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Not only do street parties give us the chance to sample our neighbours' cooking, they strengthen community spirit and . There are some useful resources out there if you鈥檝e never done anything like this before 鈥� from this to .

Once you鈥檝e got clearance from the council and rounded up the trestle tables, it鈥檚 time to turn your attention to the food. If the weather鈥檚 OK you could plump for a barbecue 鈥� always good for feeding a crowd. Or if you鈥檙e feeling ambitious, what about a ?

Chef Merrillees Parker who runs the catering company has the lowdown on how to scale up your favourite recipes for this kind of event. "For anything long and slow 鈥� say curries or stews听 鈥� simply multiply up your recipe. Or with something like a Caesar salad, the amount of chicken and dressing per person stays the same.

"Catering is all about organisation and space. You鈥檒l need a big cool box to extend your fridge. If you need lots of cool boxes for your party, get everyone to chip in to buy a few. Use a plastic bin with a bin liner and bags of ice to keep drinks cool, saving the fridge for the food. I think every family should have a large pot or stockpot to serve about 20 people. Beg, steel or borrow the neighbours' pots."

Merrillees suggests a classic British afternoon tea theme for your parties 鈥� with easily portable things like cupcakes, Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, flapjakes, tray bakes and . 鈥淏ake your cakes beforehand and ice them on the day. Remember meringues keep for three days and keep in mind that fruit cakes or dense carrot cakes will last nearly a week in air-tight containers. Everything you do takes more time for say 50 people rather than five. If there's a job you can do beforehand, don鈥檛 do it on the day. You just want to be tweaking - chopping herbs, icing, sprinkling, decorating, not the bulk of the work. It's possible to do it all on the day, but you'll enjoy yourself more if you're organised.鈥�

Lots of desserts freeze brilliantly, so you can get ahead of yourself that way 鈥� make lemon posset or chocolate mousse beforehand. A good rule of thumb is to avoid freezing anything with chunks of fruit, which will have high water content. Simple sponge cakes freeze well 鈥� just ice them them beforehand.

Also sandwiches are not as easy as you'd think. Merrillees says, 鈥淭hey can dry out so easily. When cutting don't stack them more than two sandwiches high and, once filled, place them on separate plastic trays covered with a clean tea towel/unused jay cloth. Keep them covered until serving. Use moist fillings such as smoked salmon and cream cheese or egg mayo (not slices of cheddar or ham), if you're making them in advance. Cut them into strips at the last minute."

Francis O'Hagan from catering company says, "Menu choice is paramount. You need to cover a broad range of tastes so keep it simple. Chicken is a cheaper meat, is easy to cook and is versatile for flavouring. Indeed that's why coronation chicken was invented.鈥� Merrillees adds, 鈥淐ommunication is so important. If you're hosting, speak to everyone and check what they want to make. Go back if more than one person wants to make the same thing. I'm far too much of a control freak for ".

The safest option is to go for something that you鈥檝e made before, but if, like me, you like to give something new a go when you鈥檙e cooking for friends, Francis says, 鈥淐old salads are a good way to go - it gives you licence to experiment but without destroying the overall effect if things don't go to plan鈥�.