Ina Garten Helped Plan My Kentucky Derby Party

Hosting isn't for the weak.

The oven is preheating. My coffee is still slightly sizzling in its glass pot since I started it a half hour ago, warning me that it will turn bitter if I don’t pour myself a cup soon. I set out the mug with the cracked handle. I got the mug half price because it apparently only showed the crack under the pressure of the kiln, but luckily, it still worked just fine and the shape of it made me happy. I planned on using it with a tiny packet of sugar next to it, both remaining empty and unopened. The rest of the kitchen?

It looks like a disaster area.

Flour speckles the fake hardwood floor that travels through the apartment. My LeCruset pan I scored from Marshalls and that I plan on sticking in the oven— once I put in the sourdough that I still near to scour on the counter — is smeared with butter and has already been given a pep talk about how it better not let the contents I need to layer inside stick to the bottom.

The KitchenAid has gotten more of a workout already than I was going to get on my yoga mat as planned, so that I could truly earn a shower and look presentable before a few friends arrived within the next few hours and I was realizing something. Hosting isn’t for the weak.

Or at least, hosting well and to the caliber that I dreamed of, something straight out of Martha Stewert or Ina Garten’s handbook (see below), or at least as stunning as

Kristen Garaffo

and her recent dinner parties I hope to score an invite to one day.

I started this endeavor to create the perfect Kentucky Derby get-together the night before the event (though the searching for the easy food and mocktail to make had taken over my free moments throughout the week, gathering ingredients and planning out how much time I figured it would take to complete this task). I thought it was the smart thing to do. That way, in the morning, I would be able to relax with my cup of coffee and prepare to enjoy just as much as anyone else.

A good idea, if I could manage it. In fact, it was Ina approved with one of her top tips for when one is hosting a casual get-together.

1. Plan ahead.

2. Keep the Menu Simple, But Special

Ina Garten also mentions that usually for a party, it isn’t the time to experiment making something completely new.

If only I had listened.

“For me, cooking wasn't the goal of entertaining; being with friends was the goal, so I wanted to make easy recipes that anyone could prepare and know their guests would be delighted.”
― Ina Garten, Be Ready When the Luck Happens