The northern hemisphere has good news despite the Covid-19 pandemic: It’s summer. So if you want to host a small social gathering, do it outside, which is safer than being around people inside.
If you keep up with reputable reporting, that’s no surprise, though it’s reaffirming to read a June 11 study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases that explains the virus is least stable when exposed to sunlight, especially hot summer sunlight. Your diligence in keeping up with best practices also means you know to wear a mask in public, stay at least 6 feet from others, avoid crowds and keep your hands clean.
Knowing all that: Guests shouldn’t share anything, hover over a serving table or sidle up to each other.
I’m not much of an entertainer, but given my journalism background, I’m big on asking people questions. To that end, I pinged two friends involved in recent smartly planned get-togethers. Here’s what I learned, starting with the two safest strategies:
1. Provide only the gathering space
This has got to be the easiest way to host: Everyone brings their own food, drinks, flatware, napkins and chairs. No work required for you, except sanitizing the bathroom and necessary door handles. To tell the whole story, the friend who followed this strategy headed home when her daughter had to tinkle. Before then, her family ate their own takeout pizza, as did the other families.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s top infectious disease expert, uses this strategy too, according to an interview he did with The Washington Post, not me (though I do freelance for the Post—wink): “We always do takeout and I tell the takeout people that I want the food in four separate plastic containers, so no one has to touch anyone else’s food. Everyone’s food is self-contained.” It’s worth noting Fauci and his wife invite no more than two people who themselves have been locked in, and they stay outside the whole time and keep masks on except while eating.
2. Provide only the gathering space—with a theme
Increasing strategy No. 1’s fun factor: Host a BYOB (bring your own basket) picnic. Everyone owns a sheet or blanket they can sit on; not everyone has camping or folding chairs—plus it’s a lot easier to transport a fabric bundle than clunky metal.
Also, picnics provide clear demarcation of stay-away space, thanks to the cloth expanses. Finally, who doesn’t love a picnic, even if it happens on a weedy lawn instead of a massive grassy meadow?
3. Entertain before or after meal-time
Okay, so you like entertaining, which means you want to provide from your kitchen for your guests. Avoid lunch and dinner and instead offer snacks and beverages, which can be distributed and consumed more easily than meals.
Don’t cringe! Snack-time doesn’t have to be chintzy. Simple Mills makes unexpected almond-based crackers, which come in 4-ounce boxes, perfect as satisfying per-person servings: smoky bbq cheddar, sun-dried tomato and basil, jalapeno. If you want variety for each guest, get several 6-packs of 1-ounce pouches. Point is: Choose self-contained snacks with a tasty twist. Ask folks which they want, and deliver the eats, or stagger individual retrieval.
For drinks, offer interesting fruity options, one bottle per person, no sharing required. Smart Juice has an exquisite pomegranate flavor that will give your fete an element of elegance.
4. Create a meal, but keep it basic
As you can see, this list progresses in demand as well as risk. If you’re up to this stage, it means you want to cook. That makes things trickier, so consider circling back to the earlier options. If not, here goes…
It’s summer. No one wants to slurp hot soup or be laden with heavy dishes. So make sandwiches, and put them on individual compostable plates, no utensils required. Hummus variations made with chickpeas or white beans are hearty spreads that won’t go bad in heat and lend sophistication to your sandwiches. Pile on elements from there.
Dessert can be tiny pouches of cookies or dried fruit. Again, either deliver food or stagger retrieval in order to minimize exposure.
Want to serve something that’ll use your silverware? First, your friends have to trust you didn’t breathe all over the cutlery. Second, you have to safely transport everything back inside after use. If you must provide utensils and go single-use, World Centric makes compostable forks and such. They worked for my beach wedding, so they will be stellar for your small backyard gathering.