Today, as in Dolly's time, we still host dinners at home, at restaurants and at special venues like banquet halls. Some are sit-down affairs while others are more informal buffets. The menu format is largely unchanged, but more options are now offered to accommodate various regimens—pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, glutenfree, low-salt, low-fat. For sit-down dinners, it is quite acceptable to ask guests in advance if they have dietary restrictions. For buffets, it is simply a matter of offering a wider selection of dishes. In general, it is usually a good rule of thumb to avoid very salty or heavy sauces on your dishes—with a salt shaker close at hand, guests can salt their plates to their heart's content.

Special attention should be paid to the guestlist—like your favourite dish, the perfect dinner party is an adept blend of ingredients.

As in Dolly's day, if the host is not a talented cook, a caterer or chef will be hired for the occasion. Chinese protocol has it that if the dishes warrant it, the host will laud the guest chef with high praise, while reserving selfeffacing criticism for the host's own cooking, no matter how superb. This is our Chinese culture—to be humble, no matter what circumstances fortune has bestowed on us.

Carolyn Hsu