Throw this Season’s Best Bash

By Cherie Ronayne

December 2005 – As soon as that last drumstick bone hits the china on Thanksgiving day, the season is ON! It’s that holly-jolly time of year again and you’ve finally decided that you need to make your mark by throwing a memorable party ~ something unique and wild ~ that your friends will use as the benchmark for all other parties. Sound like a tall order? Never fear, thePulse is here ~ we’ll give you some party-perfect ideas to get you into the mood, but we bet you’ll be inspired to come up with your own great ideas in no time!

As with anything that needs to come off without a hitch, preparation is the key. Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead. Give yourself at least 2 weeks to pull off your incredible party, 3 if you’re invited people from far away. Choose a date, take a deep breath, and dig in. If you’re thinking of a themed event, that idea should be your starting point so that you can build everything else around it. Enlist the help of your best friend, roommate or significant other (OK, maybe forget about the significant other…you want this process to be fun, after all!). It’s more fun to have a partner in crime and someone to bounce ideas off of (and to move your furniture for you!) and bring you a Cosmo when you’re about to have a meltdown. Alright, now that you have the date chosen, your helper in place, and an idea of the kind of party you want, it’s time to start chipping away at that To Do List.

Invites

Snailed and/or e-mailed invites should be in the mail no later than two weeks prior to your party. Some Emily Post sticklers insist on an earlier time frame, but I don’t for the simple reason that if you send too early, people forget or lose the invite. And one word to the wise about the RSVP, most people these days don’t, even though it’s rude and unforgivable and not what your mother taught you. So, even though it’s more work for you as the hostess with the mostess, don’t rely on RSVPs but instead send a quick blanket e-mail to your guest list one week prior to your party to get a headcount for food, favors and such. Best to use the ol’ BCC option so that the guest list stays a surprise (or in case Steve sees Laura’s name on the list and decides he can’t bear to be in the same room as the girl who broke his heart, yadayadayada – what are the holidays without a little drama, right?!).

Now as far as what kind of invites to send, I say do your own thang ~ make invites yourself (now stop it, it’s too soon to have that Cosmo). People LOVE receiving funky, creative stuff in the mail! Keep your invite relatively simple so you don’t become too overwhelmed, but not so simple that no-one gets excited about coming to the party. Buy fun holiday cocktail napkins to write your invites on ~ use fabric markers for best results and be sure to use your best red lipstick to leave a kiss somewhere on it (girlie girls, unite!). Sprinkle a little snow confetti (or pine needles or red and green foil stars) into the envelope before you seal it ~ people sure will think of you as they vacuum it up ~ maybe not fondly, but they’ll think of you and remember that you’re having a party!

~ OR ~

Whether you’ve chosen snail or e-mail, grab a disposable black and white camera and take a whole roll of cute pix – snowmen, your cat dressed up in reindeer antlers, you and your sig other dressed up in reindeer antlers, whatever, and get the pix developed. If you’re sending snail and have a big guest list, get at least double prints so that you have, let’s see, at least 54. Use colored Sharpies to write out the Where/When/Details text on each invite (OK, now it’s time for the Cosmo ~ or to hand your helper those Sharpies with a big “Oh thank you for offering” before he or she knows what hit him/her). And if you have lots of time and delusions of Martha Stewartness, invest in some photo paints and tint each photo yourself, maybe coloring one portion of each picture (NO, you may not color in a scary moustache and a floral skirt on your husband’s likeness if you had a fight that day ~ now focus!) If you’ve chosen to email invites, either get the prints on CD and save them as jpgs to insert into the emails or (this is by FAR the classier way to go) take an actual print, do the handwritten text thing, then scan, crop, save and insert.

Another fun and unique idea – arts and craft supply stores sell flat glass ornaments at .99 each so grab some of these, a pretty paint marker, and some small bubble envelopes. Write out your invite on the front of the ornament and put a number on the back. Ask guests to remember their number and to bring the invite with them to the party. Mail and wait. At the party, hag the ornaments on the tree or the mantle. Call out a number at the end of the night and someone wins a cute little door prize!

~ OR ~

If you have no time and arts and crafts just don’t get your holiday motor running, check out www.e-vites.com. It’s an easy, templated invite site that offers a ton of cool invite styles and keeps track of your guest list responses for you…and guess what, it’s FREE!. There are other free invite sites around too, so doing everything through e-mail is totally possible.

Guest List

Be sure to mix it up a little – don’t be afraid to invite people from work, your gym, your night class or (gasp) book club. People will connect and find things in common, trust me (it’s that 6 degrees of separation theory). And people are usually in a festive (and oftentimes buzzed!) mood around the holidays and don’t mind “cold mingling.” Basically, if you accept an invite to a party, you’re saying YES to mingling. It will be up to you as the host(ess), however, to keep an eye on the room and seek out people who are by themselves or look semi-lost and introduce them to those looking slightly less lost. While you’re making out your guest list, jot down some quick notes about each person, looking for those connections that you can make during introductions (That’s right, it’s a social cheat sheet – completely acceptable…and besides, would you remember all those tidbits of info after your third glass of egg nog? I didn’t think so!). This is your party, so it’s just fine if you nudge people in certain directions if they need it. The goal is for everyone to have a great time, so sometimes a host(ess) just gotta do what a host(ess) just gotta do!

Yummy Easy Food

Again, make this element of the party as simple for yourself as possible and you’ll thank me later. Give up on the idea of a big meal or main meal dishes and go with hors d’oeuvres – they’re faster, easier, hipper, and can be a complete meal if you have the right mix. And as the hostess with the mostess, if you’re passing them, it’s a great way to oversee your party, keep introductions going and spread the word on the “upcoming” Reindeer Game(s) to possible participants.

Tray Food: This category should include crudité (the oh-so-proper term for raw veggies), a cheese and cracker tray, fruit tray and any other cold or hot dip tray that you can put out for your guests. Please, please, please pass on the tired, old ranch dip with carrots and try something fresh like Pesto Dipping Sauce (easy recipe on next page) with a variety of vegetables. Don’t forget about color when you’re choosing vegetables – pick up some red, hot radishes and yellow bell peppers for a colorful tray. (or if you’re doing a red/green theme, stick to all red and bright green veggies – pretty…) No time? Buy already-prepared trays but please, take all the contents out of the nasty plastic container, re-cut dead ends and remove wilty leaves of any veggie that doesn’t look so good and re-plate everything on a festive, non-plastic serving platter. Fruit and cheese/cracker trays are also available ready-made but same rule applies, re-plate and toss any fruit that looks suspect.

For the More Adventurous: Try a fondue for something totally cool and new (1970s retro, really). Cheese is the traditional fondue, served with a nice crusty bread for dipping, but do a little research on www.allrecipes.com too check out all of the other possibilities. Fondue sets can range in price from inexpensive to very steep (check out Bed Bath and Beyond for a cool little electric one for $14.99.). They usually come with 6-8 stainless steel long-handled forks, but to have enough skewering implements for a crowd, just buy a couple of packages of long wooden skewers at the grocery store and add them to the mix. Warning: Some sets use tea lights, others use Sterno – either way, remember that with flame under the pot, you’ll have to keep an eye on the contents and the flame. You could do a sweet chocolate fondue with all kinds of different fruits for dipping – or graham crackers, marshmallows – use your imagination. Bonus: When you have a clump of people dripping cheese or chocolate around a fondue pot, it’s bound to create some interesting conversation!

Passed Hors d’oeuvres: Aim to have at least 3 different hot appetizers along with your stationary trays and you’ll be good to go. Plan on 3-4 “bites” per guest and try to include some type of meat or protein. (Try simple gourmet sausage bites: Buy gourmet chicken sausage at your grocery store and cut into slices. Sauté over medium heat. Remove from pan and drizzle with honey mustard. Cut Granny Smith apples into small slices or chunks and skewer sausage and apple together for nice, yummy bite. You can do the sausage ahead but the apple will turn brown so hold on that until just before serving.) Any other hot yummy needs to be bite-sized for easy consumption. Remember that your guest will most likely be holding a drink so he or she will only have one hand free for eating. Other prepared appetizers are available in bulk at your grocery store freezer section or wholesale clubs and can reduce your food preparation time (and worry) to almost nil. Prepared mini-quiches, chicken or beef satay on a skewer, coconut shrimp – the options will make you wonder why you ever thought of actually making food from scratch. You’ll just have to heat and serve ~ and don’t forget that you can always dress up prepared foods by garnishing with a sprinkling of herb or by adding an unusual dipping sauce. Remember to pass napkins and, when appropriate, decorative toothpicks with the appetizers. Clean up is easy because your guests won’t need plates and silverware.

Pesto Dipping Sauce

1 (7 ounce) container Pesto with Basil
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: PLACE pesto, cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese in food processor or blender; cover. Process until creamy. SERVE with fresh vegetables and/or shrimp.

Beverages

Where to begin, where to begin….If you have a theme, stick with it. There are tons of traditional alcoholic drinks to choose from (and hello, how much fun is it to sample the possibilities – all in the name of choosing only the best for your guests!). There’s Eggnog, but with a new twist ~ mix it with Kahlua and even people who swear they hate the stuff will love it! Buy already-prepared from the market and you’ll have your choice of starting with “Original” or the new vanilla-flavored.

Glugg and Grappa are both holiday favorites, so ask your Polish or Swedish friends to mix you up a big bottle (as a gift, of course) and then pass around (o helper of mine, time to stop flirting and start serving!) trays of small glassfuls throughout the evening (check with your friends so as not to commit an alcho-ethnic faux pas ~ some home brewed liqueurs are supposed to be served warm, some should be served in mugs instead of glasses, etc.). And if you can’t decide on ONE funky foreign-born drink to feature, offer several different kinds and make everyone learn the appropriate toasts in the original tongue…delicious and entertaining.

Keep additional bar tending simple so you’re not stuck pouring drinks all night. If the Glugg/Groupa scenario isn’t tickling your fancy, plan to make a specialty drink (or two) and mix it up in ahead of time in a nice cut-glass pitcher ~ label it and list the contents so that no one is left to wonder. Here’s an easy, festive choice; Cape Codders using cranberry-flavored vodka. Float some cranberries in the pitcher – the liquid and the glass pitcher bounce light off of them so they look like shiny garnets – oooh, pretty! Check the ice bucket regularly and keep it full. Never does nasty cooler ice go into a nice cocktail (hello, we are NOT a bunch of frat guys here!).

Set up one table or counter away from main traffic, with bar supplies including plenty of cut garnishes, a wine key, a bottle opener, and plenty of cocktail napkins (if you used some funky ones for invites, use them here too). Don’t forget some decorative elements from your “theme” here, too – it should be pretty as well as fun(ctional). Lay pine boughs at the back of the table with pretty ornaments for a traditional holiday look. (Remember, anything decorative that you put here runs the risk of getting wet and sticky, so choose accordingly.) If you’re doing a Christmas on the Beach party, pick up some real coconuts from the produce section of your grocery store. Place a few whole on the bar and crack one open to put garnishes in (make sure to drain the milk first though!). And we would we be remiss if we didn’t mention the unmentionable, call cabs for those who’ve had one too many or arrange car pooling with designated drivers. Offer your sofa or floor even, but not the door! If heaven forbid anything happens, YOU as the hostess who served the mostess are liable.

A Final Treat

If you really want to go swank, do coffee and dessert later in the evening. Make a pot of strong coffee and spike it with something yummy – Kahlua or Bailey’s (1oz. liquor per 8 ounces coffee) – and set out with whipped cream. Guests can do it themselves. (Watch what happens with your whipped cream, though!) Dessert can be as simple as a cookie tray from the bakery, or you can take your friends up on their offer to bring something and request their special baked item. Buy paper doilies (it sounds old-school, but hear me out) at the grocery store and line your serving trays with them. The look is festive and special and cuts down on clean up afterward. Paper doilies come in colors now, too, and you can find them at a dollar store. Nothing says “holiday” more than delish cookies arranged on pretty trays!

Finally….dispose of food trash before you crash, then do the rest of the clean-up in the morning. And as much as guests offer to help, say NO – really….unless it’s your best friend/helper or significant other. Your guests are just that, and should be treated to a night without trash or kitchen detail. You’ll enjoy yourself even more when the favor of a night off is returned!

Festive Favors

It’s always nice to end the evening with a fun parting gifts. They don’t have to be expensive to be memorable ~ and if time allows, it’s really nice to make something homemade. People love that you took the time to actually create something with your own hands for them! A few ideas: Get that recipe for the previously mentioned Gruppa or Glugg and mix up a batch of your own on a dreary Sat afternoon. Buy a selection of small, stoppered glass bottles (nip size) to fill (you’ll need a little funnel) and decorate with your own label. Tie a nice bow around the neck and make sure to have one for everyone. Inexpensive small bottles can be found at places like Walmart and chain craft stores. Include a funny tag or even the recipe and you’ve got the perfect gift.

Chocolate dipped, decorated spoons are favorites, too, and they’re easy to make. Buy some sturdy red plastic spoons. Melt 2 bags of chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring constantly. When chips are melted smoothly, dip each spoon so that it’s covered almost all the way up its handle, let it drip on cookie rack, and then, right before it’s set, sprinkle with some glittery sprinkles. Wrap each one individually with pretty cellophane wrap after letting the batch cool for 24 hrs. and finish them off with a nice ribbon. Write up a saucy label that says something like: “Let’s stir things up again – really soon! Xoxo”

You can find glass ornaments, usually in packages of six, at many area craft and department stores. Undo each ornament (well, buy them first!) at the top and then you have lots of fun options as to what to put inside. Write a festive, personal message to each guest on a piece of decorative paper, roll it up and replace the top. Write the guest’s name on the outside in paint marker and hang from your tree or decorate elsewhere in your house. (Don’t forget the bathroom! You’ll have a captive audience. And look for holiday toilet paper online at www.justtoiletpaper.com) And make sure your guests find their ornament before they leave!

Reindeer Games

To play this Yankee-Swap-with-a-naughty-twist, single invitees must agree ahead of time to participate, so make sure to ask them whether they’re willing (and yes, feel free to call them party poopers if they’re not!) to go on a short date with whoever picks their name.

Forget the $10 and under gifts that you don’t have time to get and hate asking people to bring. Put all the single folks’ names on slips (color coded for male v female) and put all the names into one container.

Number a separate slip of paper for each player (no color coding necessary) and place these in a different container. Pass this container around to determine the playing order of the swap. The swap starts like the traditional Yankee Swap but here’s the twist ~ the gift here is the actual person whose name is drawn from the first container of slips. The swap continues in the usual manner until all names and numbers are drawn with the last person being the luckiest, able to choose his or her “gift” from the entire round-up. Talk about the Christmas gift that keeps on giving!!!

Themes

Here is where you’ll really make your mark if you choose something out-of-the-ordinary and wild. How about a Fab Fifties Holiday party? Choose invites or cards with vintage 50s graphics (retro is hot right now so you should have no problem locating 50s items) and instruct your guests to wear a poodle skirt, rolled up jeans, a leather jacket…think Grease for inspiration here. Download as much Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley music as you can find and rent a couple of movies to play in the background for “atmosphere” and inspiration. James Dean and Elvis life-size cardboard stand-ups are always welcome special guests and can be picked up at places like iParty. Have a Polaroid camera or digital camera on hand to capture your guests hamming it up with the stars. Polaroid now makes a cute little camera called the I-Zone that you can buy sticker film for, so take the shot, let it develop, and then peel off and stick (and c’mon, make me proud, be creative about where you stick ‘em!). Serve plenty of Cheeseburgers and milkshakes (and of course by “milkshakes” I really mean frozen mudslides, but you probably already guessed that!) with bendy straws and DO THE TWIST!

Or how about Christmas (or Kwanzaa, or Chanukah) on the Beach? Right down to the sand (which you can purchase in 20-lb bags at Toys R Us), you’ll have your guests forgetting all about how cold it is outside! Send funky bikini-top invites requesting that guests wear beach attire. Sprinkle some sand in the envelope before sealing. Haunt your local travel agencies for Caribbean posters (they throw them out, anyway) and plaster your walls with them. Remove your good furniture and set out your beach chairs, draped with towels. Don’t forget pool inflatables, especially a couple of beach balls ~ they’re cheap and fun (OK, no comments, please!). And of course, you must have the Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet on, and pina coladas in coconut cups for all. And for overachiever, it is possible to create an indoor beach feel (minus the ocean). Spread out a large plastic tarp (blue, and found at your neighborhood hardware store) and roll the edges inward to create a barrier. Depending on the size of the room, grab several bags of aforementioned sand to put down. Throw in a couple of plastic shells, lobsters, starfish, etc., and viola, beach! Parting gifts can be small bottles of suntan lotion and cheap dollar store sunglasses tied together with festive ribbon, or even a kid’s plastic sand pail and shovel half full of sand with nips or single bottles of wine peeking out. And what’s a beach theme without games ~ and since chances are if you’ve gone with the beach theme you pretty much plan on doing a major clean-up…or moving to a new neighborhood!…the day after, so let’s go right for the messy stuff. Gather teams (boys against girls always makes for some hot competition) and try to keep a beach ball up in the air. When host yells, “Ouch, sunburn!” (or something thematic ~ “Ouch, crabs?”), someone on the team with the ball has to catch the ball on his or her drink. If they miss, the whole team has to take a drink (yup, one time when it’s fun to lose!).

Atmosphere

The most important element to have ready and in place when your guests arrive is… YOU. So your party-prep must include an all-systems-stop one hour prior to the start time of the festivities. Peel off your grimy set-up clothes, take a shower, and get gorgeous. You’ll set the tone for the entire evening by answering the door looking fabulous, 100% in control, and like the entire set-up process was completely effortless.

Dim the lights to create atmosphere (or to hide dirt if you’re not as, um, domestically compulsive as your mother). Light lots of candles to enhance the sparkly, party atmosphere. Buy inexpensive, clear glass votive cups and bags of votives (some scented – but I beg of you, stick with just one scent!), clear off one table (nicer if it’s glass) and arrange them all in a pattern. If you’re going with a theme, choose votives in one or two coordinating colors. Traditional holiday colors are obviously (zzzzzz….) red and green but mix it up – try red and black, etc. Buy mesh bags (available at department or arts and crafts stores) full of flat glass gems and place around votives for a really sparkly look (hello, I warned you that I’m a girlie girl!). They come in all kinds of colors so you can coordinate with your theme. Safety note: Keep burning candles away from all other flammable materials and monitor. If your party gets crazy, extinguish and remove them so no one has an opportunity to re-light. You don’t want Worcester Firefighters crashing your party – as hot as we all know they are, they won’t be in a very festive mood if your carelessness causes a problem.

The easiest way to create a polished look for your party is to carry your theme colors through everything from paper goods and confetti to party favors and food. It sounds like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how nicely it ties everything together. Try your local dollar store for inexpensive paper goods and helium balloons. And don’t forget some live greenery ~ flowers or traditional evergreens add an extra-festive touch and they don’t necessarily have to come from the florist if your budget is limited. Head to the floral department at the grocery store and pick up several bunches of coordinating flowers. The trick here is to make them look like they didn’t come from the grocery store, so cut the stems completely off and float the tops in a pretty glass dish of water for a beautiful centerpiece. Greenery decoration can be as easy as adding boughs to the tops of your windows (either right on top of the curtain or wound around the rod.) Don’t forget, you can dress up your food trays with edible flowers, also available from the grocery store. Any left-over blossoms can be used for package or parting gift decoration.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Cherie Ronayne is the owner of c.r. events and can be reached a 508-733-3704.