Love You a WAFFLE Lot

This February, our monthly dinner took on a Valentine's/Waffle theme after a friend of mine went to a waffle restaurant, and sent me their menu as an idea.  I decided to run with it, and I kept it all waffle instead of having other breakfast style foods.

Invite: I used an invite background I saw on a blog called Just Add Confetti and just photoshopped the design and writing to better reflect my theme.  I tried to think of waffle puns to put on the invite for added fun.  Alison, the blogger for Just Add Confetti also had various other printables, that I was able to download and alter to fit my theme which saved me a ton of time because I didn't have to start from scratch.

Decor:  I kept the decorations fairly simple for this dinner.  I set out a red tablecloth on my outside dining table, and made a centerpiece that looked like a retro spinning order stand.  

To make the stand, I just used a small cake platter I already owned.  I set it on top of an upside down cereal bowl and hot glued some small white clothespins around the side to hold the "guest checks" that I designed as menu cards for each of my menu items.  On top of the cake stand I baked some waffles, and then added a Cupid's Diner sign to the middle.

On both sides of the order stand, I had a waffle cone vase of red roses. I filled the bottom of the mason jar with white chocolate chips to keep the waffle and the roses in place.  After the party, I moved the roses to regular vases with water, so they'd live longer, but they were cute and perfect for the theme in the large waffle cones.

The rest of the roses, I just added to a vase and put waffles in front of it.  I placed it on the drink table.

I used smaller waffle cones for my napkin holders. Just rolled a napkin to put inside with the silverware.  Simple.

For placecards, I made red heart-shaped waffles and added a fondant initial to the top.  I used a red velvet cake mix instead of waffle mix.  I added an additional egg and a quarter cup flour to the mix before baking to stiffen them up a little bit.  Although these were just decor, and not food, my own kids ate the extra ones, and they really liked them.

I also like to come up with funny ideas for my wine labels.  For the red wine, I created an image with a happy-faced waffle and a happy glass of red wine with the words "Better Together."  The wrap of the label had the Cupid's Diner logo with "a waffley good brunch" logo on it.  For the white wine, I used the diner guest check idea, and created a guest check that read "Will you be mine wine?"

For wine charms, I cut up a Stroopwafel cookie.  If you haven't had these, they are a toasted waffle cookie filled with caramel.  I cut a triangle wedge of the cookie, dipped the end in colored chocolate, and then used a skewer to make a hole in the cookie so I could tie them onto the glass with ribbon. Super cheap and easy to make.  They lasted through the party, but the cookies are soft, so they definitely weren't made to last long term.

Menu:  Of course waffles were a part of every course for the party, and I made a Guest Check to go with each item as a menu card.  

We started with a green salad with tomatoes, feta, and Italian dressing.  I served these in small waffle bowls.  The guest check read, "You're so Romaine-tic! Lettuce be friends forever."

For the main dish, I served Chicken and Waffles.  I made the waffles with a normal mix and got a bucket of chicken legs and thighs from the grocery store to save myself time.  I never do that, but life is crazy with work and softball/baseball practices, so that was my excuse!  I served these with my grandmother's homemade waffle syrup which made them extra tasty.  The guest check for this one read, "I like you a waffle lot! Promise I'm not pulling your leg!"

For dessert, I used my heart-shaped waffle maker to make strawberry waffles using strawberry cake mix.  I topped them with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.  Although these were really tasty, the pink was difficult to see after they have been cooked and have the toasty brown look.  The guest check for these read, "You're a Berry special friend."

Favor: I made favor boxes with a waffle look for my parting gift.  I found a template for boxes online and Photoshopped a waffle background to the template.  These took a while to cut out and assemble, but they were cute.  I put two Stroopwafel cookies inside each box.  I ended up cutting the cookies in half and wrapping them in a cake pop bag inside, just so they would fit.

This was another great party theme.  The food was good, the decor was fun and easy, and all of us had a "waffley" great time as usual visiting together!