The 2023 fall season is nearly here — and many people are looking for the best tips and tricks for hosting friends and family as they plan gatherings this year.
Fox News Digital spoke with bestselling author and popular chef Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest about the fall, including her best tips for hosting a gathering.
The uber-popular chef has over 5.3 million Instagram followers and is known for sharing her best recipes and kitchen tips and tricks with others.
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Her first tip when hosting this season is simple: Don’t stress.
"Don’t try to create a menu that is so intensive or anything like that — take help from the store," said the Colorado-based Gerard.
Gerard said buying pre-cut or pre-made food from the store to help ease a bit of the hosting load is totally acceptable.
She recommended prepping recipes ahead of time if they require lots of effort — but don’t pick difficult recipes if you don’t have to, she said.
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"Don’t pick recipes that you have to be sitting there, frying on the stove — choose thing that are simple to create," she said.
Gerard also recommended just that: Picking simple dishes that don’t require lots of time making.
She said a simple appetizer or a simple cocktail — even just setting out a bottle of everyone’s favorite wine — can be enough.
"Really just simplify the process of everything," she recommended.
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From her experience with hosting and cooking for her family of 10, she recommends not doing an extravagant, multiple-course dinner.
"Here’s your salad; here’s your main dish; here’s your dessert," she said.
She also said that not making a dessert is totally acceptable — noting that buying a cake from your favorite bakery or cookies from your favorite shop is fine.
"I think the most important thing about entertaining is when your guests are experiencing your dinner, and they feel welcomed," she said.
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She loves when her guests feel relaxed and invited into her home, she said — not as if they can’t touch the tablescape or need to be on their best behavior at all times.
"Light the candles, light the fire — make it warm, cozy, welcoming and inviting," she said.
When it comes to gifts for the host, Gerard said you can never go wrong with a candle.
"I think that candles can make your environment feel so welcoming and inviting — and people don’t realize that you can really create this environment of warm and cozy with a single scent," she said.
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Gerard also recommended bringing flowers — she said they're underrated as a host gift.
Overall, however, she said to bring whatever the host would most likely use and appreciate — saying nobody "really wants a knickknack."
"If they love to make cocktails, find them really pretty cocktail glasses," she said.
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"Find beautiful things that maybe they wouldn’t to get for themselves, but they can really enjoy in their life."
Gerard recently announced a collaboration with Home Chef, which will feature seven of her most popular dishes from her food blog, "Half Baked Harvest."
Gerard told Fox News Digital she was excited to bring her recipes into more homes around the country and noted the partnership was a long time coming.
