We entertain fairly often; I really enjoy having company over for brunch or dinner. 

 

Invariably, guests will ask "What can I bring?"   My wife says I need a better answer to this question.  My typical answer is "nothing, just yourselves!"  While possibly polite, this skips an opportunity to make it easier on the host, and perhaps more importantly, it robs the guests a chance to participate in an evening that's meant to be a shared, fun, usually very casual experience.

 

Often, the best thing to bring to a dinner party is either the dessert, some bread, a side salad, or wine.  Tell them the general cuisine, main ingredient or theme if there is one (e.g., Italian, Seafood, etc.) and let them build around that.  Suggesting a plate of appetizers is also a great idea, but I usually lean toward another dish, just in case they need to arrive late for some reason. 

 

I really prefer one of two kinds of dishes either those that have a very significant make-ahead component (e.g., room-temperature salads, long-roasting main dishes etc.), or those that require only a quick-fire at the very last minute (e.g., scallops, seared tuna, grilled salmon, etc.)

 

What are your tips for easy entertaining?