not. Although I suspect that there might not be much left over. That's usually not the goal. What is leftover caviar? That is the goal. So we've got the appetizer covered. Taylor, let's talk about, you know, sort of that first moment when guests come in to make them feel welcome. What should we consider here? Yeah, so, you know, I think, so today we have a Symphony of Leaves tea. It's a tea company that has true teas, loose leaf. So that means it's from the Camellia sinensis plant. Thank you. That's a whole other story for another day. But what I always like to tell people is, like, you know, not everyone drinks, you know, champagne or wine. So it's nice to have an alternative. And what I also love is You know, you can obviously have some blended teas that you like, some holiday flavors, but you don't necessarily know what everyone loves. So one of the things that we like to do, and we do a lot of activations, but I also keep it in my house when I'm not, is setting up sort of like a tea blending scenario where you can have a couple of different things. Like, for example, here we have some lemon verbena, you know, we have. Different things, like you can have some fresh and dried ingredients like sliced oranges and then a few different base teas. So when your guests arrive, you can give them something that's sort of accustomed to them, make them feel at home, and give them another alternative option. I was going to say, I love the idea of, I mean, it sounds like, one, you could make it seasonal with whatever different flavors. Cinnamon sticks are wonderful for the holiday. Yeah, but also maybe make it interactive. I mean, people get to choose what they want. Yeah, and I think it's such a welcome situation for them to come and, you know, something custom for them on site, you know, without a big uplift. Well, and like you mentioned, not everybody necessarily wants alcohol. So this is something that everybody can enjoy. Great, because you can literally, once again, the host can get back to hosting their party and enjoying after that setup. That is always the key right there. Like that's when you know you've mastered hosting. You're trapped in the kitchen. Everybody else is having a great time. All right. So we've welcomed everyone with a great appetizer. We've We've got the tea. get to what sort of, it tends to be sort of the centerpiece or the star of the show here, the charcuterie. It is, absolutely. So we have today, if these boards could talk, Brandis Jolly is the owner of this company. And basically she is like a lifestyle hosting brand. And one of her biggest things is to have fun with charcuterie, right? Making, like everything else, making it approachable, as we always say. But as you can see, like, This is a Christmas tree out of charcuterie. And one of the things we were talking about earlier today when we were setting everything up is another controversial thing, but make your guests help you do the work. Make it interactive. Let them help you create the Christmas tree. Yeah. But, you know, the whole point is, It's not about having a ton of charcuterie elements. It's about taking what you have and making it, you know, making it fun and spreading it out. Well, and that's what I want to know, because I feel like anytime I try to assemble something like this, I feel like unless I buy more and more and more and more and crowd it on the plate, it doesn't. It just doesn't have the same impact. So when you take the opportunity to put your charcuterie on something fun, like a fun plating piece, and then it kind of reduces the size, right? So then less becomes more, and you can really have fun with limited ingredients. And once again, set it up, let it be the centerpiece of your table, and the host can once again enjoy the party. These are all fantastic tips. But before I let you go, I want to know more about Eventful ATL and what you offer people. Yeah, so we are an experienced brand. Over the last few years we've grown to offering now over nine different base experiences from caviar tasting, tea blending, charcuterie making, pottery is a new class, but for the holiday season we're actually going to be hosting most of our experiences downtown Atlanta. And on top of those things, we have a lot of holiday experiences. So things like gift wrapping, cookie decorating, gingerbread house making, wreath making. I could keep going. So there are a lot of things we'll be adding more as we go into the or continue into the holiday season. And we're just we're just ready to rock and roll for the holiday. With a lot of things, I guess. A great way to get ready for the holidays, but also a great gift idea. People like experiences for the holidays, too. I will say, you'll learn a lot from any of our classes that will help hosting, but it's also a great way to get people together. Sure. Well, I thank you both for being here. I'm going to put some of these tips into action. Whether or not I serve caviar at my house, we'll see. But for more hosting help, reach out to Eventful ATL. You can find more information on our website, fox5atlanta.com. Just go to the Good Day tab and click on today's viewer information link. If you serve it, I'll come over and eat. You can eat it. No problem. All right.