WILTON, Conn. (AP) – With summer vacations over, a new season of sociability opens up.

If the thought of entertaining, even the word “party,” is too daunting, tell yourself you are just having a few people over for a little food and fun.

There are many reasons why you should NOT have people over and, believe me, I am familiar with all of them: The house is too dirty and you’d have to clean it. Then when you clean up, you lose things during your stashing frenzy. You have no time to prepare. Getting people together on the same day is a problem. You are too tired. It’s too expensive.

None of these is a good enough reason to miss out on a memorable time with people you like.

People are usually happy to get together and socialize, especially if you keep it very casual and relaxed. Some of my best party-hosting experiences were accidental entertaining.

Once, when I was living in New York City, my roommate invited people over on St. Patrick’s Day and said to me, “Is that OK with you?” So I asked people, too.

We got home from work not really knowing whether anyone had taken our invitations seriously, ran out and bought snacks, cheese, crackers and drinks. The preparation took an hour or less, people arrived and the fun went on for hours.

Another accidental party now has become an annual event. One Halloween, I invited the neighbors’ children over to our house for pizza before trick-or-treating. Pretty soon the parents were at our house, nibbling on leftover pizza crusts. As I watched a dad dive for a crust that was about to go into the trash, I ordered more.

Here are some strategies to make it easier to invite people over.

- Next time you have overnight guests, plan a party a week or two later. You will have cleaned up for the guests and the house won’t look a complete disaster.

- Connecting the party with an event such as a holiday (no matter how trivial) seems to be a good idea. A couple of weeks after the winter holidays is also prime casual party time.

- Involve your guests in the food preparation if time is short. Ask people to bring food.

- Shut off rooms, if necessary. People tend to gravitate to one central area, usually the kitchen, and they won’t notice that they have been blockaded out of part of your home.

- If you are serving dinner, set up chairs and tables to accommodate everyone, no matter how mismatched, in case people want to linger and chat. Set the table ahead of time.

- Think of the easy special touches you can do. Put glasses in the freezer to give them an appealing frosty look. Turn down the lights and use candles. Put on music and assign someone the job to change it. Serve a terrific, very chocolaty dessert to make a lasting final impression, along with regular and decaffeinated coffee.

- Above all, put a smile on your face. Ask people you like. Realize that some people won’t be able to come to the party, but you will see them again some other time.

Hawaiian chef Alan Wong’s recipe for guacamole (below) with finely chopped ginger and sake make it a treat that’s in a league of its own.

2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons sake

1/4 cup sliced scallions, green part only

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons minced ginger root

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoon chili sauce with garlic (such as the Asian type known as sambal oelek)

1 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, combine the avocados, onion, tomato, sake, scallions, lime juice, ginger, cilantro, oil, chili sauce and salt. Mix gently without mashing the avocado.