MayPOLE Day

In the category of Favorite Dessert, the cake from our May-Pole Day Dinner in 2010 was the winner.  As you will see, this is not necessarily because of the taste (although it was yummy), but because of the comedy.  This is a dinner theme that took some bravery on my part, but turned out a huge hit.  I started out with a simple pastel invite which read:

May Day is typically May 1st...
a day to celebrate the arrival of
Spring and weave the beautiful ribbons
around the Maypole.
Let's celebrate this day with an
evening of ribbons and dancing for a...
"May Day Dinner"

Arrive wearing you favorite dancing shoes, a colorful ribbon in your hair, and an appetite for merriment.

Little did guest's expect, but they arrived in their pastel shirts and hair bows to see this poster on the front of my door...

Decor:  Oh yes, conservative little me hosted a stripper themed party!  After entering, guests were immediately giggling at the centerpiece....my metal shower rod with a blow up stripper doll on it!!  There were also dollar bills spread out on the table to add a little more fun, and I wore some black lingerie with tall boots to play up the theme even more!

Notice the guests in their pastel shirts & ribbons!  So funny!

Oh, and let's not forget the placecards.  I used bright red straws I "borrowed" from Jack in the Box and found images of strippers online.  I cut out the strippers and glued them to the straw replacing the image's face with the face of a guest...so funny!!

Food: As is typical with my parties, I tried to find menu items I could link to theme.  Here is what I came up with...

• Herbed "Strip" Steak with Balsamic Sauce
• Silver "Dollar" Potatoes
• Asparagus "Poles"
• "Stripper" Cake

As I mentioned at the start of this post, the cake is what won for Favorite Dessert!  It is a simple vanilla cake baked in a 9 x 13 pan and then cut with a knife in the shape of a body.  You need two cupcakes as well.  The entire thing is frosted with peach frosting and then I piped on the stars in red and the blue stars for the bikini.  The belly button I made just by sticking the bottom end of a wooden spoon slightly into the cake.  The cake was a huge hit.

This is one of the parties that is still talked about by my friends because it was so unexpected.  If you are brave enough, it really is a fun Ladies Only party.  There are even pole dancing fitness classes offered in many cities that would be a fun (and funny) fieldtrip!

Fond-of-You Fondue

In the category of food, the girls voted the Fond-of-You Fondue party as their favorite.  This was our party theme back in January of 2009.  If you've never had fondue, you really should give it a try.  It is absolutely amazing.  Just know it can get very expensive depending on what cheeses, meat, and fruits you buy.  One way to make it less expensive is to ask your guests to each bring part of the meal.  An invitation for this party could be a fondue pot with the event title on the outside and a fork coming out the top.  Make the pot like an envelope so the fork can pull out and put your event details on a strawberry or piece of meat/cheese (paper of course) that is on the bottom of the fork.

Decor: This party was all about the food, so there were not many decorations.  You need a lot of fondue pots, so these become your centerpiece.  Just remember, you are using hot oil, so you'll need to protect your table.  This is why I used a plastic tablecloth over another old tablecloth. You can also play up the Fond-of-You part of the theme by writing fond wishes on the plastic tablecloth.

The placecards at this party were fondue pots made out of cardstock with the party title on the front.  The fork in each pot matched the fondue fork colors the guest would be using for the evening, and the guest's name was written on the paper fork.  Upon arrival, all guests were given small slips of paper with the name of each guest in attendance printed on one of the papers.  It also had the words, "I'm fond of you because...".  The task was to fill in the rest of the sentence with a positive comment, fold it, and place it in the fondue pot placecard.  This was easy for our group to do because we had been having monthly dinners together for over  2 years when this party took place.

Food: This party was voted favorite menu for the food.  Here are the recipes for some the fondue we made that night.

Dipping Items:

 French bread

Veggies – carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.

Top Sirloin Steak, cubed

Fruits – strawberries, bananas, berries, apples, etc.

Cakes – pound cake cubes, lemon cubes, etc.

Classic Cheese Fondue

 2 loaves French or Italian bread – get unsliced

1 pound Emmenthaler cheese, diced (or use Swiss)

2 tablespoons flour

1 clove fresh garlic

2 cups dry white wine

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup Kirsch (or Rum)

Nutmeg and pepper or paprika to taste

Cut bread into 1” squares with crust on one side of each square.  Place cheese in a bowl and sprinkle with flour.  Mix so that each piece is coated with flour.  Rub casserole and wooden stirring spoon with cut clove of garlic.  Pour wine into the casserole and place or moderate heat until small bubbles rise to the top (simmering; not boiling).  Add lemon juice.  Add cheese one handful at a time, stirring constantly until each handful is melted before adding another.  Continue stirring until mixture starts to bubble lightly.  Add Kirsch and spices.  Stir until well blended.  Put on table over warmer.  Serves four.

 

Fiesta Fondue

1 10¾ ounce can cheddar cheese soup

1 8 ounce package sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup salsa

1 cup whole milk

Mix together over low heat.

   

Hot ‘n’ Spicy Dipping Sauce

 1 cup chili sauce

½ cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons salad oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon tobasco

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in saucepan.  Heat to boiling; simmer 5 minutes.  Serve warm or cool.  Makes 1¼ cup.

 

Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

 ½ cup sour cream

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon salt

Combine and refrigerate.  Makes ¾ cup.

Chocolate Mocha Fondue

 1 bag semi-sweet or mild chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2-4 tablespoons of instant powdered coffee granuals

Whole milk or more condensed milk as need

Melt one bag of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips in a fondue pot. Stir in one can of sweetened condensed milk and 2-4 tablespoons of instant powdered coffee granuals, to taste.  Add whole milk or more condensed milk as needed to achieve desired thickness.
 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue

4 (1 ounce) squares of unsweetened chocolate

1 cup light cream

1 cup sugar

¼ cup peanut butter

1½ teaspoon vanilla

 In medium saucepan, combine chocolate and half and half. Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and blended, stirring frequently. Add sugar and cook 2-3 minutes longer, until sugar is dissolved. Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir until blended. Remove from heat and pour into fondue pot or chafing dish. Serve with slices of fruit, angel food or pound cake, and marshmallows for dipping. 6 servings

Rags to Riches

Since I have been hosting themed monthly dinners for my friends for exactly 5 years now, my next 5 posts will detail the Top 5 Favorite Monthly Dinners based on 5 different categories.  I gave the girls these 5 categories to vote in for our October dinner which will be a collection of all of them.  Winner in the attire category was the Rags to Riches party.  Guests chose which they wanted to represent and came dressed in that attire.

The premise of this party was to trade your unwanted items (rags) for items you wanted (riches).  Each guest was instructed to bring 10 items they did not want any longer.  The girls brought everything from clothing & purses to household items and games.  Guests drew numbers and we went "shopping".  This was so much fun & I definitely got some great riches from others' rags.

Decor: The decorations were super fun for this one.  Since the guests were split half rags and half riches, that is how I divided my table.  On the riches side I had a black linen tablecloth and crystal candlesticks.  I used my fine china, glass stemware, sterling silverware, and folded cloth napkins in a standing fan.  For the placecards, I made elegant cards like you'd have at a wedding and referred to the guests formally "Ms. Susan Johnson". 



On the rags side, I used newspaper as my tablecloth and set up ugly mugs with tea lights inside as their mood lighting.  No fine china for these ladies...this side of the table ate off paper plates, plastic utensils, styrofoam cups, and paper napkins.  Their placecards were torn pieces of scratch paper with only their first names hastily written in pencil.






 The centerpiece for the table was a pile of rags with money sticking out of it to tie in the two sides.

Food: At first I had a hard time thinking of a menu that would be eaten by a wealthy person as well as someone living in rags.  So instead, I played up the idea of money.  I cut a large dollar bill stencil using my Cricut machine. I placed the stencil on a large tortilla and used green food coloring to stencil a dollar bill onto the tortilla. These I made into chicken and steak burritos and served them with Spanish rice and corn with diced red peppers.

 For dessert I continued the money theme.  I served both sides mint chip pie with an oreo cookie crust.  The "rich" were served on fine china with 100 Grand bars.  The "rags" were served on a paper plates with penny coins.

This theme was so much fun and the girls keep asking to do it every year so they can get rid of unwanted items and gain some great riches.  It would be a neat party to do for a church or community fundraiser as well. It's an added spin to the generic garage sale!  Definitely try this one!

Blogging Here I Come!

So I've only done a few write-ups so far, and I am still figuring this blogging thing out, but I am so excited to share this site with everyone. I hope you'll become a follower and comment from time to time.  Also...if any of you out there want to help to design a cool heading and logo I am definitely looking for one!  This plain text box with writing is about the extent of my abilities when it comes to graphic design!

A Ba-BEE Shower

Back in 2008, I hosted a baby shower for my close friend who was having her second little girl. I decided to go with a bumble bee theme and pull in pink as well.  The invitations were simple with bumble bees and pink and yellow paper.  The English teacher in me wanted the wording to rhyme, so this is what I came up with: 

What’s all the buzz about?

Wendy’s ba-bee girl is soon to pop out!

We’ll celebrate at my little bee hive

To (hostess’ address here) you’ll drive.

Saturday, May 17^th, 2008

At 1:00 pm so don’t be late.

Lunch will be served, so come for the fun

Just RSVP to Carole at (phone number here)

No solo gifts as per mom-to-bee’s request

She’d like a dual stroller from all of us the best.

(Please let me know if you’d like to contribute)

As each guest arrived, I had a guestbook for them to write well wishes in.  I made this out of the same cardstock paper and colors that I had made the invitations.  I did simple daisies as the centerpiece and added sliced lemons to the water to give color and hide the stems.  I also found small wooden bumble bees at Michaels that I added to the flowers.  

I also had two favors that I placed at each guest's setting.  One was a collection of some of my favorite songs.  Although the outer appearance of the CD was bee-themed, the songs were definitely not!  The second favor was a jar of honey with a cute tag replacing the label.  They had honey bears at the 99 cent store, but I thought they were ugly, so I did pay more and got them at the grocery store.

The delight came with dessert. My ultra-talented mother helped me craft an amazing beehive cake. We made 4 round cakes in various sizes and stacked them up on top of each other frosting them with bright yellow frosting (it would probably be smoother with fondant, but I hate the way it tastes).  To make the bees, I just used black frosting to pipe on the stripes, tail, nose and eyes.  Lastly,I cut out the wings from wax paper.  I also added white daisies to the cake to tie it with with my centerpiece flowers.

Absolutely nothing about this party theme was difficult except maybe the cake.  And..the hardest part of the cake was transporting it from my mother's house to mine!!  The other details were super easy, but added a lot to the party.  If you are planning to host a ba-bee shower in the future, this is definitely a great theme.

High School Stereotypes Party

We all remember those high school days with the various clicks on campus and the clothes we wore that we thought were "hip" at the time.  Well, I wanted to bring some fun and craziness of high school back with a High School stereotypes party. I do most of my invites on Evite for monthly dinners, but a fun invite for this one would be to photocopy the guest's photo from their high school yearbook and then list the party details on the back.  I had each guest RSVP with the stereotype they were planning to dress as so I could make sure nothing was repeated (and get my placecards ready). We had everything from a pregnant Catholic school girl to a Chola...watch out ese!

Decor: The decor was simple for this one. I grabbed anything high school related for my centerpiece - a flute, a basketball, graduation cap, whatever you can find laying around your house. I served the food cafeteria-style on a side table and each guest's plate was a styrofoam cafeteria tray (purchased in a pack of 10 at Dollar Tree). I also put graffiti in my bathroom to make it seem like a real H.S. bathroom with cheesy things like Joe + Suzy = Love 4ever and silly things like that.

Remember...they are suppose to look cheesy!

  As a favor, I made goodie bags with mini packs of Nerds candy inside.  The label read "Thanks for bringing your inner NERD to our high school stereotype party."  For the place card, I made fake ID cards from whatever high school the guest actually went to.  I invented an ID number that had something to do with the character they were dressed as -- 2468CHEER, 666GOTH, etc.  The photos I found by Googling the stereotype. I then cut out the face of the appropriate guest and glued it over the face in the original photo.  If you are good with Photoshop you can do this without the glue, but I am not that talented! I scanned this example in...

Food:  When you think cafeteria, you often think tater tots and burgers, but I like these monthly dinners to have more interesting food.  So all I did was think of recipes I could rename into stereotypes.  Here is what I came up with:

• Jamaican "Jock" Chicken -- easy & super tasty (just bought Lawry's Carribbean Jerk marinade)
• Mashed "Pothead" Potatoes with a Chicken "Goth" Gravy
• Band "G(r)eek" Salad
• "Stoner" bread joints -- Pillbury bread cut into small sticks rather than into biscuits
• "Cheer"-io Ice Cream Crunch -- found this Ice Cream Crunch recipe on the Cheerios website.

Activity:  We played Pictionary with phrases that had to do with high school. I made them up...from Homecoming Queen Sash to Yearbook Editor and Chief.  

Some other ideas I didn't do for this one, but you totally could if you had more guests -- Have each guest take a photo with a "yearbook photographer" then put them all together as part of a thank you gift for attending.  This was a fun party and a great one to do in September or anytime during the school year.

Bad Luck Bash

Our monthly dinner was going to fall on the 13th for that month...so I thought I would play off that idea with a Bad Luck Bash.  Everyone loves these crazy superstitions right? The set-up and invites are easy...think of every omen of bad luck you can and decorate with it!  For an invitation, you could purchase inexpensive umbrellas and write the party details on the inside. That way guests have to open the umbrella (and they will probably be inside) to read the message -- bad luck. Or...send each guest a salt shaker with the party details on a paper rolled inside.  Guests are bound to spill the salt as they retrieve the paper -- bad luck!

 Outside the front door, I drew cracks on the sidewalk with chalk and a sign that warned guests about stepping on cracks.  I also set up a ladder at my door, so guests were forced to walk under it to enter. A stuffed animal black cat greeted guests as they entered & they had to cross it's path.  Open umbrellas were spread throughout my party area.  On the table I had mirrors I bought at the Dollar Tree with hammers, salt shakers already tipped over, and upside down pennies. I also placed a number 13 (made using my Cricut) on each guest's napkin.  As placecards, I used the Cricut again to create 8 balls with each guest's name.

My menu was not all that special at this one, but I did use a cookie cutter to make black cats out of brownies and served these with ice cream.  We also played a short game where guests had to balance a salt shaker on their head in a relay.  It made for some fun laughs.

I didn't want the guests to leave the party with bad luck, so their parting gift was a mini box of Lucky Charms with a lottery ticket attached.  Unfortunately, I didn't hear of any mega money winners...or at least they aren't sharing with me!!