Hosting dinner parties out of my sad grad school apartment kitchen taught me a lot about the art of entertaining. I learned about the importance of not pinning all your hopes on an oven that doesn't heat uniformly and that a (freshly-cleaned, ice-filled) bathtub works just fine as a drinks cooler. I learned that people don't care if all your plates match, though they definitely do care if there aren't enough chairs.
I also learned that nothing beats a "choose-your-own-adventure" spread, especially when cooking for a group of people with a variety of dining preferences or restrictions.
