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I've been throwing a number dinner parties, sometimes more intricate (Great Depression Party I threw in lieu of Halloween party last October) and sometimes a casual one organized on a whim. Two weeks ago, I was making gumbo for dinner and invited two friends who had asked my boyfriend and me to come out for dinner. Since it wasn't just for two of us, in addition to gumbo and rice, I baked cornbread with fennel seed, dried cranberries and golden raisin. It was a simple family style dinner, but we had a wonderful time. Instead of going out after the dinner (as planned), we stayed in, finished two bottles of Italian white wine and called it a night!

Mine are usually planned, but that's because my house is generally not clean enough to have folks over spontaneously.

When I do have folks over spontaneously, it's usually only a couple of them. Once I start inviting more than that it gets a bit, um, political (? bad word choice) in that if I invite certain friends then other friends will wonder why they, too, didn't get invited and so the number balloons pretty quickly (up to about 8 people)...and I'm *never* cooking enough food to feed that many without some pre-planning.

I would love to have a spontaneous dinner party...but I have to plan them in advance. My friends don't exactly live close by, so it's hard.

We don't, simply because our place doesn't have a dining space (yay coffee table)--working on that! But, our friend does, and he often uses Twitter or his iPhone to plan it, using either a broadcast message ("Hey, Mexican dinner at our place tonight, bring some cervezas") or hashtags (those weird #tags on Twitter: For example, "#potluck tonight: name your dish and be here at 8".) It works really really well, and guarantees it'll never be the same group of people twice.

@plumeria, I'm kind of in the same boat. I'm doing a semi-spontanious one tonight. Pork roast was on sale for $1.99/lb so I bought one and realized I could have everyone come to my house and eat for less than it would cost me to go out to dinner myself (yes, yes, I like pricey dinner places, I'm a bad person, I know). So I bugged them all until they agreed to make the hour drive.

I figure my house is kind of a mess, but they know that and love me anyway; my dining table is too small, but we can eat in the living room, plates balanced on our laps and it will taste just as good; and I STILL cook for an army (I've never regularly cooked for more than just me) so I might as well. Besides, it's fun to cook for people.

I love spontaneous dinner parties! We usually throw in a spur-of-the-moment theme that makes it totally doable and loads of fun. Among our faves: the always well-received sandwich party (we set out a spread of meats, cheeses, breads, and condiments, you do the rest), the salad party (because who can't throw together a bunch of salads), the finger food fiesta (also quite easy and delish), the make-your-own pizza party and the now classic fresh spring-roll party (same DIY philosophy). It's always a treat to cook/prep with friends so I never cringe at the thought of a spontaneous dinner party. The cringing only happens when I realize that the fridge is totally empty and I've got under two hours to get my act together, but then again I'm at my best under stress, teehee!

I have recently begun throwing spontaneous dinner parties when I realize I will have way too much food for the 2 of us. I love it, and a few of my friends have started to do so as well, which is a nice give and take. Also, I love getting some new cooking ideas from them!

I am big on the spontaneous dinner party. I live by myself (which I love) but once a week I get a cooking bug and want to share the meal so there's an email that goes out to 10-12 girlfriends asking who's in. Typically they come bearing wine, bread or grocery store flowers...all things that can be picked up on the fly and are always appreciated!

sorry but the people on the picture dont look so entertained! :p

I love the idea of it, especially when I'm braising a big piece of meat or something, but our friends are so busy we usually have to plan two months out with most of them. Sometimes I will invite the neighbors over, though, and they return the favor occasionally.

I love dinner parties. I love organixzing them. I just had one last night. It was supposed to only be 4 of us but we ended up being 10. I had one hour to prepare.

I had everyone bring one item and to make sure we had enough food (or at least no-one leaving feeling unfullfilled) I made a gigantic chocolate cake. But 10 is too many for spontaneus parties and though my friends all loved the food *I* knew it was all de-frosted from my freezer fresh basil...

I always keep cheese and crackers and frozen appetizers (like mini quiches) on hand in case I randomly invite friends or my brother and his girlfriend over. I really should keep more wine on hand but usually whoever comes over brings wine.

My parents' throw a dinner party every week -- it's called Sunday dinner. Different people tend to show up every week and it's always a good time when I go out there for it.

I don't throw dinner parties, but my roommate does. I am more apt to throw together BBQs in the spring and summer, but that could be considered dinner parties, right?