Big Adventures with Little Foods

And the Oscar for “Best Party” goes to….You!  Make it an award winning party, even something simple can make an impact on your friends and family.  It’s all about the details and special touches.  Here are some ideas to make sure your party gets nominated.
 
Interactive – Make sure your guests get involved!
 
Oscar ballots are a great way to make sure everyone’s vote gets heard.  Print some ballots out at Oscars.com.  Have the ballots and pencils ready for your guests upon arrival.  Tally up the scores at the end, and the winner can receive a bottle of Moet – the official Oscars Champagne!
 
If you and your friends enjoy the red carpet as much or more than the actual awards ceremony, then you can create your own Fashion Police Squad!  Create ballots for best and worst dressed both male and female and see what everybody thinks!
 
Recreate the Stop & Repeat – as your guests arrive have them strike their best pose for the paprazzi.  If you have someone to help, you can print the photos out and give them to the guests as party favors. 
 
Decor
 
Gather together all of the movie posters that are nominated for Best Film and hang them around the viewing room.  In terms of a color scheme, gold, silver, and black will keep it glamorous…and don’t forget the red carpet!  A long piece of red felt can be fixed to your front walkway or hallway – your guests will feel like they are arriving in style!
 
Arrange the viewing room so that everybody can see the television.  You may need to clear away or rearrange furniture to make the most comfortable and functional viewing area. 
 
Menu
 
Finger food is ideal for any party that revolves around watching TV.  Just pick it up and pop it in your mouth so that you don’t miss your favorite actor’s speech!  If your theme is Hollywood Glamour and your guests are going to be dressed to the nines, try something like:
 
Truffled Scallop Ceviche
With lemon, sweet corn and caviar
 
Mini Kobe Burgers
With caramelized onions, organic applewood smoked bacon and Tillamook Cheddar Cheese
 
Butter Poached Lobster
Served in a tasting spoons
 
If you wanted to go the more casual route, try:
 
Flavoured Popcorn served in indvidual movie popcorn boxes
 
Mac ‘n Cheese Croquettes
 
Mini BBQ Chicken Sandwiches served on a soft bun with tangy slaw
 
You can set some things out for your guests to help themseves, and others can be tray passed to keep the elegant touch and allow your guests to mingle and watch the show.  Also have fun naming your dishes – use titles and characters from the nominated films. 
 
From the Bar
 
Red Carpet Fizz
1/3 oz. Orange liqueur (Cointreau, Triple Sec, Grand Marnier)
1/2 oz. pomegranate juice
1 750-ml. bottle champagne
fresh raspberries
 
Or
 
Moet’s Silver Screen Punch
1 (6 ounce) can pink lemonade concentrate, partially thawed
8 ounces pineapple juice
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 cup vodka
1 bottle Moët & Chandon
1 pineapple, cut into rings and frozen
 
Dessert
 
Mini Black and White Tuxedo Cheesecakes
With sour cherry topping
 
Red Carpet Red Velvet Cakes
With marscapone-cream cheese frosting
 
Golden Oscar Cookies
Served fresh or wrapped individually to give as favors
 
Grab Bags
 
All of the celebritys are going home with them, so why shouldn’t your guests!   Create some fun and simple gift bags for your friends to take home with them.  Here are some fun gift ideas:
 
Theme  frames with their photos from the red carpet
A movie on dvd
A mini bottle of champagne
Individully wrapped Oscar cookie or a wrapped gourmet chocolate truffles

Get out your party shoes, send out those invitations, and return those RSVPs; the festive time of year has arrived! The parties will surely be plentiful! Let’s see, you’ll have the work party, a family gathering, the old friend’s get together, and of course don’t forget the yearly charity event! With all of these parties, the tough part is keeping things fresh and exciting.

Here are some tips to help you stage a fresh, modern holiday party. There are two key elements to a cocktail party…the cocktails and the food! You might think you can get away with having a foodless cocktail party, but about an hour in you will see that you have made a terrible mistake as your guests begin to kick off their shoes and clear a space on the table top for a dance floor.

A popular approach for today’s cocktail parties is to choose a few select signature drinks. Rather than having a full bar, which can be quite costly, you choose two or three drinks to go along with the theme of your party. Set up drink stations for your various signature drinks! Let’s say that your drink menu is: artisan craft beer, local wines, Bellinis, and martinis. You can create three stations out of this menu and accompany each drink station with a stationary appetizer or two.

The first station is your beer and wine station. Cover the table with a linen and some holiday decorations. Arrange the beer and wine on the table along with the appropriate glassware. Create markers with the name and a brief description of each beer/wine so people know what they are drinking and are more inclined to try something new. Accompany the beer and wine with a beautiful display of artisan cheeses, fresh fruit, nuts, breads, and crackers.

The second station is the Bellini bar. This station has Prosecco and some fruit purees so people can create the flavor of their choice. Popular Bellini flavors are pear, cranberry (or mix the two for a great pear cranberry flavor), peach, and mango. Again, arrange the table with a linen, decorations, bottles of Prosecco, and you can have fun filling up assorted mason jars or pitchers with the various fruit purees. The colorful fruit purees make a lovely display on their own. Have fun making a sign letting people know how to prepare their own Bellini. Add a plate of assorted crostinis with seasonal flavors and colors to accompany the Bellini station. One of Bite’s winter favorites is pear and winter squash with crispy sage and freshy shaved ricotta salata.

Finally, have fun creating a martini station. Offer a traditional gin or vodka martini, a cosmopolitan, and something fun and sweet like a lemon drop or an apple martini. You can offer one, two, or all of them at this drink station. A Brie and artichoke dip and a spicy shrimp cocktail would work perfectly here.
Accompany the stations with some warm tray-passed appetizers or you can keep it casual and self-serve with the stationary displays. Either way, your guests will be sure to enjoy the creative and festive atmosphere, and your tables won’t show marks from those dancing shoes!

Give Bite Catering a call to help you plan your next Holiday Party.

Patriotic drinks for 4th of July

What better way to get patriotic and get your drink on than sipping on this red, white and blue cocktail – and it even come with its own brand of fireworks from a jalapeno kick!

July 4^th Cocktail

Ingredients

1 ounce watermelon schnapps

1 big splash cranberry juice or pomegranate juice

1 very thin slice jalapeno

1 slice lemon

1 slice lime

1 1/2 ounces tequila

1/4 ounce blue curacao

1/2 ounce simple syrup

Watermelon wedge, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Mix the schnapps and cranberry juice in a shaker; pour into an ice-filled glass.

Muddle the jalapeno pepper, lemon and lime slices, tequila, blue curacao and simple syrup (to make a batch, dissolve sugar in equal parts hot water and chill) in the shaker. Slowly strain into the glass over the red layer.

Check your local party supply store for fun red, white and blue garnishes – or just decorate with a wedge of watermelon!

Happy 4th!!!