Arabs are one of the most hospitable people in the world. We love to host guests and to be hosted; we love to be around our families and our friends. No matter what Arab household you go to, whether it’s rich or poor, hospitality is never something that is lacking. If it is, then shame on you and you my friend are not a true Arab. However, we are living in the 21st century and most couples work 9 to 5 and so it’s not always easy to be on top of things and ready for any surprise or short notice visits. Here we are giving you a few tips on what to do to keep your home ready for any sudden hosting you might have to do in a way that is stress-free and will allow you to not lose your mind!

  • Have a cabinet for your on-the-go items.

This here can be a cabinet filled with things that you can literally just pick up and layout, like nuts or crisps for example. Have those in airtight containers or bags to ensure their freshness. Whenever you have guests over you can just take those out and put them in your miniature serving plates and lay them out on the table, no one can say no to munchies. But the trick is you resisting those munchies and not eating them.

 

  • Have your serving items ready to go!

We usually have special plates for serving appetizers and desserts and this is a good thing. This means that you don’t tend to use those on a daily basis and so you can always keep them aside for guests. Go the extra mile and have them prepped with napkins and the whole layout and you can just take them out whenever you know you have guests coming. Laying out serving items seems like an easy task but always ends up consuming so much time.

 

  • Save the last step;

On a weekend, you and your partner can spend some fun time in the kitchen and make desserts and foods that you can keep in the freezer, for example, a pie that is unbaked, a cake that is unbaked, cookie dough that is ready for baking but awaiting its destiny. You cannot imagine how happy you will be when you know that you have guests coming over and you can just whip up one of your goodies and toss it in the oven. I know people who have entire dishes just ready and waiting in the freezer. Defrost, cook and voila!

 

Having guests over is a lot of fun but seeing as our hospitality habits can be a bit overwhelming, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan that is very well laid out. Also, don’t forget to have fun!