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FROM THE SPONTANEOUS “I’LL BE THERE IN 10” TEXT TO FULL-BLOWN ENTERTAINING, THIS IS THE ELLE GUIDE TO HAVING PEOPLE OVER

THE UNANNOUNCED DROP-IN is nearly extinct, but its replacement can be just as stress-inducing: the “Are you home?” text (worse still, the out-of-nowhere phone call). Sure, there’s an art to playing dinner-party host, but being able to entertain at the drop of a hat is an even more crucial life skill. These guests aren’t counting on a glass of champagne on arrival, but making them feel like you were expecting – nay, excitedly anticipating – them is more impressive than even the most Instagram-worthy place setting.

The good news is that effortless entertaining is possible, especially with help from The New York Times food columnist Alison Roman’s new book, Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food For Having People Over ($45, Hardie Grant). She’s put together 150 “cookable” recipes that call for little more than the basics you already have, plus time- saving tips (like putting your friends to work without it seeming like a burden). She’s also relatable: she’ll skip a step she knows will create more washing up, and advocates for having cake on hand – an art that’s all but been forgotten by our generation.

But in the words of Ina Garten, sometimes “store-bought is fine”, and thanks to the era of subscription services (even Woolies now offers a rolling delivery subscription), you don’t even need to leave the house in order to entertain – wine delivery services such as Loose Ends (loose-ends.com.au) will bring you small-batch, natural options, Bloombox Co (bloomboxco.com.au) will send fresh flowers at your chosen frequency and Condimental (condimental.com.au) will package hard-to-find preserves, pickles and sauces from Aussie growers and deliver them to your door to help spice up your cooking.

If all else fails, a beautiful set of locally made, (intentionally) mismatched ceramic plates and linen napkins will elevate even the stalest crackers and that dip you opened last week, while a masterfully curated Spotify playlist will divert attention away from the food. Now when the buzzer goes, all you’ll need to do is put some pants on.

This story originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of ELLE magazine. Image: Michael Graydon/Nikole Herriott.