You'll never see the Barefoot Contessa losing her cool in the kitchen. She's well-versed in the best ways to reduce stress when cooking dinner for a crowd, and she has a brilliant hosting trick that you can use, too.

Ina Garten plans a dinner party by making use of all the appliances in the kitchen, so that all the items will be fresh and hot at the same time. For example, you could put potato rolls in the slow cooker, while the entrée is in the oven and the instant pot is cooking up quinoa.

Garten believes making your guests feel welcome at home is the most important thing, so she forgoes the stiffness of a conventional dinner party and focuses on bringing everyone together for food and conversation. She also puts out a buffet-style service that allows guests to choose which dinner dishes they want.