The season for holiday parties, dropins and dinners is upon us. For many hosts, that can mean a level of planning, prepping and entertaining that only happens once a year.
The holidays, after all, are extra special. Since most people won’t be hiring experts in party planning and food prep to ease the hosting stress level, we’ve asked a few of those experts for some tips and tricks to not only elevate your holiday gatherings but also keep them fun and easy.
The experts: Deb Erb, owner and president of Simply Events in Lititz and The Event Collective Party and Event Rentals in Lebanon, and Joe Hess, co-owner of Lancaster’s Cracked Pepper Catering and PepperTheo Cafe & Events.
Planning and prep
Ask for help: “Try not to do it all yourself,” Hess says.
Ask guests to bring something or take advantage of some local takeout opportunities. Hess says he always orders his stuffing from Happily Ever Food, a Lancaster-based food delivery service.
“My family expects it,” he says. “It’s amazing, and it also takes the work off of me.”
On the day of your gathering, try to have a little team that can help things run smoothly.
“I love cooking so I don’t mind it, but it’s hard to enjoy the day if you’re just stuck and attached to a stove,” Hess says.
Batch your prep: Pick recipes that share ingredients (like rosemary for both cocktails and roasted veggies), Erb suggests. It cuts down your shopping list and prep time.
HOLIDAY HOSTING
Tips and tricks to make your gatherings merry, bright — and less stressful
Create a staging station: Set up one table or counter as your “party HQ” for glassware, napkins and extra platters, Erb says, so you can quickly refresh without hunting around.
Find your mood music: Choose your playlist before you cook — it sets the mood and can actually influence your pace (and stress level), she says.
Serving and presentation
Signature drink station: Instead of offering a full bar, pick one pretty, prebatched cocktail (like a cranberry rosemary spritz). Include a mocktail version too, Erb says. Add garnishes in small bowls for self-serve flair.
The three-tier trick: Use cake stands, boxes or inverted bowls to create height on your buffet or appetizer table, Erb suggests. It instantly looks styled and helps people reach things easily.
Color-coordinated food: Build your menu around a color palette (red and green, gold and white). It ties everything together visually and feels intentional, even if the dishes are simple, Erb says.
Decor and ambiance
Candle cluster shortcut: Group a mix of five to seven votive and taper candles of varying heights on a tray, Erb says. You’ll have a centerpiece that looks high-end in about five minutes.
Scent layering: Simmer a pot of water with orange peels, cinnamon sticks and cloves before guests arrive. The concoction not only smells amazing, but it also doubles as a humidifier, Erb says.
Low light rules: “Soft lighting hides clutter and makes everything look more
Above: A self-serve signature cocktail station featuring a prebatched cocktail is easier than a full bar. Top: A wreath charcuterie offers a pretty presentation with minimal effort.
intentional,” Erb says. So turn off the overheads, and opt for lamps and string lights instead.
Drawing table: Along with the beautiful centerpiece and tablecloth, Hess adds one more important element to his holiday table: butcher paper.
Yes, you read that correctly. He covers the top of the table with a swath of paper, right over the tablecloth. (Contractor paper from a home improvement store works well, too, he says.)
Then he passes out the crayons.
“The adults have more fun than the kids, I promise you,” he says. “The table still has beautiful things in the middle but they can draw, they can play tic tac toe with the kids, they can do whatever and people love it.”
When the meal is over and everybody
leaves the table, Hess likes to see what’s left behind. In the past, he’s discovered everything from cool drawings to poems.
Pretty and easy food
Wreath charcuterie: Arrange meats, cheeses, herbs and cranberries in a circle on a round board. “Gorgeous and minimal effort,” Erb says.
Pre-scooped desserts: Serve individual trifles, mousse or tiramisu in small glass jars for a polished look that stores easily and requires no plating, she says.
Frozen garnish: Freeze cranberries, mint or rosemary sprigs in ice cubes for instant festive sparkle in water, soda or cocktails, Erb suggests.
HOLIDAY MEAL PREP: SOUS VIDE AND FORGET IT
MARGARET GATES MGATES@LNPNEWS.COM
Joe Hess, co-owner of Lancaster’s Cracked Pepper Catering and PepperTheo Cafe & Events, is a big fan of sous vide, a cooking method that has grown in affordability and popularity among home cooks in recent years.
Sous vide, translated literally, means “under the vacuum.” Basically, it involves sealing food in a bag and cooking it in a temperature-controlled water bath with the aid of a wand-like appliance called an immersion circulator. Immersion circulators have become very affordable in recent years, Hess says, with some available for as little as $40 on Amazon.
The food can be vacuum packed but it doesn’t have to be. However, the bag must be sealed with as little air as possible so it remains completely submerged in the water. The container can be just about anything that is heat-safe and will hold enough water to accommodate what you are cooking.
The key is the immersion circulator, which not only heats the water but also circulates it to maintain a precise and consistent temperature throughout.
“It never overcooks, it never undercooks,” he says. “It just holds it beautifully perfect.”
It’s a “set it and forget it” method, he says, which is especially helpful when you’re entertaining a crowd and juggling many tasks in the kitchen and beyond. Hess should know. He and his husband typically host 40-60 family and friends for Thanksgiving. The menu includes five turkeys, made five different ways. Last year, he cooked a 19-pounder using the sous vide method.
“I sealed the cavity with some beautiful veggies and herbs and fruit and did a nice rub under the skin and put it in a bag and put it under the water,” he says.
He started cooking it the night before, and it was ready 18 hours later, leaving him time to do other things. Once it was finished, he stuck the turkey in the oven for a half hour, just to get the skin a little golden and crispy.
Not every meal takes that long to cook. Depending on the cut and thickness, some beef, fish or poultry can be cooked in just a few hours or less.
“I think people, if they discovered it and tried it, they’d be addicted to it,” Hess says. “It’s fun and lets you enjoy the party as well.”
Fill pot approximately halfway full with hot water, set the immersion circulator to desired temperature (135 F for medium rare) and start.
Rub beef with olive oil and season with salt and herbs de Provence.
Place beef in vacuum bag, vac and seal. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use a large freezer bag and displace the air in a container of water and seal the bag.
Place beef inside the pot with the circulator running and forget about it for 6-8 hours. This step can be done a day ahead.
Once the cooking time is done, remove the bag from the pot. Remove the beef from the bag and place on a rimmed baking tray and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
holiday season? Hess suggests this meal, which includes a sous vide beef roast.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Ingredients:
n 2 beets (red or golden)
n 1 large carrot
n 2 parsnips
n 1 large sweet potato
n 2 turnips
n Extra virgin olive oil
n 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
n tablespoon thyme
n 1 tablespoon salt
n 1 tablespoon pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cut all vegetables into 1-inch chunks. Drizzle with olive oil (enough to coat), and sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper.
Roast on a sheet pan for 20-30 minutes, or until everything is tender.
Place on a serving platter and garnish with sprigs of rosemary.
Reserve juices in the bag for au jus, if desired.
Combine ingredients for compound butter.
Once the beef has slightly cooled, rub the beef with the compound butter and place in a 400 F oven for approximately 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
Remove beef from the oven and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
Slice and serve on a platter by itself or alongside the roasted root vegetables.
Optional garnishes: horseradish, pickled hot garlic and stone-ground mustard.
Hess also recommends the Maple Bourbon Vinegar from Seasons Olive Oil & Vinegar drizzled over the vegetables and beef.
JOE HESS
Joe Hess’ Sous Vide Beef Roast with Roasted Root Vegetables.
HOW TO KEEP THE LIFE IN YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY
MARGARET GATES MGATES@LNPNEWS.COM
Food is an important component of any holiday celebration, but it’s not the only one.
If the conversation tends to get stale at your office Christmas parties or your family takes bets every year on how quickly Uncle Ed will nod off in the recliner after that second helping of ham, consider planning some activities to keep your guests in the holiday spirit.
Here are a few ideas:
Check out the library
We’re not suggesting that everybody grab a book and do some silent reading during your holiday gathering. Books aren’t the only thing you can sign out at libraries, notes Abigail Balmer, executive director of Ephrata Public Library. That library, along with many others in the county library system, offer others resources as well, from instruments to
basic tools.
The bulk of the Library of Things collection at Ephrata Public Library consists of board games for all ages, Balmer says.
“Families could visit the library and check out a few board games they have never tried before for holiday/family gatherings at no cost,” Balmer writes in an email. “All they need is a library card.”
Charades
There are plenty of versions of holiday charades available, but it’s just as easy to make up your own. Include everything from Christmas movies and carols to characters and traditions.
Ornament exchange
One way to play this game is a variation on the white elephant gift exchange, where everyone brings a wrapped ornament and draws numbers for picking, says Deb Erb, owner and president of
Simply Events in Lititz. Once everyone is holding a gift, the players take turns rolling dice. If you roll a double, you can steal someone’s ornament.
Another popular online version of the game has guests sitting in a circle as they listen to “The Right Family Christmas” story. Each time the words “right” or “left” are mentioned in the story, everyone passes their wrapped ornament in that direction. At the end of the story, everyone keeps the ornament they are holding.
You can search online for a copy of the story.
Pass the gift
This game, suggested by Erb, involves only one gift, but it is wrapped in multiple layers of wrapping paper. Have guests sit in a circle and pass the gift around while you play music. Stop the music randomly. Whoever is holding the gift unwraps a layer of paper. Repeat the
page 5
Fun
For an added challenge, unwrap the ball while wearing oven mitts.
Icebreaker questions
The gift ball
For another variation on the gift passing game, members of the Lancaster Activities Directors Association and St. Anne’s Retirement Community suggest making a gift ball out of kitchen plastic wrap. A variety of tutorials are available online, but the basic idea is to collect a variety of gifts, such as money, gift cards, candy and other small items, and wrap them one at a time in plastic wrap. Continue adding items, twisting, turning and rolling the wrap as you go, until you’ve created a decent-sized ball. As guests sit in a circle, one person will start unwrapping the ball, while the person to their left rolls a pair of dice. Once a double is rolled, the turn is over, and the dice and the ball get passed to the left. The person unwrapping the ball gets to keep any gifts that come out during their turn. Continued from 4
game, unwrapping another layer each time the music stops. Whoever unwraps the last layer of paper gets to keep the gift.
Try this one for office parties or holiday gatherings where guests won’t necessarily know one another. Possible questions could include: What is your favorite Christmas movie? What is your favorite holiday tradition? What is the best/worst gift you ever received? The questions help participants bond over shared experiences and get more comfortable talking to one another, says Jessica Melhorn, owner of Melhorn Manor, a wedding and event venue in Mount Joy.
Special snowflakes
Hand every guest a paper snowflake as they arrive and have participants write compliments on each other’s snowflakes throughout the event. Everyone should leave with a unique snowflake filled with positive affirmations, Melhorn says.
DIY photo booth
All you need to make your own photo
booth for capturing holiday memories is a phone tripod and some props, such as Santa hats, tinsel and sunglasses, Erb says. Hang a piece of wrapping paper as a backdrop and you’re all set.
Food fun
If you’re looking for a more hands-on activity for any age, consider a cookie decorating contest. Provide plain, store-bought sugar cookies, frosting and sprinkles and let your guests do the rest, Erb says. Afterward, let them vote for “most creative,” “most festive,” etc.
For a cooler treat, you could do the same by decorating ice cream sundaes to look like snowmen, the activities directors say.
Marshmallow challenge
There are many options for this one, depending on the type of gathering and participants. As a team-building activity for an office party, Melhorn suggests splitting into pairs and giving each group 20 sticks of dry spaghetti, 3 feet of tape, 3 feet of string and one marshmallow. Each pair has 20 minutes to build the
tallest structure with the marshmallow on top.
For an easier activity, you could have guests use marshmallows and toothpicks to build a house or create a snowflake.
Holiday Olympics
The activities directors suggest setting up mini game stations for individuals or teams. They could include activities like creating the longest candy cane chain, wrapping someone to look like a present or decorating them to look like a Christmas tree.
Santa limbo
Take turns dressing up as Santa (pillow and all) and limbo under a string of lights.
Kids’ table
Even if you don’t have an organized activity, Melhorn suggests setting up a table for young guests with a variety of items to keep them entertained, including coloring sheets, plain paper, markers, crayons, stickers, games and books.
14 LANCASTER COUNTY HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES
MARGARET GATES MGATES@LNPNEWS.COM
Whether you have guests visiting from out of town or you’re looking to spend quality time with family, there’s plenty to see and do this season in Lancaster County. Here are a few options for entertaining everyone on your list.
Prepare to be whisked away into a winter wonderland where the magic of the holiday season comes alive amid a realm of fantastical characters, mouthwatering delicacies and exquisite beverages. parenfaire.com/yuletide
Christmas in Lititz Springs Park 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 Lititz Springs Park
Enjoy holiday performances, carol
singing, the lighting of the community Christmas tree, and maybe even a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. lititzspringspark.org
59th Marietta Candlelight Tour of Homes
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 Marietta
The annual tour returns with eight private homes and several public buildings decorated for visitors. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of the tour. Purchase advance tickets online at mariettarestoration.org. Purchase tickets on tour day at Donegal Intermediate School, 1177 River Road; Old Town Hall Museum, 3 W. Walnut St.; or First National Escape Bank, 100 W. Market St. Free parking and shuttle bus service will be available at all three locations. mariettarestoration.org
Christmas at the Cloister 6:30 and 8 p.m. Dec. 8-9
Ephrata Cloister, 632 W. Main St., Ephrata
Spend some time in quiet reflection in the historic 1741 Meetinghouse during this program of seasonal readings and carols featuring the Ephrata Cloister Chorus. Advance tickets are required due to limited seating. Tickets are $8. ephratacloister.org
Walk with biblical characters along candlelit wooded trails, and interact with shepherds and merchants on your journey to discover the story of Christmas. Features over 70 actors with live animals. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 5-16 and free for children 4 and under. For more details or
to reserve a time slot, visit woodcrest retreat.org/events/journey. woodcrestretreat.org
Annual Christmas Candlelight Tour 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12-13
Lititz Historical Foundation 137-145 E. Main St., Lititz
Take a guided tour of the 1792 Johannes Mueller House and learn the story of Mueller and his family as well as the history and customs of the early Moravian community of Lititz in the 18th century. Tours depart every 15 minutes. Admission is $10. Tickets can be purchased online by day and time slot . lititzhistoricalfoundation.com
Lancaster will gather in Penn Square to ceremonially light the public menorah during Hanukkah. visitlancastercity.com
Christkindlmarkt
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14
Lancaster Liederkranz 722 S. Chiques Road, Manheim
Shop at a traditional outdoor German Christmas market in the Lancaster Liederkranz Pavilion. The market will include holiday gifts from over 30 local vendors, traditional German food and drink (including inside dining), German beer and hot mulled spiced wine, pictures with St. Nick and Ruprecht, children’s playground, musical performances and a bonfire with s’mores. Admission and off-site shuttle parking is free. Onsite parking is $10. lancasterliederkranz.com
Amish Christmas Cookie Tour
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Through Dec. 20
Amish Farm & House
2395 Covered Bridge Drive, Lancaster
Board a bus for a guided tour with stops at two to three Amish homes to sample Christmas cookies, learn about Amish Christmas traditions, and take home some cookies and recipes. Tour of the Amish Farm & House included. Tickets are $59.95 for ages 12 and over, $44.95 for ages 3-11, and $15.95 for toddlers 2 and under.
amishfarmandhouse.com
‘The Christmas Candy Caper’ Through Dec. 27
Bird-in-Hand Stage
2760 Old Philadelphia Pike A, Bird-in-Hand
Candy store owner Sadie Graber is a long-time prankster, so when two men try to steal her coveted candy recipe and kidnap her instead, no one believes the ransom note is real. Tickets are $46 for show only, $66-$71 for meal and show. Child rates available. bird-in-hand.com/stage
‘Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn’ Through Dec. 28
Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre 510 Centerville Road
Jim and Linda transform a farmhouse into an inn celebrating every holiday with thrilling dance numbers, laughout-loud comedy and a parade of Irving Berlin hits in this heartwarming, highenergy tap dance extravaganza. Adult ticket prices are $55 for show only, $75$80 for dinner and show. Child and student tickets also available. dutchapple.com
Yuletide at Wheatland 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday Through Dec. 30
230 N. President Ave.
Take a festive, guided tour through the home of former President James Buchanan and see how his family celebrated the season during the time when the Christmas holiday began to take shape in the U.S. From ornaments to Christmas cards, learn about some of the time-honored holiday traditions that began during the mid-Victorian era. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for ages 6-13. lancasterhistory.org
AMT 2025 Christmas Show Through Dec. 30
American Music Theatre 2425 Lincoln Highway East
In AMT’s new original show, “Deck the Halls,” bubbly bellhops and glittery guests make merry at the St. Nicholas Hotel in preparation for a visit from Old St. Nick. Tickets are $30 for children, $49 for members and $59 for adults. amtshows.com
National Christmas Center 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday Through Jan. 3
Board a shuttle bus to the temporary location of this holiday-themed museum and tour over 18,000 square feet of Christmas nostalgia that will one day have a permanent home at Stone Gables Estate in Elizabethtown. Attractions include 1950s-era storefronts, an animated Tudor Towne, life-size Santas from different cultures, over 1,000 nativities from around the world and over 5,000 handpainted toy soldiers. Admission is $22 for adults, $12 for children 5-17 and free for children 4 and under. stonegablesestate.com/public-events
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