by Karyn Clemons

Created on: May 16, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Italian food is all about passion. If you are planning on throwing an Italian dinner party, you must feel this passion for your food, your setting, and your guests. It is necessary that you have the desire to transport your guests from your home to Italy. This task will seem less daunting if you follow a few simple tips.

Plan the Menu Early

You will know ahead of time if you are going to have a dinner party, so choose your recipes far ahead of time as well. Make a list of the ingredients you need for these recipes, along with the best market to purchase each of these items. Then, you can run your party errands when you see fit, purchasing perishable items the day before or the day of the party and the others further ahead of time. After you have the menu planned, create each of the dishes you have chosen. You can choose to eat these all alone, or you can use this opportunity to impress your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, or office crush. Ask these people for their feedback and consider making changes in your dishes. Now when you make them for your party, you can be confident that each dish will be at its best.

Buy Wine

Have you been looking for an excuse to improve your wine collection? Now you have one. No Italian meal is complete without loads of wine. Buy wine for cooking and wine for drinking and get a variety of whites and reds. Do not be afraid to purchase more wine than you need. It is more embarrassing to run out of wine than to have too much to offer. Consider attending a wine tasting at a wine shop to increase your wine knowledge. Even if the shop is not pouring Italian wines, you can use this time to develop your own palate and ask questions about wines from Italy. Make use of the wine experts in your life. If you do not know any wine experts, purchase the latest "Food and Wine" or use their website. Even if you love dry wines, all of your guests may not. For these people, consider making the classic Venetian Bellini. Buy a few bottles of prosecco and peach juice. Combine the ingredients, going heavy on the prosecco for guests who enjoy more bitter flavors and heavy on the juice for those guests who like sweet drinks.

Create the Mood

Music is an essential component in setting the proper mood for a party. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Andrea Bocelli are three options that will please your crowd. Search the Internet for these and other crooners and put together a play-list on your MP3 player or your computer.

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