There’s nothing like a little sunshine and a raise in the average temperature to get us all thinking about having a party. This time of year is also confirmation and communion time so celebrations abound. 2013 is also the year of the ‘Gathering’ and even if you haven’t invited your long lost cousin home from Kathmandu to contribute to the Irish economy, it’s probably a good excuse to have a little local gathering of your own.
The trouble with parties, particularly at home, is that they start off as humble affairs with the simple aim of just having some people over, enjoying their company and celebrating whatever the occasion is. The difficulty is that more often than not a simple party gets overly complicated and by the time your guests arrive you are so exhausted and frazzled from the preparations you can’t wait for the whole thing to be over and to get these ‘bloody awful people’ out of your house so you can rest and relax. Let’s face it as the party loomed it all got out of hand and suddenly you ‘needed’ to buy new garden furniture and bedding plants to spruce up the garden. The lawns all had to be cut and that caused a few rows and heated exchanges. The original plan for inexpensive homemade burgers and a few chicken legs on the barbecue with some crusty bread suddenly escalated into costly steaks and an array of fancy, jewel coloured salads that would rival the Avoca salad bar any day. To accommodate the salads you had to borrow a trestle table from the neighbours and still had the expense of covering it with a new tablecloth. Then of course you had no choice but to invite the God damn neighbours to the bash. There was the stress of worrying about the weather; if it rained would you have enough room inside? And finally there was the military precision planning for the food preparation. Throw a few religious ceremonies in the mix with the whole family having to be suited and booted and at the church before the party and you have nothing short of a Molotov cocktail that can push the best of families over the edge. 
Whether it is a big celebration or a small informal gathering the key is to really keep it simple and not to allow the inner domestic god or goddess to seduce you down the path of madness and expense. Few can afford to throw money away these days and we all need to constantly keep sight of why we are doing these things in the first place. It is a celebration, a time of coming together, opening your home to your nearest and dearest, breaking bread and creating great memories. It is always a communion of sorts regardless of the reason for the gathering.
Having a party at home is the only answer these days. It has many advantages outside of the budgetary concerns. Because you are in your own home the children and the guests’ children are free to run around as much as they want and more freedom than they do in a hotel or restaurant. We’ve all witnessed bored youngsters hanging around hotel foyers trying to amuse themselves. Usually the adults will sit huddled in a nearby group and every now and again as the noise escalates and the running reaches fever pitch someone says, “Hey lads, calm down”. The miniature marauding gang will usually stop for all of thirty seconds before the cycle starts again. It’s unfair to ask children to be quiet just because the environment doesn’t lend itself to their games, particularly if is a child’s day you are celebrating.
So how do you keep it simple but at the same time make it simply stunning within budget? It’s an easy answer, bring in the experts! Outside catering is the solution. When you add up the time and cost of shopping and preparation it is also the most economical way of doing things. The first thing with any form of party planning is to draw up a list of guests. This will often dictate the catering needs. If there are elderly family members for example there may be special dietary requirements or a buffet may not suit at all. If the numbers allow perhaps a sit down meal would be a better arrangement. If you do decide on a buffet style, the options are many; finger food, full plate hot or cold buffet; there are a myriad of choices. So all you’ve done so far is sit and think and now all you have to do is start shopping around.
Because home entertaining has become so popular, here at James Whelan Butchers we have put a huge effort into our outside catering menu. It features hot, cold and finger food options all delivered to your door without any of the hassle (and you can still take the credit. We don’t cook and tell). Some people rely on us entirely to do the work while others will just augment with just one or two things from us. The full range is available to look at online at jameswhelanbutchers.com. Of course we’re not the only ones doing take away/delivery party food and there are plenty of options all worth exploring. One of the other benefits to having the celebrations at home is the leftovers! You are not returning tired and hungry to a cold house in the early evening having to make do with a sandwich. This way the party can go on all day and, if planned correctly, there’ll be little cooking to do the following day.
While you still may have to cut the grass and clean the windows, taking the hassle out of the food and being confident that it will taste amazing will remove much of the stress. The other great thing about taking a look at our range of party food is that you can literally have an informal party on the spur of the moment. With the food taken care of all you have to do is enjoy the occasion and that really is what parties are all about.
This post was written by me, Pat Whelan, owner of James Whelan Butchers and a passionate advocate of local artisan food. My family have been producing quality Irish Angus beef for generations using a traditional dry aging process. This tradition is one that I continue to practice at our abattoir on our family farm in Garrentemple, Clonmel. These posts aim to impart some of the wisdom to readers and help them get the best out of the meat they eat! Our meat is available online here! I welcome your feedback to [email protected]
We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers
Tags: communion, confirmations, foodie articles, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan
