Happy hosting with Flossie Saunders

Flossie Saunders is a journalist, fashion editor, brand consultant and hosting enthusiast. We joined her in her home as she shared her top tips for joy-filled and stress-free entertaining and shared a delicious, easy-to-prepare canapé recipe.

I am never happier than when I am entertaining for family and friends. Whether it’s a BBQ with my neighbours, a lunch or simple dinner with a close friend, a celebration with my family or a dinner party for a group, I love the whole experience from start to finish (maybe besides the clearing up part!). I love the time I spend thinking about what to cook, flicking through one of my 82 cookery books (yes, you heard me right!), scrolling through saved recipes on Instagram and sourcing the food and flowers.

I enjoy prepping the food while listening to music and taking time laying the table. Even if it's just a simple midweek dinner, there are always candles, flowers and table linen. I want someone to sit down and have a feast for the eyes and see that I have made an effort for them.

Once all the food prep is done, I then look to dress the table and room. I like to take my time with this, starting with a tablecloth then deciding on appropriate crockery, napkins tied in fun ways (these are tied using baubles) and glasses. Then I start to add the flowers and candles. Bud vases like these pink ones are such a clever way of filling the table with flowers and only having to buy a simple bunch from the supermarket and mixing with some wild greenery from the garden, such as ivy.

I also love lighting lots of candles around the room if it's the evening, and I make sure I already have glasses out for pre-dinner drinks. My go-to is a sparkling wine like a Crémant - the one from St John is perfect! Next up is music - I make sure I have a good playlist ready to go. And once food prep, the music and setting the scene is done, I get myself ready. I’m a big fan of colour, so this dress is perfect and so easy to wear.

I like to be quite relaxed with the flow of the evening, but I allow roughly 45 minutes for drinks then we’ll sit down to eat. The best evenings are when you sit, eat, relax and it flows into pudding and more drinks and you’re just making great memories.

My main tip is to make sure you enjoy it! If you aren’t the best cook, buy some pre-made things - nobody will judge you. People are there to spend time with you and you can still make it look beautiful on a plate, platter or board with a small amount of effort. Anything is going to look great on this pink tiger platter - even cocktail sausages!

I always choose recipes that require minimal cooking once my guests are here; where I can prep 95% before people come and everything from the prep is washed up and put away. I have such a busy life juggling work as a fashion editor, my side hustle Hot Pottery and my two small children, that when I get time with family or friends I want to actually spend that time with them.

I love ‘sharing’ food, where the table is scattered with small bowls of delicious things. I think it makes the eating more intimate. A go-to recipe for this is Korean whole chicken with bao buns, Asian slaw and pickles. Almost everything can be prepped beforehand, so all I do when it’s time to eat is steam the bao buns and take the chicken out of the oven. All the pickles, Asian slaw, crushed peanuts, etc, can already be in bowls waiting to be placed on the table.

No matter what, or how pushed for time I am, I offer a canapé of some sort, even if it's just a board of charcuterie. These Asian crab croustades are so simple. They take five minutes to prep, they are light and delicious and they are the perfect bite-size flavour bombs.

Asian Crab Croustades

Serves 6
Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

140g white pre-picked crab meat
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1/2 bunch of coriander, finely chopped
1 lime, squeezed
2tbsp good olive oil
1 pack of croustades (you can get on Amazon or from large supermarkets)
1/2 bunch of dill, finely chopped

Method

Step 1.
Mix the crab meat, chilli, coriander, lime juice and olive oil and season to taste (this can stay in the fridge until you want to plate up, as you don’t want to make the croustades soggy).

Step 2.
When you are ready to serve, lay the croustades out on a serving dish, place a teaspoon of the crab mixture in each and top with the dill. Enjoy!