December books out, and it books out early
Every office and every family in Los Angeles holds their party across the same three weeks, and the crews and kitchens to serve them do not multiply in December. The party booked in October gets the date it wanted; the one booked in late November gets what is left.
That is the single most useful thing we can tell anyone planning a holiday party, and it has nothing to do with the menu. If you know the date, hold it — headcount, format and food can all move later.
The American board is the December workhorse: roast halal turkey with stuffing, gravy and cranberry for the sit-down version, sliders and fried chicken for the standing one.
- Roast halal turkey with herb and onion stuffing, gravy and cranberry
- Beef, chicken and mixed sliders for the standing version
- Mac and cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables
- Pecan pie, pumpkin pie, brownie and cheesecake bites
Turkey is a schedule, not a dish
A roast bird has a window. It is carved and served, and it does not improve in a warmer while a party finds its way to the table.
So a turkey menu needs a real service time, which a lot of December parties do not have. Where the evening is loose, we will suggest the slider and fried-chicken version of the same board instead — it holds for hours and no one has to be gathered.
Two parties, one December
Plenty of our clients hold both an office party and a family one within a fortnight, and order the same menu twice without meaning to.
Tell us if that is the plan. We will vary the second deliberately — same board, different weight and different sides — so the people attending both are not served December twice.
