It never fails.  After a hectic month of catering Christmas parties, I promise myself (and my loved ones) that Christmas dinner is going to be a simple affair.  “Let’s just have Christmas burgers!” I say.

Ahem.  However.  I usually can’t resist, and what starts out as a simple production ends up falling just short of epic.  One would think that my kitchen would be a bomb by the end of the night, images of dishes piled by the sink waiting for the next dishwasher load to finish.  But it’s not like that at all. You see, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  And here it is … Rent all your dishes. Rent everything!  Rent your napkins, tablecloths, glasses, cutlery, plates – you can even rent your serving dishes and utensils!  It is so economical you will wonder why you don’t do it all the time. So why are rented dishes the bomb?  Wait for it … YOU DON’T HAVE TO WASH THEM.

I rented everything for my Christmas dinner last year (22 people) and the total cost was $80 (and that included tables and chairs).  You simply put all the dirty dishes back into their crates and take them back to the rental company dirty.  They take care of it all.  They’ll even deliver and pick up for a small fee.

We have three rental companies in town and they’re fabulous (see their websites below).  Check with each company on their rinsing policy because some will require you to do a quick rinse of the plates, just to make sure all the excess food is removed, other don’t require this.

Now that makes for a very easy Christmas, and all the events leading up to it too!

http://www.alwaysinvited.org/