Red, White, & You - A Tasty Tribute to Rhyming Words

With fourth of July in a few days, I decided to theme my monthly dinner around this holiday, but with a twist.  I hosted a Red, White, and ________ Party where everything from decor to food to attire was supposed to rhyme with blue.  It was so much fun to put together, all the food was delicious, and the girls really had some fun with their rhyming "blue" attire.

Invite: I chose a simple patriotic bunting to top the invitation and then used red, white, and blue throughout.  I wanted guests to understand the idea of this party and that the "blue" would be replaced with another rhyming word.  I tried a spinner wheel, but that didn't look right on the invite.  I ultimately decided on a drop-down menu to show guests that it could be red, white, and "BLUE" or "YOU" or "CREW," etc.  I used this drop-down menu throughout many of the party details.  On the invitation, I also tried to incorporate some more words that rhymed with blue such as "rendezVOUS," "VENUE," and "VIEW."

I thought it might be fun to ask guests to dress in attire for the party that rhymed with blue.  I gave them some examples on the invite, but also let them know that they could just wear blue if they couldn't think of anything.  Pictured above you see a boy named SUE, myself dressed with a patriotic TUTU and a HAIKU on my shirt, and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss.

We also had two guests who wore items from their recent trips to OAHU, a guest with a BLUE dress and fun HAIRDO, and a BARBECUE chef among other rhymes.

Decorations: I used a red tablecloth and white plates and created a centerpiece with items that rhymed with blue.

I started with the board from a game of CLUE.  I bought red, white, and blue fake flowers and placed them in "vases" of RAGU pasta sauce,  a bottle of SHAMPOO, and a bottle of Mountain DEW.  Yes, I wasted the pasta sauce in that I just threw it out after the party, but I thought the jar looked better full of sauce than empty.  On the table, I also had a box of TISSUE and a bottle of GLUE that I made labels for.

For place cards, I came up with a CLUE that described each guest with a rhyme rather than just listing names.  Each guest had to figure out which rhyme matched with them to figure out where to sit.  It was fun to come up with fun or funny short phrases for them.

With the napkin, I made a napkin ring with Red, White, and the face of PIKACHU.  Kinda silly, but it rhymes with blue!

For the wine labels, I tried to think of even more blue rhymes.  I designed the label for the white wine with the same drop-down menu idea from the invitations inviting guests to "chase the red, white, and BLUES away with some chardonnay."  For the red wine, I came up with a simple rhyme "A rich bold HUE to bid woes ADIEU."

For wine charms, but printed off various brand logos or things that I could think of that rhymed with blue.  For my dinner, these included: igloo, Shamu, Hulu, Subaru, Pooh, Yahoo, Taboo, Clue, Peru, and zoo.

Menu: The menu (notice even menu rhymes) I chose for this dinner was delicious!  For these dinners I more often than not, try new recipes.  I don't get to do that very much with my own picky family, so monthly dinners give me that opportunity!  This dinner was no exception as all the menu items were recipes I had not tried before.  I started with a blue cheese dip for Red, White, & FONDUE. If you like blue cheese, this dip was amazing.  If you don't like it, then this recipe is not for you.  I found the recipe at Dash of Sanity.  The only change I made to the recipe was that I used smoked blue cheese instead of regular (as I love smoky flavor) and because it was a fondue, I served it with French bread cubes.

For the main dish I served Red, White & BARBECUE Chicken.  I wanted to make my own bbq sauce and tried the recipe from All Recipes for Best BBQ chicken.  The marinade paste and the sauce were easy to make and could be made ahead of time.  The only changes I made to this recipe was that I served chicken breasts instead of drumsticks, and I used apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar because that is what I had in my cupboard.  My husband volunteered to grill the chicken and baste it as it was grilling.  It was so good.

As a side dish, I made Red, White, & BREW (beer) potatoes.  I found the recipe for these Beer Potatoes at Cookist.  These potatoes were easy to make and tasted great.  

Another side was a pasta salad I titled Red, White, & CORKSCREW Pasta Salad.  I found the recipe for this Tri Color Pasta Salad on Food, Folks, & Fun.  Having a pasta salad I could make the night before allowed me to have more time with my friends rather being stuck in the kitchen doing prep. I followed this recipe, but also added garbanzo beans.  

I titled my dessert Red, White, & TIRAMISU.  I went the easy route and just purchased an already made tiramisu from Costco instead of making it myself.  Only challenge was getting it out of the package and having it look nice on the plate!  It was really tasty though and not something I usually serve at my monthly dinners, so it was a nice change.

Party Activity/Game:  Before we had dessert, we played a couple rounds of TABOO which was really fun.  We didn't have teams or anything, we just sat at the table and everyone guessed.  Then we took turns with who was the clue giver.  

Favor: With the 4th of July later in the week, I decided my party favor would be patriotic TATTOOs.  I found really inexpensive ones on Amazon.  

The first ones I bought arrived and they were very dark colors, so I returned those and purchased a couple of this set of 8 sheets.  The were bright and festive, and since the party was prior to July 4th, the guests could easily use them to celebrate the holiday. I used the same drop-down idea and was able to include a thank YOU and tribute to this Monthly Dinner CREW.

We had a great time at this dinner and it was really fun to put together. I got most of my ideas after looking up rhyming words on the internet and then figuring out how I could incorporate those words.  The challenge was fun.  Happy 4th Everyone!

Tutti Fruitti: Summer Fruit Theme

At this time of year, you can find watermelon or lemon decorations at most stores, so fruit is a perfect theme for a summer gathering.  Plus, if you are like me, you LOVE the taste of summer fruits.  This was a fun theme for sure.

Invite: I wanted the invitation to be colorful, bright, and to include a variety of fruits.  For this reason, I designed the invitation with a simple fruit border.  The rest of the invitation just had the basic information and some fruit puns.

Decorations: For my main dining table, I used a green tablecloth and a lemon table runner I already owned.  I found colorful fruit plates and bright flowers to help create the summer vibe.

I wanted to use fruits as much as possible in my centerpiece.  I hollowed out a pineapple to use as a vase for bright colors.  To make the vase, I cut off the top of the pineapple and used a sharp knife to cut a circle around the pineapple along the edges.  It was challenging to get the pineapple out because I wanted to use them in my fruit salad.  If you don't care about that, you can easily scoop out the pineapple with a large spoon.  Once the pineapple was hollow, I cut off the top of an empty water bottle to place inside to hold the flowers.

The other two vases on the centerpiece were filled with sliced fruits.  Grapefruit and lime in one; lemon and lime in the other.  

The watermelon cupcakes made for dessert were so cute, we wanted them displayed somehow throughout the dinner.  I decided to add some of them to the centerpiece and placed them up upside down striped bowls.

I found large watermelon paper plates and the smaller lemon/lime/grapefruit plates at Party City.

For placecards, I used toddler toy fruits that attach together with Velcro.  My kids used to have these when they were young and loved them.  I borrowed these to use for the dinner.  I offset the fruits a little bit, and made a tag with each guest's name to place in the middle.

For napkin rings, I cut out images of various fruits and made slits to slide the napkin through.

I used the same images from the napkins for wine charms.

I decided to use fruit puns on the wine labels I created.  I used "Red Wine - You hold the KIWI to my heart" for the red wine, and "Chardonnay You're the Zest" for the white wine.  I added a wine glass in the hands of the kiwi and the lemon. I also served a peach wine I purchased at Trader Joe's.  For this label, I used the pun "I just want PEACH and quiet and a glass of peach wine."

Over the beverage table, I hung this sign that I purchased from Party City.  The apple in the HOME set, I already owned.

Menu: It is fairly easy to find recipes that use fruits.  The problem was there were so many to choose from!  I opted to start with a strawberry spinach salad.  On the bed of spinach, I added feta cheese, candied pecans, and of course the sliced strawberries.  I served it with a balsamic vinaigrette.  You could use a raspberry vinaigrette to tie in one more fruit.

For the main dish, I made Creamy Lemon Chicken.  I did not follow the recipe exactly because I had several complications.  I did start with the chicken in the crock pot for about 2 hours, but the chicken breasts I purchased were so thick and I did not allot for enough crock pot time, that I had to make the spur of the moment decision to grill them instead.  I transferred the crock pot liquid with the lemon and cream to the stove to finish it on the stove.  For this reason, the chicken was not as tender as it normally would be, but the creamy lemon sauce was delicious, so the dish was still very tasty.

Alongside the chicken, I served cilantro lime rice.

I also served a cup of fruits which included the pineapple from the centerpiece, watermelon, blueberries, and cantaloupe.

For dessert, we had these cute watermelon cupcakes. I made standard cupcakes, but died them green and had a green wrapper.  My good friend made the buttercream frosting and added watermelon flavoring.  We then added mini chocolate chips to look like seeds.

Favor: I found these cute drink pouches with Hello Summer and a huge pineapple on them at Michaels Craft Store.  I added an alcoholic fruit seltzer inside.

It was a super easy summer party to put together.  Hope you can host one of your own this summer!

Summer Bucket List

It is the beginning of summer, and I am so excited to complete a major item on my own family's bucket list.  My kids wanted to visit all 50 states, and this summer, we are visiting Alaska - our last and final state of the 50 states!  I am so looking forward to our trip as well as the new adventures we will have as a family this summer.  With this bucket list item in mind, I decided summer bucket lists would be a fun theme for our monthly dinner.

Invite: Inspired by a bucket list image I found online, I modeled my invitation on some aspects of that image.  I went with bold and bright colors for this summer-inspired invitation. I designed the invitation on PhotoShop with summer fruits and a bucket.  I added two items to start their bucket list at the bottom just for fun.

Decorations: The decor throughout the party was various bucket list items.  They were incorporated into the centerpiece, the wine labels, the favor, the menu, and everything.

To find items for the centerpiece, I basically thought of items I already owned that I could incorporate.   I bought small buckets from the dollar store that I used on the table.  For this part of the centerpiece, I raided my game cabinet for a some games to go with a "Have a Game Night" bucket list item.

I love puzzles, and I love the challenge of completing a 1000 piece puzzle, so I used a puzzle box and pieces inside a bucket for this item.

We love going to the Drive-In, so that is an item on my summer bucket list.  I filled a bucket and a popcorn pail I already owned with popcorn and added a box of candy for this centerpiece item.

Getting a massage to relieve all the stress of teaching is definitely on my summer bucket list.  To add this idea to the decor, I just used a succulent to symbolize relaxation.

Visiting ballparks to see a major league or minor league baseball game is another fun activity.  I found a plastic Angels hat we already owned and a baseball sign to add to the centerpiece.

As a place card for each guest, I had an empty bucket list for guest's to fill out with ideas. Guest's names were at the top, and I included a pen.  It was fun to discuss fun activities as a group and add them to our lists throughout the evening.

To fit the theme into my napkin, I decided to use my Cricut machine to make a sand bucket.  I then folded the napkin to look like a beach towel and added the forks to look like sand toys.

When designing my wine labels, I went with summer bucket list activities that involve wine.  On the red wine, I found a painted image of a glass of wine being poured and added the words "Enjoy a Wine and Paint Night."  For the white wine, the bucket list item was to go wine tasting.

For my wine charms, I made small buckets and added a bucket list item to the front of each.  Some of the ones I included were Volunteer, Go Camping, Create a Signature Cocktail, and Declutter a Room.

Menu:  For each menu item, I tried to incorporate a summer bucket list item.  I also served them in buckets when possible.  "Grow a Vegetable Garden" was our appetizer which was veggies with dip that was served inside a bucket.  Simple and easy.

With the main meal, I served strawberries and blueberries inside a metal bucket to represent the bucket list item of "Go Berry Picking."  Side Note: berry picking is actually really fun.  We have done it a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

"BBQ with Friends" is always on our summer bucket list, so I decided to make Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken for the main course.  It was easy to make and delicious.  You only need 4 items to make it happen -- chicken tenderloins, BBQ seasoning, bacon, and BBQ sauce.

I made french fries in the oven.  Again, easy to make and the only ingredients are potatoes and seasonings.  I sometimes use an air fryer for fries, but with so many guests, I needed my double oven to cook all of them.

Since my family will be going to Alaska to visit the last of our 50 states this summer, I wanted to do something to celebrate that.  I decided to make a Baked Alaska for dessert.  I had never made one before, but it was pretty straight forward.  It was a big hit with the guests.

As an English teacher, something I hope is on EVERYONE'S summer bucket list is to read a book!  I love reading by the pool or at the beach.  It is so relaxing.  As a party favor, I decided to give a book to each guest.  I went to GoodWill to purchase from their shelves trying to pick good books that were in good shape.  I paid .99 cents for softcover books, and $1.99 for the hardbacks.  I tried to pick a variety of genres for guests to chose from.

I designed a summer reading book mark and placed one in each book.

This was a super easy dinner theme, and one I totally recommend.  It was great to kick off summer, but it would also be fun for a retirement party or for any decade birthday party (Bucket Lists to Complete in your 40's, etc.).

Thanks for checking out my blog.  I hope you cross some items off YOUR Bucket List this Summer!