Plan a Progressive Dinner to Brighten Winter Days

Are you getting cabin fever, wondering when winter will end? If so, you can add some fun to your calendar by planning a progressive dinner for a group of family or friends. Perhaps you belong to a club or a church group that would enjoy this special social gathering.

A progressive dinner is one in which the various courses of the meal are served at different homes or locations, such as a church or club. You will need at least three homes in which to briefly meet. You can use additional homes if you would like.

Assuming that you use three locations, the first stop will be for appetizers/soup/salad. The entree will be served at the second home, followed by dessert and perhaps a short program or social activity at the last home or location.

Divide the attendees into groups and ask each to bring an item to contribute to one portion of the meal. You may need to assign more people to the entree portion than to other courses.

Guests will arrive at the first home where they will gather and eat, then move on to the second home. Again, they will eat before moving on to the final location for dessert. If the purpose of the party is purely social, then games, cards, or just visiting might follow. If the dinner is being sponsored by a club or another organization, a speaker might briefly address the group during or after dessert.

Be sure to offer to help the hosts at each location with clean-up. This may require a return trip to one or more homes.

A variation on the typical progressive dinner is a backwards progressive dinner, where dessert is served first and the appetizers/soup/salad are served last.

Having a progressive dinner is a great way to beat the winter blahs while allowing guests to enjoy spending time together in a unique way.