Thursday, October 11, 2007

OctoBEAR party for moms and tots

How about a party for moms and pre-schoolers? This party is inspired by the song "The Teddy Bears Picnic." A playdate party where the children bring their favorite teddy bears. Make bear prints leading to your front door for the children to follow. Have books on hand with bear themes, such as "Corduroy," "Winnie the Pooh," We're Going On A Bear Hunt, "Bear Snores On," "Every Autumn Comes the Bear" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"
Each child could wear "bear ears" which can be made out of chenille pipe cleaners. Spread a blanket or tablecloth on the floor and serve out of picnic baskets lined in red and white checked fabric. Depending on the age, you could serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut out using bear cookie cutters. Don't forget "teddy grahams," "gummy bears" and teddy bear stickers as favors. For the moms you could serve sandwiches (other than pb&j) or salads. Have the theme of "The Teddy Bears Picnic" playing to greet your guests. This can also be adopted to include a birthday celebration. Add teddy bear balloons, a teddy bear cake and give teddy bear books as favors.

Oktoberfest

How many of you have been celebrating at an Oktoberfest this month? Now is the time! Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. To have your own version of "Oktoberfest" invite friends over for some pale ale or a hearty stout (or your favorite beer or a micro-brew.) Decorate with fall foliage (anyone have edelweiss?) incorporating the German colors: black/red/gold. Serve German fare for your menu such as bratwurst, pork, sauerbraten, Black Forest ham, cabbage, German potato salad or spaetzle and finish your meal with apple strudel or Black Forest cake for dessert. Tell us how you celebrated Oktoberfest!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Holiday Open House

The leaves are falling, November is around the corner and time to think about hosting a Holiday Open House. Open House parties are usually held in the late afternoon. Guests are not obligated to arrive at a particular time if it's an Open House, but state a beginning and ending time such as 4 pm to 6 pm, or 5 pm to 7 pm on your invitation to ensure that someone won't be dropping by when the party is over. One can make it simple and serve hors d'ouevres with wine and beer or add spirits for a full bar. You can hire a bar tender or make it a self-service affair. If you decide to serve wine, you will need one bottle of wine for every 5 guests.
A buffet with many choices of hors d'oeuvres, hot and cold arranged on a table where they are easily accessible for guests to help themselves. Plan on 8 hor d'ouevres per person. Some of your guests will plan on your appetizers being their dinner, while others may have dinner plans for afterwards. Better to plan on having more than less!
Try different heights for your appetizers, place large books under the tablecloth to elevate some dishes for a more interesting table. Gourds, pumpkins and leaves are an easy way to decorate your table at this time of year. A dessert table with coffee and tea offerings for the ending time. Finger food desserts such as cookies, brownies, fruit on skewers, chocolates are the simplest and always well received.