The rite of spring always starts with Easter. The flowers come out, the days become longer, and the weather starts to feel warmer than it did the previous months. In neighborhoods across America, families with young children often get together and start coordinating Easter egg hunt parties. If you plan on hosting one this upcoming Easter (Sunday April 4, 2010), make sure you have a supply of tasty refreshments and beverages for everyone. Here are some ideas on what to serve.

Healthy Snacks
Since the kids will get their fill of sweets with the candy-filled Easter baskets, it would be a smart idea to serve a tray of fresh veggies or crudites for everyone to snack on. Save time, and purchase a tray of pre-cut crudites including carrot sticks, celery, cherry tomatoes, and olives. If you want, add some salsa or ranch dressing for dipping.

Deviled Eggs
This classic recipe has been around forever for a reason: they are crowd-pleasers and make excellent hors d’ourves! Start by hard boiling whole eggs, then set them aside to cool off for at least 20 minutes. Next peel the shells off, then cut each egg in half and scoop out each half’s yolk filling into a bowl. Set your hard-boiled halves aside, and mash the egg yolks until they’re almost powder-like and add whatever seasoning or condiments you’d like. Stir well, and then take a small spoon and place some filling into each egg half. Do this with each half until they’re all filled. Once you’re done you either can serve them right away or keep them refrigerated until the guests arrive.

Beverages
Since you cannot serve refreshments without beverages, make sure you offer some cold drinks at your Easter egg hunt party. Keep it family friendly and serve ice-cold lemonade or limeade. Keep a pitcher or two of this beverage on hand to make sure that everyone is satisfied. You also could serve light alcoholic beverages for adults if you’d like.

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Potluck suppers can be a lot of fun, but they’ve got a built-in problem: Keeping the food hot – or cold.

Yes, you can take one of the easy ways around this: Bring dessert (as long as it’s not ice cream), cold cuts, cheese, raw vegetables with dip, or sushi. Or you can try to time your dish so precisely that it’s done right when it’s time to head out the door and still hot when you get to the supper. Just hope the meal starts on time. You also can bring along your crockpot and hope you can find a place to plug it in.

Or you can try something a little different: A dish that’s delicious at room temperature but is definitely more than just a snack. For example:

· Muffalettas (spelling varies). This New Orleans specialty takes little more time to make than a few sandwiches – but it’s a lot more impressive. As the Grill Sergeants tell us, it’s a loaf of Italian bread stuffed with ham, cheese, and salami topped with olive salad (a mixture of green and black olives, pimento, celery, garlic, cocktail onions, oregano, parsley, vinegar, salt, and pepper.) You can warm it in the oven until the cheese melts, but it’s just as good without.
· Cured salmon. (Pictured.) The salmon is first soaked in whisky, then marinated (cured) overnight in maple syrup, brown sugar, spices, and coarse salt, cooked, and cooled — the recipe is here. Though it doesn’t turn sweet, as you might expect, chef Matt Dunigan rightly says, “It’s like candy for grown-ups.” I baked mine instead of smoking it – and it was still great. Serve with bread or crackers.
· This bean and corn salad is recommended by an Idea Offer reader, who says, “You could even put it out with some tortilla chips to scoop it with.”

Try one of these next time there’s a potluck.

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Long story short:

Official Website: St. Patrick’s Day Parade – South Boston
Location: Broadway, South Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hours: Parade starts at 1:00pm
Ages: Toddlers, Kids, Teens, Adults
In/Outdoor: Outdoor

Are you getting excited for St. Patrick’s Day? Now that the pinks and reds have been cleared from stores all over the country, the green has started its infestation. As a young girl, I usually tried to catch leprechauns in homemade traps. I must say, some of my traps were pretty ingenious, but I still have yet to capture one!

Myths and decorations aside, an event that Greater Boston Area residents should attend is the St. Patrick’s Day parade. This parade has been making history ever since it started back in 1901, and every year it draws more than 500,000 visitors to Boston. It is a ton of fun for children, teenagers, and adults. Everyone is always so dressed up, the parade is awesome, and there are festivities going on everywhere!

The parade starts at the Broadway ‘T’ Station and ends at Andrew Square, South Boston. To see the parade at its finest, you probably are going to want to watch the parade from a spot anywhere along Broadway. As written above, the parade starts at 1:00 pm. It will feature marching bands and pipe bands from throughout North America, food, drinks, and more. The festivities, of course, are not just during the parade; Boston celebrates prior to the day of and continues after the parade as well. What also helps is that it is the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day– rather than the one after it. However, I doubt that celebrating the holiday would not really be an issue in the city of Boston.

Visit this site to learn more about a couple of events that you should try to attend this St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Some of their attractions include Irish Punk music brought to you by the Dropkick Murphys at the House of Blues, an Open House hosted by the Irish Cultural Centre, and St. Patrick’s Day at the JFK Library and Museum. These are just some of the events that the city of Boston is bringing to you!

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Now that Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, and even Presidents’ Day have gone by in a flash, it suddenly seems like a long time till the next excuse for a party.

Why wait? There are going to be days, good and bad, when you feel you need a celebration. Be ready for them – stash some party supplies in a drawer or box and pull them out when the time comes.

Good things to have in it:

• A colorful paper tablecloth and napkins. These are really cheap just after a holiday.
• Paper or foam plates, matching the tablecloth, or at least in bright colors. Just throw them out when you’re done. The earth will forgive you this once.
• Disposable cutlery and plastic wine glasses, even if you’re not having wine.
• Food that will keep, takes no prep, and still seems kind of fancy: Artichoke hearts, croutons, canned shrimp, pudding cups in your favorite flavors, jars of olives.
• Any entrée you can microwave or “just add boiling water” to. This is only if you’re ambitious enough to serve a meal. (You could keep frozen dinners around for the same purpose, but food in the fridge tends to get eaten for everyday meals.)
• Soft drink mixes (I’ll leave the hard stuff up to your taste).
• Decorations – candles, artificial flowers, or something else for a centerpiece.

Nobody’s going to mistake this for a formal occasion, or mistake you for Martha Stewart, but if you’ve brightened the day for your family or friends with these festive touches, the party’s a success.

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St. Patrick’s Day is actually a feast day celebrating one of Ireland’s most prominent saints. People from most English-speaking nations (mainly in Ireland and the United States) celebrate this distinctly Irish holiday. But you don’t have to be of Irish descent, or even religious, to take part in a St. Paddy’s Day celebration, as this is a good time to have some quality family fun.

Tasty Food and Drinks
Green colored cakes, pies, and cookies are always a great option, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Try Irish soda bread or toffee shortbread, both of which are authentic Irish recipes. These recipes are fairly easy to make plus your kids will probably want to help you bake. You could plan an entire Irish themed meal for dinner or lunch. Think a corned beef pizza (which would be a child-friendly version of the classic corned beef and cabbage), coddle (made of potatoes, bacon, and sausage), and a key lime pie. Just add a tall glass of iced limeade or perhaps a green mint milkshake.

Fun Crafts
Since St Paddy’s Day falls on a Wednesday, give your kids something fun to come home to after school or the weekend before. Try having them make green shamrocks out of construction or stock paper. Another great idea is to purchase some blank wooden frames, non-toxic artist pants in various colors, including green, and some paint brushes so they can paint their own frames to keep and use.

Game Ideas
Try a fun Irish themed treasure hunt. Buy a large green box with a lid (or a large wooden box that you can decorate yourself), and store a few gifts inside. The gifts can be small, and don’t necessarily have to be Irish related. You can use toys, books, or candy. Hide it somewhere in the backyard. Write clues on green shamrock shaped Post-it style notes, and hide them in various parts of the backyard. Have the children look for the hidden treasure box and find the clues that will lead them to it. If you want, you can invite some neighborhood kids to join in and make a party of it. At the end of the party, you can serve them something special like a slice of Irish soda bread and a glass of limeade.

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Decided to have a Mardi Gras-themed party for adults?  What do you need to set up the party?

Decor

First things first, remember to use only three colors: purple, green and gold. Decorate the place with masks, beads, confetti, streamers, all in these three colors. Even the invitations, whether in paper or e-vite, must be represented in purple, green and gold. If you’re serving food, make sure the table cloth, plates, utensils and cups are these colors. And if you’re handing out party favors, make sure it’s in the spirit of the Mardi Gras party, too, so be sure to include masks (small ones), beads or tiaras.

Food

Make sure there’s lot of Creole food available throughout the party. Even if you’re serving the food or making it a potluck thing, make sure the staples are there: jambalaya, hot crab cakes, Cajun shrimp, eggs sardou and, of course, a king cake. And don’t forget the drinks. You can serve up some cocktails or just round up beer for everyone. But make sure that there’s a non-alcoholic option, too.

Activities/Games

There are lots of activities and games you can set up for a Mardi Gras party.

1. Costume Contest – Assuming you told people to come in costumes, have a costume contest to see who has the best costume. Assign someone to be the judge, or you can be the judge. You can try handing out other costume awards, like most colorful, most creative, most elaborate, etc.

2. Doubloon Toss – Have people toss doubloons into shot glasses. Assign four glasses for the game and have each glass represent points.

3. Mask Making Contest – Set up a mask making station and provide all the fixings to create a mask: sequins, beads, feathers and glitter, among others. At the end of the night, have a contest to see who made the best mask.

4. Treasure Hunt – Arrange arrays of beads, gold coins or other bling all over the place. Have everyone find as many gold coins as he or she can. The one with the most coins wins.

Remember, it’s Mardi Gras. So the more ostentatious, the better! Good luck and have fun!

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With all of the snow that has covered the east coast, it seems most appropriate to share a fun outdoor craft- snow painting!  All you need for this project is a spray bottle, water, food coloring, and snow.  While it can be an any day craft, it also can be used for holiday fun.  Living in New England, I have used this craft (sadly) for Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and more.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it would be the perfect time to try this project with a little red food coloring and some creativity!

Valentine’s Snow Painting

Supplies

1 spray bottle

water

red food coloring

Directions

1.  Fill spray bottle with water.  Add several drops of food coloring to bottle, and replace cap.

2.  Dress for snow play, and head outside.

3.  Create a large heart shape in the snow.

4.  Using spray bottle, squirt colored water to make snow heart the shade you desire.

*You can use the spray for many other snow projects:  to give a snowman a colored skirt, to color the walls of your fort, and more.  Be creative!

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A children’s Chinese New Year party is easier than you may think – and maybe they’ll even learn something from it.

Many of the traditional “dishes” actually are healthy finger food:
· Mandarin oranges
· Sunflower, pumpkin, or melon seeds
· Dried fruit
· Beef jerky (in place of Chinese dried beef)

Less healthy, but fun:
· Candy, especially chocolate coins
· Fortune cookies (Westerners expect them with Chinese food)
· Goldfish crackers (in place of real fish)

To make it a light meal, cook up some ramen noodles (unbroken, to symbolize long life) and jiaozi (dumplings). You can make the dumplings yourself, as I learned from Buwei Yao Chang’s book, How to Cook and Eat in Chinese.

Make the dough by mixing one part water to two parts flour. Two cups of flour and one cup of water will make about 20 dumplings. An electric mixer is fine, but you’ll probably have to knead by hand a little to make the dough elastic. Separate it into 20 pieces and roll each into a circle about 3 ½ inches wide and 1/8 inch thick. On the edge of one half of each circle, make about six pleats, to form a hollow that’ll hold about a teaspoonful of filling. Use browned, drained ground beef with a dash of soy sauce – about half a pound for 20 dumplings – or whatever filling you prefer. Fold the other half of the circle to cover it and pinch – at this point, you’ll be glad the dough is sticky. Boil the dumplings in salted water for about five minutes, remove and serve.

For a craft, the kids can make cardboard dragon’s heads with crepe paper streamers (there’s a printable one here). They can hold their own parade, though you’ll want to skip the firecrackers.

When everyone is tired, put on Kung Fu Panda.

As they leave, give each a red envelope with a few chocolate coins. Gung hay fat choy!

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So, you’ve decided to have a Valentine’s party on February 14? It’s going to be a tight schedule and you’ll have to do a lot of planning, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

First, decide on a date. Do you want it on Valentine’s weekend? Or the weekend before or after? Do you want it on a Saturday or Sunday? Brunch, lunch, afternoon snacks or dinner? Where are you gonna have it? Outdoor or indoor? Are you going to have it in your house or are you renting an outside place? So many decisions.

But for something as spontaneous as this, having it at a house is the most practical idea. Making it a potluck event will minimize costs and prep time for the host. Better yet, make it a special potluck event and have people bring in their specialties.

Prepare a guest list. How many people are you inviting? Make sure your guests will be able to fit in your venue. Oh, and don’t forget RSVP. It may be short notice, but you still have to have an idea of the number of people to expect. Nothing’s more depressing than a Valentine’s party where no one shows up.

Lastly, decide on your party theme. Are you going to have costumes? Is it casual or a party where people have to be in their finest outfits? You can use the theme to dictate the decorations, invitations, music and the overall mood of the party. As the host, you can also embody the theme.

What are some themes you can use?

1.  Movie Theme

You can pick a particular movie or use romance movies in general. Have love songs from movies playing in the background. Name the food using lines or characters from the movie or different movies. Organize games or activities, including trivia games featuring info from these movies.

2.  Mask Party

Have people come in masks or provide masks for your guests. Use the masks to create Valentine games, including creating matching masks and finding the other pair.

3.  Anything Goes

You also can choose to go the other extreme and use a completely opposite idea as your party theme. Make it a Halloween Valentine or Christmas Valentine or an anti-valentine Valentine. It’s all up to you.

Good luck planning your party, but don’t forget also to have fun!

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This year, the Chinese New Year falls on February 14. The year of the Tiger calls for a celebration, so why not host a small Chinese New Year get-together at your house? Here is a plan you can start with; it includes decorations, food, drink, and entertainment ideas. Feel free to use this entire plan or customize as you see fit.

Décor Plan
While there is nothing wrong with Chinese lanterns, they are a bit cliché, so try not to use them for party décor. Instead, start with a few bright colors and work them into the décor. Try colorful dishes (think FiestaWare),  or bring out several bowls or vases and fill them with flowers. Another great idea is to use a red brocade tablecloth for the table(s) that you serve the food and drinks on. Beyond color, you probably want to add a few whimsical decorations like hand painted ceramic animals or other décor pieces with Chinese symbols.

Food and Drink Plan
Now it’s time to choose between foods you love versus foods with significant meaning. It’s okay to have a little bit of both. It is said that egg rolls symbolize wealth, seafood means abundance, and chicken symbolizes family. There are plenty of recipes on the web for all three dishes, so browse the web and devise a menu that will please the crowd. If you’re throwing the party in the afternoon or early evening, you might want to serve tea to your guests. A great idea here is to plan a hot tea bar with a variety of teas for guests to choose from. Don’t forget to keep a kettle of hot water (be sure to check the supply often), milk, and lemon nearby for self serving purposes. If your party is scheduled for later in the day, go with a bottle of wine or two. As for dessert, try a tasty and exotic dish, like sesame custard served with two fortune cookies each.

Entertainment Plan
Although socializing is the reason, no party is complete without a little entertainment. Try a Mah-jong game tournament or have a professional astrologer who specializes in Chinese astrology offer readings for the guests. Then again, you also could choose no entertainment, and let the guests mingle, as is.

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