Do you like to entertain? Do you do it often? Do you do it in your house/apartment/condo or restaurant? For you writers, do you put entertainment scenes in your stories? Usually, I put questions at the end of these posts, but this seemed right this time.
Over our married life, we’ve done more and less entertaining. As a younger married, I can remember having “dinner parties.” Six to eight of us. I did the whole meal back when I actually cooked and didn’t just set out the food. 😊 It was stressful but fun. 
Then there were years where we were working such long hours, the idea of entertaining anyone in our home was beyond considering. Now that we’ve moved to the lake, we’ve moved into another phase where we entertain every couple of months. One of the things I missed after we left our old neighborhood, where we’d lived for over twenty years, was our neighborhood coffees. Many of us took turns having folks over for a Saturday coffee. These were lots of fun and pretty easy to do.
After we got settled here, I asked some of the neighbors I’d met to come by on a Saturday morning, and we chatted, snacked, and drank coffee and iced tea. Folks were curious to see what we’d done with our lake cottage which had still been mostly in the 50s when we bought it. Quite a transformation. (But that’s a post for another time.) 
People liked the idea and several folks signed up to host. The first year we had three other coffees after ours. This is the second year, and every month is spoken for. Several folks have specifically thanked me for getting these started. This past Saturday was our turn to host. It was fun to catch up on people’s lives as opposed to waving as we pass by.
The other way we entertain is with church friends. We have something called Dinner for 8 every month. People host in their homes or in a restaurant. It’s just a chance to get folks together for more time to really talk. Because we feel we have been blessed with our cottage on the lake, we frequently host at our house. This is really simple (after getting the house cleaned up), we provide the main dish and everyone else brings something. One of the things we do is take a selfie of everyone together. Always lots of laughter trying to make that happen.
(Confession: None of these pics are from the events I’ve described. Apparently, other than taking the selfie at the end, I’ve not taken other pictures. That will change. LOL )
When I first began writing, my critique partners criticized me for always having my characters eating. I struggled to cut back, but really, we spend a lot of time with others eating. Seven books later, I don’t worry about it quite so much. 😊
So, do you like to entertain? Do you do it often? Do you do it in your house/apartment/condo or restaurant. For you writers, do you put entertainment scenes in your stories? Love to hear from you.
Pic at very top is the Book 4 in The Second Chances Series, ACT OF SURVIVAL
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Word by Word 
Excellent post! I’m a non-foodie who has a great appreciation for all the foodies in my life. Food is an essential component in my cozies. 🙂
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Hey, Joanne. So glad to hear food plays a part in your books. I’ve been known to have to go make popcorn when reading over one of my own books, because I can just taste the butter and white kernels. Thanks for stopping by.
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I grew up in a household that entertained in a big way. By the age of 4 or 5 I could set a fine table, and by 12 all the household preparation and cleaning was part of my repertoire.
I was a whiz at ironing the linen tablecloths and napkins along with all the other chores from vacuuming to polishing silver, walking around with a plate of something to make sure everyone had a taste, had a napkin, had a place to ditch the fancy toothpicks that held canapes together. I could arrange anything on a plate artfully…
I grew up prepared to spend a lifetime entertaining.
But I never lived up to that.
I’ve always lived in rented houses and apartments that had no room for having company even if I wanted it, which I didn’t 😉
I’ve never owned a “dining room” table. I’ve given away all the fancy “hope chest” crystal and china that lived in boxes for many years.
And I’m not only an introvert, but I’m a bit of a hermit. I like my small space and consider it a haven from the world so I’d rather go out to meet friends and others than have them in my tiny home.
All that said, I love the sound of your coffee groups, and if I lived in a place like your beautiful lake I might just like doing something like that. It sounds like so much fun compared to the “entertaining” of my childhood! Thanks for sharing! 😀
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Hey, Kathryn. Wow, the description of your childhood sounds like something out of a novel. Thanks for the reminder about ironing table clothes. Haven’t done that in years. Now, I’m all about place mats. Yes, we, too, got rid of several sets of china when we downsized. There just wasn’t space. I would argue that you’ve “entertained”, just in a different way. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
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Hi, Marsha! I entertained tons as a single girl and as a newlywed. When Handsome began traveling so much and the boys were busy with their activities, I cut back. Just seemed tiresome. I host mahjong at my house regularly. Have family get-togethers. But not really any parties anymore.
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Hey, Vicki. Yeah, my dinner party times were when I was a young wife. I have good friends who play mahjong. I wrote a group into one of my books playing at a Cafe. I don’t play, but thought it was so cool when I ran into them on vacation.Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂
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I love the idea of entertaining but haven’t really had the time or space. I tend to meet with friends over coffee or get together for dinner at a restaurant. I think this will change when I’m feeling better and/or retired since I notice people are doing more dinner parties as they retire. The exception was birthday parties for my son. I think that’s why I’ve enjoyed doing a cozy mystery series based on a caterer and chocolate maker.
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Hey, Pat. There are seasons of our lives, I barely did more than get to church back when I was working, certainly didn’t have time to entertain. LOL Ummm, chocolate. And writing about a caterer, you got to write lots of eating scenes. Love it. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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I love the idea of dinner parties, but other than family get togethers I’ve never hosted any. The few affairs I’ve gone out to, I’ve felt awkward and out of place, so I tend to avoid them now. My loss, I know 🙂
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Hey, Jacquie. Our Dinner For 8’s are lots of fun. Everyone brings some part of the meal, so they’re really not a lot of work for the host–after stashing all the clutter. LOL I do better at a small dinner party size rather than a large cocktail party. That’s when I feel awkward. Thanks for stopping by.
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