Cinco De Mayo Dinner Party

Cinco De Mayo is Monday but we couldn't wait to celebrate. Saturday evening we had my sister and her family over for dinner. It was pretty easy because we did a potluck and everyone contributed to the meal.

The Table

Playing off the colors of the flag of Mexico I used a red tablecloth with a green runner. For a more festive look I added multi-colored woven place mats. The centerpieces were simple yellow and green flowers in my tall green glass candle holders. I added a few mini Maracas and donkeys to finish off the theme.

Hospitality Tip: Don't let a lack of space keep you from hosting a dinner party. We have a tiny dining room so when we have a big crowd we push the furniture aside and put a folding table up in our family room. Nobody seems to notice that or the fact that the chairs are mismatched and someone has to sit on the piano bench.

As far as the decorations go the only thing I spent money on was the flowers and they cost me $6 from the grocery store. Everything else was recycled from other parties we've had. (As my husband says I don't get rid of anything:-)

The Buffet

I find that serving the food from a buffet is the easiest way when you have a crowd. 

I like to set up a buffet on the island in my kitchen. A plastic tablecloth and colorful dishes along with a pinata set the mood. The food of course is the most important thing on the buffet.

A sampling of the food. Man dip, Cowboy Caviar and fresh fruit served in a hollowed out pineapple.

The menu

Green Chili Enchiladas
Tacos and all the fixings
Tossed salad
Fresh fruit
Man dip (named by my nephew but he said the girls could eat it too:-) just Velveeta cheese, spicy sausage and Rotel)
Guacamole
Cowboy Caviar (Black beans, corn, onions, peppers, lime juice and a little hot sauce-served with nacho chips)
Frozen Margaritas
Dessert - brownies with ice cream and toppings

Green Chili Enchiladas

This is one of my favorite dishes. My family loves it and it's a great dish for a potluck or to take to someone who might need a meal due to illness or during a time of need. It's very mild and most people really like it. 

1 pound ground beef

small onion, chopped

8 ounce package shredded cheese

16 ounce container sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, drained

1 can chopped green chilies (very mild-if you want a kick use chopped jalapenos)

8-10 large flour tortillas

Brown the beef along with a small onion. Drain the grease and add taco seasoning packet. Add water as directed on the packet. Stir in the beans and corn and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the sour cream, soup and the green chilies. Place about 1/2 cup in the bottom of a 13 X 9 inch casserole dish. (This is to keep the tortillas from burning or sticking to the bottom of the dish.)  Add the cheese to the remaining soup mixture. 

Divide the meat, corn and bean mixture among the tortillas. This should fill 8 -10 tortillas. Roll each tortilla up and place in the casserole dish. Cover with the soup and cheese mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and heated through. 

Does a lack a space keep you from hosting a party?

I am setting another plate at my table and making a place in my heart.

A Proverbs 31 Wife

Get Ready to Party Series Day 4 - The Table and Buffet

I recently hosted a group of  friends in my home for a fall luncheon. I thought it might be fun and helpful to write a series on how I planned and pulled off this party.

My hope is that by sharing it may be a blessing to someone else and it might encourage others to step out and invite someone in!

Day 4 Setting the Table and the Buffet

Click the photo to see the entire series:

I'm so happy that Richella featured my series. Her blog is wonderful. Check it out.

In today's post I'm going to share some photos of how I set my table and the buffet for my fall luncheon. 

I hope these serve as a bit of encouragement that you don't have to go all out with the decorating and set up. Simple is sometimes better.

Serving from the kitchen:

When we did a little kitchen remodel a few years ago I kept the big island even though I've always thought it was a little too big for the room. The reason I kept it is because it a great buffet area. 

I don't have any issues with serving from the kitchen. We had a soup party once and I had three big pots of soup bubbling away on the stove. My only condition for serving from the kitchen is my sink has to be clean with no dirty dishes!

Before the party and before any food has been set out:

This is the buffet set up ready for the food. I stacked the plates on the buffet. I placed a simple burlap runner down the center. I put little notes showing what food goes where so I can enlist helpers if needed and they'll know where everything goes. 

Napkins and silver ware are set on the table. To the left of the stove I set up a hot beverage area. Assorted tea bags, coffee, honey, sugar, cream, cups and spoons. The tea kettle is kept on simmer ready to pour.

The cold drinks were set up on the desk area in the kitchen. 

Dessert set up on the kitchen table. I set out extra forks and napkins and the serving pieces that will be needed for the desserts. This table also has my guest book and a bowl of party mix that I bagged up for each guest to take home. 

The dining table:

I had to put two tables together to seat ten. Since my dining room is too small for two tables

we pushed the dining table to the living room and added another table. One day we're going to take down the wall between these two rooms to make one large space. But for now we just make do. 

I used two cream colored tablecloths to tie both table together. In the middle I used a solid brown tablecloth and on each end I laid a piece of fall printed fabric. The decorations were simply fall leaves and a few plastic  pumpkins.

Everyone helping themselves to the buffet:

I like to use real plates and silverware unless we're having an outdoor party like a BBQ with lots of kids. Then I might use paper plates. I have a lot of plates and serving dishes and I'd rather use them than have them collect dust in the cabinet. 

I make sure the dishwasher is empty so clean up is pretty quick.

Food as part of the decorations:

Food isn't just good for our tummies it's also beautiful and can serve as part of the decorations. 

To make this veggie basket I took a large, clean basket. I searched around the kitchen for a plate or platter that would fit in the opening but I couldn't find one that was just right. 

I improvised by placing the rack from my canning pot in the bottom of the basket.

Next I used a plate that was just a little smaller than the opening of the basket. I finished it off by covering the plate with lettuce leaves. 

I used a whole pepper to hold the dip and arranged the raw veggies on the bed of lettuce. The whole thing fit nicely into the basket opening and made a nice display.

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of how I set up for my luncheon. Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you about a fun game we played...

Happy Day!

Patti

See day 5 here. Games Anyone?