8 Tips on Hosting the Best Dinner Party in Toronto!
Summer is wrapping up, but the party season is not over yet! After all, who says you can only celebrate during the holidays? If you’re looking to host a dinner party that will be remembered long after the last dish is cleared, read on for our top 8 tips:
Set the mood with music and lighting: The right playlist can set the tone for your party. Make sure to have a few fast-paced songs to get your guests dancing and some slower tunes for when things start to wind down. And don’t forget the candles! Nothing says ‘romantic dinner party’ quite like a few flickering flames.
Serve up something unexpected: Sure, you could just stick to the classics like roast chicken or steak. But why not get a little creative and get your dinner party catered? At Toronto Pho, we offer a wide variety of party platters that will impress your guests. From our famous pho noodle soup platters to our unique take on Pad Thai platter, fried or fresh rolls, there is always something we can whip up that will tantalize your taste buds.
Get everyone involved: A dinner party is a perfect opportunity to get your friends and family involved in the fun! Ask each guest to bring their favourite bottle of wine or their go-to dessert recipe. Not only will this make your job as a host a lot easier, but it’ll also make for a more enjoyable evening for everyone.
Keep the conversation flowing: One of the keys to a successful dinner party is keeping the conversation flowing. To do this, make sure to have some icebreaker questions on hand to help get things started. And if there are any awkward silences, simply fill them with stories about your recent travels or that new show you’re binge-watching.
Plan ahead: The last thing you want is to be scrambling around at the last minute, trying to get everything ready. To avoid this, make sure to plan and get organized. This way, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the party along with your guests.
Make it personal: A dinner party is perfect for showing off your unique style and personality. So don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through! Whether it’s the food you serve, the music you play, or the decorations you choose, make sure everything reflects who you are as a host.
Keep it simple: One of the biggest mistakes people make when hosting a dinner party is trying to do too much. Instead of going overboard, focus on keeping things simple. This way, you’ll be less likely to get stressed out, and your guests will have a more enjoyable evening.
Have fun!: Last but not least, don’t forget to have fun! After all, that’s what a dinner party is all about. So kick back, relax, and enjoy the evening with your friends and family.
The Failure Of Global Supply Lines
The failure of global supply lines in America is at least as old as the country. Its history goes back to the Boston Tea Party. An event where the supply of Tea and other products was unreliable, over-priced, and over-taxed.
Back then, enterprising Americans rose to overthrow this economic dictatorship and eventually declared a free and independent country.
Throughout the next century, America remained mainly true to the mantra: “buy American.” Thereby creating the most outstanding economy on earth. The American economy was noteworthy for its remarkable balance between supply and demand. American raw materials and American components supplied the mighty automakers in Detroit. Power came from the coal mines up and down the Appalachians—steel and glass from the plants in Pittsburgh.
Back then, supply and demand were kept equal by the free market operation. Decisions at the plant level meant those managers could budget, plan, and store all they needed to continue production. If the plant manager saw that coal or steel was running short, they would stockpile additional inventory to meet that future shortage.
The balance came from each actor along the supply chain, acting in their self-interest but producing a well-ordered symphony of economic harmony. It was a process that was a wonder to behold. It was what Adam Smith, nearly 200 years before, called the “Invisible Hand.”
Unfortunately, by the 20th Century, American Politicians, along with unscrupulous business interests, who thought they had a “better way.” Let’s go global. The oil industry was one of the first sectors to move in this direction. Having developed the rich Saudi fields in the 1950s, Aramco steadily increased America’s reliance on this off-shore supplier.
However, 20 years later, the Saudis turned the tables. From then on, the Saudis, not the Americans, would be in control. American oil and gas, at the margin, would be in the hands of the House of Saud.
Later, the Saudis would organize all of the mid-east oil countries. They would expand their reach to the entire globe. The Americans now found themselves out in the cold. Literally in the cold, as during the OPEC Oil Embargo, we were without energy for the first time in our history. Again, we had become reliant on others for one of our most basic economic supplies.
It was just like the Boston Tea Party all over again. Reliance on foreign supply had provided little else but a shortage. Americans had failed to learn the lessons of our history. By relying on others, we ended up with not enough.
Again in the 1990s, the most recent iteration of “under-cut America” began. It seems the entire technology sector operated under a universal business model. Market to the Americans, but build everything in China. Apple was the first to introduce this method of production. Apple would build their iPhones, iPods, Mac computers, and other products in China. At the same time, it was designing and marketing those products in the US.
I remember one particularly ludicrous moment when Tim Cooke, CEO of Apple, tried to make the case that those Chinese factories weren’t manufacturing facilities. They were just assembly plants—a distinction without a difference. However, Mr. Cooke would slice it. Those supply lines stretched across the Pacific. And Apple did not give those jobs to Americans.
Today I am hard-pressed to think of a single US Technology company that doesn’t use overseas factories to build its product. And the result is that today we have supply lines that are no longer secure. We have, once again, become reliant upon far away suppliers with different business ethics and different measures of quality. Price, reliable supply, and quality of construction are all out of the American’s hands.
The Boston Tea Party became the defining moment in this nation’s history two hundred forty-nine years ago. The moment that an unruly group called the Sons of Liberty stood up and began a series of events that would lead to American Independence. A time when Americans grew tired of working for a distant elite whose only goal seemed to be exploiting those Yankee Colonists.
I sense that we’re close to that flash point again.
Close to the time when the new group of “Sons and Daughters of Liberty” stand again and declare our Independence from today’s intertwined Global Elite.