Cheers to hosting better parties this holiday season (rerun)
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Hey Smarties, it's Kimberly. Make Me Smart is on a holiday break this week. We are going to be back with new episodes on January 6th. But today we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes of the year. It's all about throwing better parties. As the new year gets closer, maybe you're planning a get together. Hopefully this episode will spark some inspiration. And speaking of the new year, your support helps Marketplace plan for the year ahead. If Marketplace has helped you make smarter decisions this year, now is the moment to give. The deadline is tomorrow, December 31st, and your support will help determine what Marketplace can bring you in 2026. Give now at marketplace.org slash give smart or click the link in the show notes.
hello everyone i'm kimberly adams welcome back to make me smart where we make today make sense thanks everybody for joining us for our weekly happy hour whether you're on the youtube live stream or listening to the podcast later this is economics on tap and today we're talking about one of my favorite topics parties and how to host better parties this holiday season, especially if you're trying to do it without breaking the bank. And our entertaining expert for today is Casey Alsace, who's a food writer and author of the book, What Can I Bring? Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life. That's a mouthful to get out.
Hey, Casey. Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Now, of course, since it is happy hour, we have to talk drinks. Casey, what did you bring?
I brought an extra large Aperol Spritz.
I love it. You know, for a second when I saw the multi-layered colors of your glass, I was like, is this one of those fancy layered drinks?
Oh my gosh. I know it's not what everyone thinks of as a summer drink. My boyfriend drinks Aperol 365 days. So he's really inspired me to broaden my understanding of a spritz as an all the time Aperol, Aperitivo drink.
You know, one of my good friends, that's his go-to any time of year. Always an Aperol Spritz or a, what is it? A Mezcal Negroni is the other thing he likes to drink.
Oh, wow. All right. One of those is more heavy duty than the other.
Well, I'm in the office, so I have a limited bar here, but I went ahead and did an old fashioned because I have like an old fashioned syrup and then bourbon, of course. And yeah, just keep it real simple to keep it going in the office. All right. Let's talk hosting. But before we get to that, I want to have you explain to everybody a little bit about what you do, because you do more than just write the cookbook that you have out.
Yes. So I am a food writer. I'm a recipe developer. I'm a cookbook author. This was my first time writing my cookbook, but it actually was my 20th cookbook that I had written.
Just wild. That's so many cookbooks.
I know. I didn't plan it that way, but it landed so beautifully on number 20. But a lot of my work is ghostwriting, co-authoring other people's cookbooks. So I had a lot of practice runs before it was my turn.
So all those big celebrity cookbooks may have a little bit of your your touch in it or a lot of your touch.
Celebrities, influencers, but even chefs. I like they are so busy running a restaurant, and they just don't have time to take a year off and write a cookbook. So I come in, I do a lot of the writing. I also play referee with the chefs because they like to cook in a very restaurant type of way. And so I keep them grounded on what a home cook is actually going to be able to do. So, yeah.
That's amazing. So let's talk about parties. What do you think it means to take or what does it take to bring a party from a good party to a great party that makes sure everybody wants an invite the next year?
Yeah. Well, there's this great author. I love Priya Parker. Have you ever read any of her work?
The art of gathering, yes.
Exactly, yes. She really changed my whole perspective because her whole thesis is the more you can set an expectation, the more comfortable the guests are going to feel in that scenario. So I think that's always so good to be really clear about what's expected, if you do want them to bring something, if you don't want them to bring something.
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