What it the most common home-entertaining mistake?

Jennifer Rubell: I think the most common mistake in home entertaining is being overambitious. So people have not entertained for a year. It’s the holidays, and they are going to pull out all the stops, cook from scratch 15 different dishes; have a bar with six different, you know, special cocktails and a full bar; hire people to help serve. I think being overambitious is . . . It’s the worst thing you could do when you entertain because first of all you’re going to fail because in order to do that, you really need to be in practice. And it just takes a lot of . . . it takes a lot of little errors to understand how to entertain that ambitiously well. And I’m not even interested in entertaining that ambitiously to begin with. And if you set yourself up for success instead, without sounding like too much of an infomercial, you’re going to have a much better shot at having a successful party. So keep . . . keep it tight. Don’t be afraid of serving one really good dish. And also if you’re not into big experimentation . . .

If experimentation with new dishes is just not . . . that just doesn’t give you intellectual and sensual pleasure, nail one dish and serve it all the time and just be known for that, you know? Have the best roasted chicken anybody has ever eaten, and people come to your house for that roasted chicken. Instead of trying something new every time; and you don’t really like doing it; and you’re totally fearful; and you test it out three days before, which I think is a totally crazy concept anyway. Yeah, just keep it really tight and play . . . play to your strengths and within your comfort zone.

What do people overlook?

Jennifer Rubell: I think that they forget to take care of themselves. I think when people are entertaining at home, they are always thinking about what other people are going to think and what other people are going to taste and what they are going to feel. I think making sure that you’re a comfortable host will do a lot s it would…other people feeling comfortable inside your house and other people just having a good time.