How to Host Longer Tables This Fall
Tips for Fall Gatherings + a Large Batch Hot (Cold) Toddy Recipe
Want to host a gathering this fall? As the holidays approach, friends and family begin to make plans to come from near and far to be together. You have everything you need to take the leap and invite your friends and loved ones. Whether you’re hosting a large or small group, here are some of our best ideas about how to do it.
Setting the Table
-Bring out your most experienced plates, napkins, cutlery, candlesticks. . . and don’t be afraid to mix and match! An eclectic table is full of good stories. Share the origin stories of your things and why they make your table more meaningful.
-Make a seating arrangement. When we mark seats we tell our guests that we’ve made a place for them at our table.
-Surprise your guests with grown up party favors. Mark each guest’s seat with a simple favor, sending them home with a reminder of the memories made while gathered around your table.
The Drinks
-Pre-batch cocktails in a punch bowl or carafe to make it easy for guests to serve themselves and to allow yourself the freedom to enjoy the fellowship.
-Don’t forget to offer a zero proof option!
-Every glass is a cocktail glass. When serving cocktails, mixing and matching glassware is one of our favorite things to do!
Here is one of our favorite fall batch recipes to serve to large groups using our Hot Toddy kit :
Camp Hot (Cold) Toddy (Serves 30)
This is a sparkly, bubbly cocktail that has wonderful warm flavors.
Ingredients:
-1 (750mL) bottle of liquor of your choice (vodka, gin, bourbon, rum or whiskey)
-3 liters of chilled sparkling cider (alcoholic or non alcoholic)
Instructions:
- Fill Camp Hot Toddy kit with your choice of vodka, gin, bourbon, rum, or whiskey
- Wait three days, then strain infused liquor into separate container. Add sugar OR Camp Simple to Hot Toddy kit, and repeat process. You will have about 24oz of infused liquor when you are finished.*
- Into a chilled pitcher or punch bowl filled with ice** combine 24 oz infused Hot Toddy and chilled bottles of cider.
- Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.
Some helpful tips:
*Camp kits can be infused, strained, and stored in the fridge or freezer up to 1 month in advance so that you can easily have your infused liquor at the ready to make cocktails.
**We made an ice ring for our punch bowl by freezing water in a Bundt pan. You can add edible flowers or fresh herbs before freezing to make it extra festive!
The Food
If you enjoy cooking and making food is your love language, take this opportunity to make your coziest fall recipes. It doesn’t have to be fancy–we love a hearty soup, a crusty bread or a roast cooked low and slow.
Don’t like to cook? It’s ok! We believe that the most important thing is breaking bread together, not the bread itself.
Here are some other ideas:
-Pick up take out from a favorite local spot
-Ask each guest to supply a different portion of the meal
-Put together a charcuterie board with fruit, nuts, veggies, meats, cheeses, spreads and more! It’s easy to get creative here and no cooking required!
We get together for food and fellowship with cocktails raised in a toast.
Slow sips around a table with old and new friends. We can be the conduit for conversation and celebration. For us, Camp is about the gathering.
This is how the world changes – little by little, table by table, meal by meal, hour by hour. This is how we chip away at isolation, loneliness, fear. This is how we connect, in big and small ways – we do it around the table.
–Shauna Niequist
