What is the next event you are planning?

[mudbug]

Claire, I doubt that you ever put on a bad party. Your latest sounds like it was fabulous, in spite of the "shortcuts."

This may be blasphemy on a cooking board, but I'm convinced that the right mix of people makes a better party than the proper food.

So here's my challenge. Daughter wants to invite 70 high school freshmen to her birthday party in a couple of weeks. We are renting the community clubhouse. I am most definitely NOT feeding a crowd of this size anything resembling dinner.

Ideas beyond the usual brownies, cocktail weenies, chips and dips? Remember that we are not talking about a sophisticated group here.

"Teens in heat dance to the beat." Frank Zappa

 

[Claire]

Mudbug, thank you for your kind words. My computer crashed and burned and I'm not back up to par yet. On top of the WWII reunion, I had two sets of house guests! You are SO right. Attitude means so much more than just food. Don't get me wrong, you know I love to cook and eat or I wouldn't be here talking to you. But I agree that the right mix of people and the right attitude are actually more important when entertaining.

 

[Claire]

Hey guys, you haven't been telling me your next food-oriented occaision. Now I have Brunch on the 22nd. All I have to do is the main dishes ... I'm thinking a baked pain perdue, and since I have a freezer full of biscuits that were left to me, maybe some ham or sausage biscuits. My friends are bringing salads, appetizers and desert. Everyone is responsible for a bottle of the bubbly, but we'll have one of vodka, OJ, and hubby makes a mean bloody.

 

[Claire]

Mud, for that group I'd probably buy a lot of what we used to call in Hawaii, heavy puupuus. I might make one favorite dish (whatever your kid's favorite is), but then would buy tons of finger food you can stick into a hot oven (mini pizzas, cheese sticks, etc) and pop out with a few dipping sauces. I also make sure I have carrot and celery, etc sticks. A favorite at my house is to take some mayo, honey, a bit of musard and a dash of tabasco or your favorite. A jar of salsa, and some tomato sauce (from a jar or your fave home made).

 

[mudbug]

Claire, good ideas but too late - the party was last Friday.

I had a large pan full of little pigs in a blanket (kids didn't eat any until they were ice cold and pruny looking), and crockpot full of sausage Rotel dip with plenty of chips (they liked this) and never even got the Bagel Bites out of the freezer. They seemed to be quite happy just throwing M&Ms at each other, munching a few chips, and opening can after can of pop. Quite a few didn't even want birthday cake when it was time for that to come out.

Foodies they are not.

 

[licia]

I need to catch up on this thread. We are giving my mom a party for her 89th birthday. She hadn't been feeling very well and I mentioned to her she'd better take care of herself so she could dance at her birthday party. She has perked up a lot and is really looking forward to it. We will have it at the farmhouse the Saturday following Thanksgiving. We are still making menus, etc, but she wants a pineapple cake for her birthday. Of course, we will have at least a couple of others since no one in our family likes bought birthday cake. We are going up in a week or so to do all the cleaning and preparing what can be done ahead since Thanksgiving week will be quite hectic. I hope to be using some of your ideas to make her birthday party a great one.

 

[thumpershere2]

Moose hunt, taking canned foods.

 

[Anne]

A pineapple cake, Licia. I've never had one. It's nice for your mother that you're having this party for her. It gives her something to look forward to.

 

[rickell]

licia, will the party be an all day event? a bar-b-que is always great
and there is so many options for a menu which can either be grilled quick or
all day event. and you know the guys will love hanging out around the grill.

how many folks are you inviting?

 

[Claire]

Pineapple upside down cake! Talk about a real 50s treat! I'm thinking ahead to hubby's 60th birthday in March which will have 50s theme. Anyway, if your mom is anything like my older relatives, you cannot go wrong with buying a good spiral cut ham. It has the advantage of being able to be served hot, room temp, or cold, and can be stretched by including sandwich fixings.

 

[Claire]

OK, it is morning of "bunch for brunch" day. I'm making a pain perdue casserole of my own recipe. It is almost done and just needs to be popped into the oven. A friend left some frozen biscuits and I'll bake them and have some spicy Jimmy Dean sausage that I'll fry up and make sausage biscuits. Since our group is definitely potluck, I've assigned appetizers, salad, and desert to others ... I happened to have the opportunity to go to whole foods last week and have some stuffed grape leaves so that we will have food sitting out for our earliest guests. The last time we hosted people showed up an hour before the given hour, and our last guests left a little before 9 p.m. A 9-10 hour brunch is a bit much. So ... I'm getting ready to iron my favorite autumn table cloth. Since the group has grown, we are using plastic & paper (once upon a time, when we started, it was china, crystal, and silver). My porch is done, so there is a nice place for smokers to go for a puff. I need to move extra chairs into the front parlor (I live in a very old house). I already dusted and did foors, hubby already did carpets. I think "his" bathroom is done, mine can't be done until the last minute (it is the mudroom, laundry room, etc). Hopefully, guests will show at noon. (the last time I was surprised at 11). So here it is, a little before nine. I'm still in my PJs, hubby is dead asleep. In reality there is only an hour or so of work to be done. The fact is I love the fact that we entertain so often (and are entertained as well). Next? Thanksgiving. What are you doing?

 

[Claire]

I have friends I read to a couple of times a week, and once in awhile a few of us get together and throw a party (one friend is legally blind, the other is completely house bound because of arthritis) at their home. The arthritic friends is feeling pretty depressed, so it is time for a party. I read them a few Wooster & Jeeves stories recently, and they've never seen the PBS series, which I have on DVD. I thought I'd put the DVD on their TV. What would be a good British drink(s) to serve? Gin and Tonic? Pimm's cup? ( what is a pimm's cup anyway?). Yes, there will be a pot of good tea. Any ideas for snacks? One friend who will come was born in England and I'd love to come up with something she'd like. Anyway, this is my next entertainment aside from the normal Thanksgiving. then the holidays will hit us like a hurricane. Luckily I have a wonderful group of friends and we share.

 

[Chopstix]

We're having two guests over for dinner tonight: a visiting doctor friend from Singapore and an Australian friend originally from Hongkong. We are all foodies. The doctor has a deep passion for wine and is bringing a couple of excellent bottles to pair with my Spanish/Italian menu:

Starters:
Deep-fried calamari and dip
Gambas al ajillo (shrimps in garlic and olive oil)

Mains :
Ox tongue stew in brown sauce with olives and mushrooms
Paella Valenciana (with seafood, chorizo, and chicken)

Dessert:
Panna Cotta with berries on the side

I already made the Ox Tongue stew and Panna Cotta last night. I just finished arranging some flowers bought this morning and pretty soon I'll be prepping up for the the rest of the meal. Given that we're having only two guests who are both easy-going people, who are friends (not a boss at work), and with only a few variety of food to prepare, I am much more relaxed this time around than I normally am before a dinner party.

 

[boufa06]

Chopstix, what a scrumptious meal you have planned for your guests! Don't forget to include 'sambal belachan' as well!!

 

[Chopstix]

Chopstix, what a scrumptious meal you have planned for your guests! Don't forget to include 'sambal belachan' as well!!

Thanks! Hmmm. What's sambal belachan, Boufa? Doesn't sound Spanish nor Italian... I could be wrong though. The only sambal I know is a spicy Indonesian condiment.

By the way, the Australian friend is not feeling well and has cancelled. Good thing somebody else accepted our last minute invitation. She's a very nice lady from New York who's lived in Asia for 5 years now. She's due to move back to NY in a few days.

 

[boufa06]

Thanks! Hmmm. What's sambal belachan, Boufa? Doesn't sound Spanish nor Italian... I could be wrong though. The only sambal I know is a spicy Indonesian condiment.

That's right. It is a condiment served in some restaurants in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and most Peranakan households to whet one's appetite. It is made out of freshly ground red chillies, prawn paste and lime juice. I must say it packs quite a punch!

 

[Chopstix]

That's right. It is a condiment served in some restaurants in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and most Peranakan households to whet one's appetite. It is made out of freshly ground red chillies, prawn paste and lime juice. I must say it packs quite a punch!

Thanks Boufa. I've had sambal a few times when I visited Indonesia and there I discovered how good Indonesian food was!

 

[Claire]

Chopstix, I'm jealous! I've always loved beef tongue, I assume ox tongue is similar.

My next one is my annual Christmas party. I have a tree trimming party every year, wherever I live. Over the years I've had athiests, agnostics, Jews, Buddhists, Moslems, and Christians of all sorts trim my Christmas tree. I've had people from Indonesia, Holland, China, Canada, Japan, England, Germany, France, Philippines, Guam, Italy, Thailand, Pakistan, and most states trim the tree. I've held the party in Hawaii, a couple of places in Virginia, Florida, and now Illinois.

In recent years I've taken to leaving a big pot of Cincinnati chili on the stove with the condiments and bowls next to it, then put out a variety of snacks on the dining room table. Most people who come around here will bring something anyway, so the table winds up being packed until full of goodies. I seldom do a full bar, just some features. My husband always makes a huge batch of egg nog, there's always plenty of wine and beer. I always laugh at this. Whether I invite 20 or 60, about 40 people show up, and it doesn't matter where I throw it.

 

[philso]

claire - glad to hear the reuniuon went over well. i was going to suggest cold k-rations and over-boiled coffee with grounds while squatting in mud. maybe it's better that i got in too late.

what am i planning? well, christmas of course. immediately followed by new year's osetchi ryori, which is three days worth of wonderously complicated, eye-pleasingly designed food (none of which would amount to more than a small side dish, although it can take hours to do only one) that's all prepared by dec. 31st.
while the idea behind this is sound (not having to cook for the first 3 days of the new year), in reality, just artfully arranging everything for each meal (breakfast, lunch & dinner) takes about the same time as cooking up a regular meal anyway. plus, you're eating pretty much the same things for like 9 meals in a row.

if you think that thanksgiving is about as much as you can handle, by all means avoid moving to japan.

 

[Robo410]

Jan 6 we will host an open house at our new house. (we will be in Dec 22)
It will be the first big test of the new wolf dual fuel 36" range!