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 2 -Food and Drink

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 2 - The Food 

You can see the series by clicking this photo

When throwing a party there's lots of details that have to be attended to. Decorating, cleaning the house and what food to serve are just a few. I believe that people can overlook a home not decorated like the cover of a magazine and they can even forgive a little dust floating around but look out if the food isn't up to par!

My theory is that hungry people make bad party guests! So take a little time and think about what food you'll be serving at your party.

When I sat down to plan the menu for my fall luncheon I knew I wanted food that would:

reflect the fall season using apples, pumpkin, cranberries, nuts and Indian corn
be prepared a day in advance.
not be overly complicated to prepare.
require a minimum of attention the day of the party.
be easy to serve from a buffet.
be tasty of course!

The menu I came up with: 

Chicken salad with pecans, apples and cranberries served with croissants
Corn salad with black beans and orange bell pepper (my attempt to make it look like Indian corn:-)
Veggie tray with carrots, yellow, red and orange peppers and snap peas (a bountiful harvest)
Cranberry Jell-o rounds

Warm Apple Cake with Vanilla Butter Sauce
Pumpkin Trifle 

Sweet and Unsweetened Tea
Water - always include a pitcher of ice water or water bottles for your guests
Coffee 
Hot tea - Apple spice and Earl Grey

Tip:When planning food don't try to make everything from scratch. The local deli and bakery can be a life saver when preparing food for a party. For this party I spent most of my time preparing the desserts. The chicken salad and croissants came from Sam's Club, the corn salad was made with canned corn and beans, I used pre-cut and washed baby carrots and snap peas, and I enlisted my sis-in-law to make the cranberry rounds. 

I added apples and additional pecans to this ready made chicken salad.


Timeline for Food Preparations

By the weekend before the party I had the menu down pat
Tuesday - once I'd confirmed the number of guests I made the grocery list
Thursday -I did all the grocery shopping including fresh veggies, ice and jugs of tea
Friday night- I did all the cooking including cutting the veggies
Saturday - the day of the party - deal with the last minute stuff- put together the veggie tray, assembled the pumpkin trifle, heated the croissants, pour the tea into pitchers, set up the coffee and tea area and set out the food.

The kitchen is my happy place:-)

Tip:

Don't rely on your memory - write everything down! 
List all the dishes you want to prepare. Make copies of the recipes and mark ingredients off as you use them. Make notes on cooking times, serving pieces and reheating instruction. Mark items off as you go.  For the day of the party list all the little details such as: prepare the coffee pot and fill the tea kettle, fill the creamer, put out the ice, heat the rolls, etc. Keep the list handy so you can refer to it and mark things off as you go. Even after years of experience I still make a list-it's not as detailed as when I was first starting out but I find it's still helpful to remember the little things that make a party go smoother.



When preparing the food for a party I always do two things.

Clean out the fridge before I start so I have room for the extra food and big bowls.

Before I started preparing the food.

After the food was prepared.


The second thing is to clean up as I go. After every dish is prepared I wash the bowls and utensils. I try to never have dirty dishes in the sink.  It just makes me feel better and I know if I need something it may be in the dish drainer but at least it will be clean.


By cleaning up as I go I can go to bed relaxed knowing this is what I'll wake up to.

The only thing I leave out is whatever I need to finish the prep in the morning.

A little encouragement:
When I first starting opening my home and inviting people in I was consumed with making everything perfect. I made all the food from scratch and wouldn't dream of buying anything pre-made. I've learned over the years that the food is important but what's more important is just the act of inviting people in. Hospitality is rare these days because many people tend to lead isolated lives.  We need to share not just the food but more importantly the fellowship and the love.

"A meal of bread and water in contented peace
    is better than a banquet spiced with quarrels."
Proverbs 17:1 (The Message)

I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I'll show you my simple way of keeping my house reasonably clean and straight and ready for company. 


I'll be sharing all the recipes for this luncheon but for now I'll leave you with my recipe for corn salad.


Indian Corn Salad

2 - 15 ounce cans corn, drained
1 - 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 orange bell pepper chopped
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use Dukes)
8 - 10 ounces Chili Cheese Fritos lightly crushed
(I couldn't find the large bag so I used 2 -four ounce bags)

Mix all ingredients except the Fritos, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours. Add the crushed Fritos before serving.


Enjoy!


See day 3 here. Clean Enough, Good Enough

Hospitality and Entertaining Notebook

Several years ago my sister and I went round and round over who came to dinner one Easter. I insisted that our brother's family came. My sister insisted they didn't. Then we couldn't remember if we had ham or fried chicken...Really? You think you'll remember these simple things...I won't tell you who was right about the guest list but we were both wrong about the food.

The guys smoked ribs.


That was when I began keeping a hospitality and entertaining notebook.

I use a simple 3-ring notebook.

Sometimes I get really fancy and use pictures and stickers like a scrapbook page...

Other times I jot the info down on a piece of notebook paper...

Some of the information I include in my notebook:

• What was the occasion?
• Who did I invite?
• Who attended?
• What was on the menu?
• How did I decorate?
• What dishes/glasses did I use? 
• Any special serving pieces I used.
• Where and how I served the food?
• Where we ate (outside or in the house)?
• How much ice we used?
• Any problems or issues?
• Did something go over really well? 

In my notebook I also like to include pictures of special recipes I've made...

In the front pocket I keep ideas for parties that I want to have...

I'm going to host this party when my tomatoes come in  this year!

It's fun to look back over the years and see the special times we've had. A notebook also helps to save me time  when I'm planning new parties. I can look back and get ideas from parties I've had and I also don't duplicate food or table decorations. (Unless I want to:-)

I like to keep my information in a notebook but you can keep it in a folder on your computer if you 

 want. The important thing is to just write it down. 

Happy Hosting!

Patti

I'm sharing at


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Pams Party and Practical Tips - Dare to Share 46

Why I Always Serve Fruit

One thing I've learned over the years is that some people don't eat sweet desserts. 

Unbelievable but true!

Some people don't like sugary desserts, some are dieting but others can't eat sweets for health reasons like diabetes. 

So I always make a point to offer fruit at meals. 

Even when it's just my family I always include some kind of fruit that is in season. We don't have dessert every night but a little fruit can satisfy a sweet tooth. 

And it's good for you. 

Do you include fruit as part of your meal? What's your favorite way to serve fruit?