The Card System

The only way I can remember three different rooms of foods over multiple courses is with the help of my special not-yet-patented card system. It might work for you, should you ever undertake such a party.

I save old, unused business cards everytime a colleague at work moves on to greener pastures. After a while I have scores of them in neat boxes, all with clean white backs.

When the time comes to plan a party, I write up three sets of cards:

  • One set of cards with each food or drink to be set out, one item per card.
  • A second set with all my available serving dishes, plus things like napkins, dish buckets, baskets of flatware, etc.
  • The last is one card for each table in each room that will be used at the party.

Then I clear my dining room table and set out the cards.

  1. The table cards go across one edge of the table. These will be the tops of columns.
  2. Infrastructure items like dish buckets and stacks of napkins go next. I add more cards until each table has what it needs.
  3. Then come the items that must be out when the first guests arrive: cheese platters, breadsticks and crudites, wines and wine glasses, etc.  Each of these must be paired with its necessary serving dishes, including knives to go with cheeses, bottle openers, and the like.
  4. After the party begins, additional items will come up from the kitchen or be revealed from hiding spaces beneath the tables. Items that are passed do not get cards as long as I rmemeber to include them on the Order of Battle for the kitchen.
  5. The first round of new items that will take up residence on the tables is the fishes course. There are three or four different seafood dishes on cards, with serving platter cards. that go under theior respective tables.
  6. The meats course comes next, with cards for the foods and for the serving dishes.
  7. Repeat for the desserts.
  8. Now stand back and look at the whole plan. Think both as if you were walking through the rooms and watching them through time - is anything missing?  Move cards around as needed. Add blank cards for missing foods or serving dishes.
  9. When you are satisfied that you are missing nothing in the plan, gather up the cards in order, one table at a time.