Party Planning....Fun!

Lyn & Bill are having a 'Thank-You' get together for all the people who helped with his Rotary Home & Garden Show (big fundraiser) on Saturday. Last year, the people who hosted the get together had pizza and boxed wine. Lyn thought she, Barb & I could do a little more creative party....so we put our heads together and decided to do a 'little bites' party.

We just got done shopping for the food ~ what a hoot! Three women searching the aisles for what was on our list.

Here's the menu:

Vegetables & Dip
Cheese & Crackers
Fruit Kebobs & Dip (strawberries, pineapple & apple with Kahula Cream Cheese Dip)
Little Smokie Sausages in current jelly/mustard sauce
Roasted Shrimp Cocktail
Mini Spanakopita Triangles & Homemade Baked Pita Chips w/Tziaki (sp?) Sauce
Teryiaki Chicken Chunks on a bed of puffed bean thread noodles
Wine, beer, soft drinks & tea
Cookies (3 kinds) and mini brownies w/raspberries & sauce

We figured that was a good assortment and most would be fine at room temperature so we didn't have to keep baking small batches of anything. We didn't want anything that couldn't be served on a food pic or that needed silverware.

We'll get most everything prepped tomorrow and just do the last minute cooking on Saturday. The party is scheduled for 6-9:00 so we've got all day to get everything ready.

Sounds delicious. Have fun at your party. That's my favorite thing to do.

We did some of the prep tonight. What fun! Our friend, Barb, hasn't had an opportunity to plan/prep as much as Lyn & I have so it was her first experience. She wanted to help so I asked her to make the Kahula Friut dip - cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar & Kahula. I said to mix the brown sugar into the cream cheese till smooth, add the sour cream & add some Kahula ~ "how much?".....she asked. I said, "until you get a buzz....." Hahahahahaha. When she tasted it with a strawberry she just smiled and said, "um, I think maybe a bit more Kahula....." LOL It is such a yummy dip with fruit.

Then I made the teryiaki sauce for the chicken chunks and we taste tested that with a few pieces of chicken....it was pretty good, too.

But the 'frosting on the cake', especially for Barb because she's a 'sweets freak'....loves her sweets ~ was the mini brownie with seedless raspberry jam and a fresh raspberry. Yummy! I got the idea from Norm's Valentine's Day chocolate torte. We used a boxed brownie mix and baked them in mini muffin tins sprayed with PAM - let 'em cool in the pan and then they just popped out. What a simple, super tasty treat. It looks like you put so much effort into them and they couldn't be simpler. I love when a plan in my head just works out.

Tomorrow we'll do the rest of the cooking and set up. I'd just as soon skip the 'party' but I know Lyn needs us there to help so I'll be there. It's fun for me to do the planning and cooking, I just don't care about the rest.

Oh, wow, what a fun party! The guests loved everything we served and Lyn & Bill's house couldn't have been any more perfect for the setting.

I had been a bit worried about the spanakopita because I don't eat it, but when I made a 'test' one for Lyn & Barb to taste test this afternoon they both liked it so we prepped everything so all we had to do was bake them at the last minute. The tzatziki sauce was probably one of the best I've ever made (I DO eat that with the homemade pita chips). It was nice and tart and stayed thick without turning watery.



Lyn wanted to make her Little Smokies in mustard/currant jelly sauce.



I thought teryiaki chicken & pineapple skewers on a bed of puffed mung bean thread noodles would be a fun dish to serve ~ it was a hit!



Vegetables & homemade ranch dip



Grape tomatoes & mozzarella skewers with basil and basalmic glaze.....



Cheese & cracker platter



Dutch pretzel cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies & sugar cookies



And the 'hit' of the dessert table (stolen right out from under Norm's Valentine's Day post) - brownie bites w/raspberry glaze & fresh raspberry

Looks wonderful.Even tho it made me tired lol It has been a long time since I did anything like that.

I tried to make it for the party but got snowed in.

NormM wrote:I tried to make it for the party but got snowed in.

Yeah, I left the light on but you never made it! You will be happy to know, however, that I gave you full credit for the idea of the raspberry topped brownies. I didn't want to make the full torte like you did because the 'theme' of the party was 'little bites' and we didn't want to have to use silverware. But the combination of a dense brownie with the sweet/tart raspberry jam & berry was a winner!

Barbara101 wrote: Looks wonderful.Even tho it made me tired lol It has been a long time since I did anything like that.

It was a lot of work, admitedly, but the part I like best is the planning/execution. After Lyn & I decided on a menu I researched the recipes, most from past experience, then checked our pantries for items and then made the grocery list. The three of us went shopping with the list ~ we could have been stars in a new reality show, "Three Old Broads With Their List"! Barb was in charge of the grocery cart and she kept getting lost....LOL

But I had lists of 'to-do' and 'in-order' so we knew what had to be done at what time. I learned a long time ago not to rely on my aging memory! The day of the event, which was to be from 6:00 - 9:00, I knew we had to be done with all our prep with enough time for Barb & I to return to our homes to shower and change clothes before returning to put the food on trays, etc. When we finished up that afternoon I looked at the clock and it was exactly 4:00 ~ Perfect! I even amazed MYSELF.....

And, as in the past when I've helped friends here in The Villages with a food event (bridal shower, thank-you get-together, pierogi party), I get asked for "my card". One of these days I'm going to take the time to make up a business card. I've decided to call my business "You Can't Afford Me Catering Company"....that's because I only do that much work for people I love. Then it's not a job, it's a labor of love and that's what motivates me.

I just found this. What a great idea for a party. We have a social committee in my condo building and put on something once a month in the party room. A Pot luck a St. Patrick's Day party, strawberry social etc. etc. The committee sometimes makes the food and people pay, or it gets done by others. I will suggest this for maybe a fall occasion.

I must give that brownie with raspberry a try soon. They look awesome.

bethk wrote:~ was the mini brownie with seedless raspberry jam and a fresh raspberry.  Yummy!  I got the idea from Norm's Valentine's Day chocolate torte.  We used a boxed brownie mix and baked them in mini muffin tins sprayed with PAM - let 'em cool in the pan and then they just popped out.  What a simple, super tasty treat.  It looks like you put so much effort into them and they couldn't be simpler.  I love when a plan in my head just works out.

This is a cool idea. I'm not a dessert person but these are simple and like you said, look like a lot of effort went into it. Nothing goes together like chocolate and raspberry IMHO.

I think I mentioned Brian just baked his first cake (box). We don't have a mini-muffin pan but these would look just as good on brownies made in a square pan. The raspberry jam and berries are easy to pick up in the grocery but we have some raspberry chipotle sauce which would be great, too. I'm smiling right now as I know once I mention it that he'll be on the road to the grocery to buy the brownie mix, the berries and the jam!

Thanks, Beth (and Norm, too, her inspiration)!