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" Instead of running around trying to attend everyone&amp;#039;s parties this Christmas, why not throw your own and have plenty of time to catch up with friends old and new? No need to get fancy: pick a Sunday afternoon right before Christmas to open your home. Start around 2 p.m., and plan on going until about 8 p.m. Stragglers can stay longer if you feel like keeping the party going, but preset boundaries ensure that everyone knows when it will be appropriate to arrive and depart. Here are five fun suggestions that will make your party a huge success. 1. The key to an open house party is to move the furniture out of the way while making sure that plenty of seats are available. Folding chairs are not very festive, but they are too convenient to ignore. Drape fabric over their back to fancy them up; everything from a thick scarf to a throw to a table runner will do, but stick to one color family. Floor pillows also make perfect backup seating arrangements, and can be stacked in a corner when the party is over. Place a long table for the food in one corner of the room, and a smaller table for the bar close to the entrance \u2014 but not in the way \u2014 so that your guests&amp;#039; thirst can be taken care of if you are not immediately available to introduce them around. 2. Lights will go a long way in creating an inviting ambiance, with little cost and trouble. Sunlight and a couple of well-placed lamps will suffice in the early hours of the party. Later, light up candles to soften up the room and make everyone look just a little prettier. Place the candles out of the way so that they don&amp;#039;t get knocked over. That&amp;#039;s all the decoration you need. Don&amp;#039;t even worry about the tree: Ask your guests to bring a Christmas tree ornament as a sole gift, and watch the tree become more and more beautiful as the party goes on. 3. What better way to be welcoming than with a signature drink? A punch is your best option, because it doesn&amp;#039;t require mixing a drink for each new guest. Make it ahead of time, have plenty extra ready in the kitchen, and refill as needed. 4. Rather than a full assortment of red and white wines, stick to Prosecco, a sparkling Italian wine that allows you to serve bubbly without breaking the bank. Buy it by the case, since wine merchants typically offer a case discount that can go up to 25 percent. For nonalcoholic options, buy fruit syrups, such as elderflower, or make fruit purees with cranberries or raspberries, and serve them in a pitcher alongside a large supply of sparkling water. It&amp;#039;s a nice change from sodas and works for grown-ups as well as kids. 5. Keep the food simple and casual. Make your favorite cookies and spiced nuts, which can be prepared in large quantities ahead of time and restocked throughout the party. Dips quickly look messy. Instead, buy a large assortment of cheeses. Leave them whole or precut them into cubes. Place bowls of thinly sliced baguettes and dried and fresh fruits by the cheese, along with jars of local or exotic honeys and fig jam, as these all are wonderful accompaniments that can also be enjoyed on their own. Sure to be a hit, try some of these recipes at your open-house party. Christmas Fruit Drops Stained-Glass Cookies Double-Roasted Spiced Nuts Spiced Nut and Pretzel Mix Warm Spiced Cider Anne E. McBride is a writer and editor for consumer, trade, and academic food media. She is the director of the Experimental Cuisine Collective at New York University and of the Center for Food Media at the Institute of Culinary Education. She wrote Chocolate Epiphany and Bite Size with Chef Fran\u00E7ois Payard, and is currently co-authoring a book about working in the food industry. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/christmas/a745/open-house-christmas-party/>