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 [...]

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 [...]

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 – [...]

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

So you’ve decided to have a Valentine’s party on Feb 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.

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 [...]