Grazing - The New Trend

Homeowners are becoming more house-proud these days, such that they are now increasingly lashing out on well-designed residences. It's no wonder then that entertaining at home @ Grazing, is becoming quite the new trend.

With elegant living rooms opening up to airy patio's, wide garden decks or pools, gone are the days of sit-down dinners confined to the dining room. A varied grazing (informal. to eat small portions of food, as appetizers or the like, in place of a full-sized meal or to snack during the course of the day in place of regular meals) menu - comprising a selection of light foods or tapas - is the stylish way to entertain in lovely spaces in and around your home.

Entertaining with a grazing menu is not similar to throwing a cocktail party. It follows the tenets of good health, which stipulate that enough light bites will make a filling meal. It is not contained to pre-dinner hours either. It can start in the early evening, in the most of casual of ways, and extend until late.

There are no rules to structuring such a menu. You may still be putting the finishing touches on your first plates of tapas when guests start arriving. Serve them a margarita over the kitchen island, move on to nibbles in the patio, and end the night with coffee and dessert on the garden deck.

The great thing about grazing menus is you don't have to slave over the stove too much. Prepare the tapas in advance, or cook them when you need to refill the plates. It helps to choose dishes that are quick and easy to prepare, which doesn't have to mean plain food. A deft hand and a good choice of ingredients can take simple to spectacular.

Try your own recipes, which should be simple, yet big on flavour and loaded with creativity. Now, that's what I call Eating-Out in style!