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The Iconic Edition
Advice
|14 Mar 2022|4 mins

How To Entertain At Home Like A Pro

Weekend home entertaining ideas from the two catering queens behind @foodbymayaandchels on Instagram.

If you’re ever in need of a little food inspiration, make your way to @foodbymayaandchels on Instagram and watch your mouth water. Run by two kitchen wizards, Food by Maya and Chels is a reflection of everything the girls are. Think of it as an invitation to their table to celebrate tradition, family, friends and, very importantly, pasta. Lots (and lots) of pasta. We recently sat down with home cooks and event catering queens Maya and Chelsea to share some home entertaining tips with us. 

How do you plan a menu?
“When it comes to planning a menu, we like to work around the main meal. It is the pièce de résistance, after all. If we are choosing to do a seafood-based main, like spaghetti alle vongole, we would then pair this with crunchy greens (like a fresh bowl of lettuce), home-baked focaccia (always), and a juicy tomato salad. If we are doing some form of meat, we will adapt the sides around that. Plan in chunks and take it step by step, and most importantly, don't take it too seriously! At the end of the day, if you end up with a roast chicken and a pasta on your table, you can make it all work! Delicious food is meant to be enjoyed, never over analysed.” 

What’s your go-to dish when entertaining friends? 
“Pasta, pasta and more pasta. We love doing home-made, and getting our guests in the kitchen with us to prepare as it's such a fun activity to get everyone involved with a few bottles of organic wine. Pasta is so diverse too, as you can bring in so many different flavours and ingredients. It's also great for feeding the masses which helps when you're entertaining a large group as we often do. We love trying out new sauce combinations with our guests – we are currently experimenting with agnolotti. Burnt butter and sage sauce has been the pick of the sauces so far!” 

What are your tips for setting the atmosphere at a dinner party? 
“Always set the table before your guests arrive. It really ensures nothing feels last-minute and makes them feel special. Playlists are super important! If we are having Italian food, we have a selection of playlists with vintage Italian music to play for a bit of fun. We've had Mexican feasting nights in the past where we've had surprise Mariachi musicians show up... have fun with it! When in doubt, there is nothing quite like a bit of Frank Sinatra to welcome your guests.” 

How important is planning and preparation? 
“To ensure we can get the most out of the day for ourselves, we have an almost obsessive focus on quality ingredients. We mainly shop at the weekly farmers market so generally speaking, all of our shopping is done days ahead. Don't feel like all the produce you are using needs to be fresh, fresh, fresh. Some things are best kept on the pantry shelf for a little longer. You'll rarely find us using a tomato before we've had it for at least a week, as that is generally when it's ripe and ready to use. And nothing beats a juicy tomato with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you have capacity, it can always be a good idea to put out all the decorations you're using ahead of time too – have everything laid out on the table ready to go (serving platters etc). That way you won't be scrambling around trying to find everything in different cupboards!”

What you'll need

Our must-have accessories for creating the perfect home setting:
You can’t go wrong with XRJ candles, the perfect addition to your table setting, we love these candles for creating a beautiful ambience for your guests! The Blobbies are our favourite pick. 

AERE Home currently stock a simple and gorgeous collection of linen napkin sets. Choose which colours you like to match the overall theme of your table setting. 

A nice tablecloth starts the decorating process for your table creation and ties everything together. We love this vintage one from Aura home.

Swipe for more >
Blobbies Bloomer Candle
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Blobbies Mini Set
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Blobbies Mini...
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Linen Napkin 4-Pack
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Pillar Pastel Purple Candle
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Pillar Pastel...
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Vintage Linen Tablecloth
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Vintage Linen...
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Salad Servers
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Salad Servers
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Vivi Tumbler
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Vivi Tumbler
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Fast delivery – free over $50 – and free returns.

Angela Khoudair
Writer
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