Daily Party Dish

Super Excited About Twilight Party Products

We’re counting the days at Party411.com until the next Twilight movie comes out on November 20th!  And, of course, we can’t let it pass without planning a Twilight theme party! So, we put Edward in our office for inspiration and got to work. 

 

We started with a whole line of Twilight inspired custom products.  Our favorite has to be this beautiful caricature of Edward and Bella that you can use as an invitation.  Use it as is or take out Bella and add your face.  (Or Edward’s, of course, if you’re a male who is hosting.)

 

We’re so excited to present our Twilight theme party.  It’s full of decorating ideas, favor ideas and entertaining ideas.  It’s great if you’re planning a Twilight movie release party (like us!) or a Twilight theme birthday party. 

And, we know you all love Edward too.  Stay tuned, we’ll be giving away a lifesize cutout of Edward next month!

-Amy

Spooktacular is indeed a word!

So, I’m on vacation walking through a Saveway Supermarket, minding my own business, when Pillsbury’s newest impulse buy magazine hits my eye from the racks.  Screaming “HALLOWEEN—Food, Parties, Fun”…I had no choice but to buy it.  A party planner (and a good one) I may be, but a house with two ovens later, the words creative and kitchen have never mixed nor mingled and probably never will.

Yet, leafing through this tome of ideas, my mind raced and I leapt forward to October 31st and the thought that maybe I’d have a party just to show off these incredibly creative treats—costumes being the least of it.  Even I, a woman who has never cooked, never created anything from scratch, could pull this off.  I think.

 

 

For instance, they have sandwiches where the bread is cut in the shape of a coffin and jelly is used (it seems—I only look at the pictures) to spell out R.I.P. on top.  They’ve taken deviled eggs and actually made the “devil” out of them with what looks like pimento, peppers and pieces of carrots to name a few.  They’ve made bugs out of pigs in a blanket using shoestring potatoes out of a can with ketchup and mustard for eyes and skin pigmentation (yes, you read that right).  They’ve even made creepy crawlers by wrapping meatballs in their refrigerated flaky biscuits, using cut olives for eyeballs and connecting them together to look like a centipede.  Excited yet? 

 

 

Everything has eyes and legs and creepy appendages.  A simple potato turns into a terrifying twice-baked mummy, a salad changes into a scary clown and a loaf of bread turns into a cheese-filled jack-o-lantern.  And I haven’t even talked about dessert!

So, if you’re in the mood for Halloween wrapped in a Pillsbury crescent roll or buttery biscuit (and you’re missing a chromosome if not), you can check out Pillsbury’s Halloween recipes or get Volume 18, Number 1 of their Most Requested Recipes™--since the website does not do this Halloween issue justice.

Gotta go and get a “chef” costume.  Have a great Halloween!
    The Party Girl

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day.  Since this is a Saturday we at the office decided to embrace the holiday and dress up like pirates a day early.  There was a good deal of participation across the office, which is unusual for such a strange, yet amazing holiday.  The outfits were incredible, as some of us got really involved.  I think my mom had as much fun putting together my outfit as I did wearing it.

Roz for some reason would not leave me alone.  Every single time she had an opportunity to even attempt an attack she would!  The nerve.  Of course we as a group decided for the safety of the entire office we would give her a foam sword, so she wouldn’t hurt anybody, herself included.  (There were no injuries by the end of the day.)

Of course we had parrots, because what would a Pirate party be without a parrot?  And we brought some rum for the party because, again what would a pirate party be without rum?  We had the essentials plus amazing costumes, what a good day.  However, we did not intend for the parrot to get carried away and drink all of the Parrot rum.  Is that breaking some sort of rule? Parrots drinking Parrot Bay. Get back to me on this because I'm a little confused.

I enjoyed my little taste of rum…(remember the boss reads this, so I only had a little.)  I thought my Captain Morgan pose was pretty much phenomenal and I'm happy with it. Notice Roz attempting to stab me again, so glad it was a foam knife. As much as I enjoyed the (little amounts) of rum I really enjoyed the cupcakes. Kathleen always makes delicious baked goods for all of our celebrations and these cupcakes fit the bill and exceeded expectations.

Kathleen and I were probably the most authentically dressed, so naturally we decided to have a duel.  Things were pretty even with the sword fighting, to the point where Kathleen thought she might win.  Silly her, she didn’t expect me to cheat.  It’s Pirate day, of course I’m going to cheat.  I came prepared with a gun and I won. She tried to say I cheated, and my response was that I had a more authentic costume and she shouldn't be jealous.

Now on the drive to work I felt like Brad Hamilton (catch the reference, catch it) but then I thought, I’m dressed like a Pirate and you are not.  I feel sorry for you, so stop giving me dirty looks at the stop light, because we both know you're jealous.  Even better, if I attend a Pirate themed Halloween party later this year, I’m ready to go.  I know my costume is legit, and I’m excited to wear it again. 

How do you celebrate I.T.L.A.P.D.?

What is I.T.L.A.P.D. you ask?  Well simply it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. (It's a legitimate holiday.)  It's celebrated on the 19th of September, which is of course a Saturday.  We here at Party411 decided to get dressed up like Pirates and celebrate a day early.  Since it's not actually International Talk Like a Pirate Day, we decided we would give you a little teaser of what we did to celebrate.  We had a little rum, cupcakes, duels, back stabbings, all in all it was an incredible team building experience!  Check back tomorrow for more updates!

Five Great Fall Parties

 

I know the kids are back in school but I’m tired of hearing that summer is over and we’re back to the old grind. Come on we’re party people!  Fall is a great time to have a party. Your friends are back from vacation and they are not busy with the holidays yet. The result is plenty of people showing up at your celebration.  Here are my five favorite fall parties.

1. Backyard Clambake. Whether you do a traditional New England clambake or a clambake on the grill there is not better way to spend a fall evening. The food is messy enough that no one is too formal and sitting fireside on a fall night can’t be beat.
2. Tailgating Party. We have a pro team in town so Sunday is the day to tailgate for us but this works just as well on Saturday for a college game.  A fun way to get ready to watch the game. In fact, I know a lot of people that don’t go to the game but just to the tailgating party.
3. Oktoberfest Party. Beer is served by the barrel.  Need I say more?
4. Texas Hold ‘Em Party. Ok, maybe this doesn’t scream fall but if you have to come inside why not have a card party.  Hold ‘em parties can be for 8 people to 100 so they are easily scalable to what you need. For the not too serious players there is always food and the occasional cocktail.
5. Halloween Party. Let’s see. I get to decorate my house and myself. I spend a whole night role playing. My friends dress silly and act silly. Count me in!

Help me out folks and fight the end of summer blues. We have months of good weather left and plenty of good party ideas. Let’s enjoy!

-Jimmy

Welcome Back Football! - and there is always next year.

This weekend was the first football game of the season for the Cleveland Browns, which means football has officially returned to our house! From now until the Super Bowl, weekends will be devoted to hosting friends and family for the games.

Since it is the first game of the season we sent out invitations to make it special. We usually do invites for the first game, one more big game in the season, and the Super Bowl. This time I went with a Cleveland Browns theme invite (you can get them for any team) and I added some orange and brown confetti to the envelope to add a bit of fun.

I think the best part of football season is eating "football food" - pizza, ribs, wings, dips... as long as it is tasty it will get into the rotation. This weekend we had BBQ - ribs, chicken, pulled pork, along with potato salad, coleslaw and cornbread. Yummy!

While we waited for the game to start we played some great "pump up" football music. Here are a few of my favorites from the playlist -

• We Will Rock You - Queen
• Crazy Train - Ozzy
• Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
• The Boys are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
• Hell's Bells - AC/DC
• Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N' Roses
• Enter Sandman - Metallica

Everyone got dressed in their brown and orange best to cheer the team on. Even Basil our dog was ready for the game to start.

I didn't do many decorations, but I did hand our some football noisemakers, our crowd loves to get loud! So the food is set out, we are dressed up, we have our noisemakers, and we are all pumped up.

Unfortunately the Browns started off strong, and fell apart in the 3rd quarter. Not completely unexpected.  Below is the normal progression of emotions for Browns fans...

Well, at least we have the food to look forward to. Next week I am making chili cheese dip.

Party Sunglasses for the Future

The wait is over!  Remember my post from a few months back about 2010 glasses?  I have been wondering for years…what will happen to the “00” glasses in 2010?  Will it be the end of an era?

Well, after waiting and waiting and waiting, I finally have an answer!  I just got these images from my vendors:

So, we can all rest easy.  There WILL be 2010 glasses.  Phew.  We’ll let you know when they are available.

Let the New Year’s Eve party planning begin!

Amy

Bierocks - an Oktoberfest Party Recipe

 

Bierocks are a lovely dish I just discovered. Originating in Eastern Europe, these meat filled pastries are yum yum yummy! I was researching recipes for some Oktoberfest fare when I came across several mentions of this dish, so after doing a little research and some trial and error I worked out a tasty recipe that is a perfect fall food.

Serve this at your Oktoberfest party, a football party, or for dinner. They make a convenient party food because you can prepare them ahead of time, freeze them, and then heat in the oven right before the party and they taste just as good! But they are tasty and hearty enough for everyday dinners and snacks too. They have been hit with everyone who has tried them!

Kathleen's Easy Bierocks
This recipe makes 16 full sized bierocks, or 32 appetizer sized bierocks

2 cans of prepared biscuit dough
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 small head cabbage, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
Crisco or something to grease the cookie sheet

Saute beef, onion and garlic, salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat until beef is browned. Add cabbage and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until cabbage is limp; drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly flour board and pin, and roll each piece of biscuit dough into a circle approximately 6-7 inches around.  Spoon cabbage/beef filling onto center of each dough piece, about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. Fold the dough over into a half circle and pinch to seal.

To make appetizer sized cut the circle in half and use less filling so you get 2 from each biscuit.

Place bierocks on a greased cookie sheet. Brush the tops of the dough with the egg. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve these hot, or you can individually wrap and freeze for later.

Enjoy!

- Kathleen

Back To School - A Party for the Parents

There’s a great commercial that comes out this time of year that I think is just great! “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” plays in the background as a father happily throws school supplies into a shopping cart and the kids grumble behind him.  I cracked up the first time I saw it and now that I’ve got school aged kids, I get it even more.  Parents LOVE back to school time.

So, my feeling is – it’s time for parents to party!  If you’re a stay at home parent or if you work part time, have a party while the kids are at school for all your other parent friends. 

Plan the party to start shortly after drop off at school.  Brunch will work well for this party. Serve coffee and mimosas with champagne, of course.  Bagels, pastries, muffins, etc.

You won’t need to plan any activities for this party.  You’ve spent the entire summer trying to entertain your kids.  Everyone will be thrilled to be able to sit still and chat – it’s all you’ll need!

Ok, so I love this idea.  I’m off to plan my own “The Kids Are Back In School!” party! 

Win a $100 Gift Certificate to BuyCostumes.com

                                           paper Iron Man via Costumepop

Did you have a lame costume last year? Do you want to make a better impression this year? Well here's your chance to win some moolah towards a great costume or even decorations for your Halloween party.

We are having a Photo Caption Contest over at Party411.com for a chance to win $100 Gift Certificate to BuyCostumes.com.  You don't have to have the funniest caption to win, since the winner will be drawn randomly, but give us your best shot. The contest is open until October 10th. Good luck!

Enter the Party411.com Photo Caption Contest