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Behind the Scenes: Black and White Luau

partysugar — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:30:58 -0700

On Saturday night FabSugar hosted her annual summer luau. Instead of throwing a regular luau, Fab's party had a sophisticated, chic black and white theme. While Fab created the look of the luau, I was in charge of the snacks and specialty cocktail. To take a look at the food and decor of our memorable party, click the "Start" button.

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Come Party With Me: Black and White Luau - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:30:59 -0700

When hosting a large, blowout-style bash ask guests to bring alcohol. Delegate a certain type of liquor or simply let them bring their favorite bottle. Doing this ensures that you won't run out of drinks and anything leftover can stock your liquor cabinet!

However, do make a specialty cocktail and purchase beer. For Fab's black and white luau I'll be making a simple yet chic punch. Fab requested a "white" drink and this colorless ti punch is elegantly refreshing. To check out the cocktail recipe - it's garnished with white rock candy! - read more.

Ti Punch
From Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients

1 lime disk, cut from the side of a lime to include flesh, pith and skin (about 1/4 inch thick)
1 teaspoon cane syrup, such as Depaz
1 cup crushed ice
2 ounces white rhum agricole (aromatic West Indian rum)

Directions

Working over a rocks glass, squeeze the lime in both directions to squeeze the oil and juice into the glass. Add the lime to the glass along with the cane syrup and half of the crushed ice.
Set a long swizzle stick or bar spoon in the glass and rub it between your hands to mix the drink.
Add the rhum agricole and the remaining crushed ice and mix again.

Makes 1 cocktail.

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Come Party With Me: Black and White Luau - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:00:40 -0700

For our black and white luau, FabSugar has requested a special dessert. While marshmallows don't have anything to do with the luau part of the theme, they'll be black and white, and more importantly: bite sized and delicious! Homemade marshmallows are a marvelous treat that will impress guests. Once you make them, you'll never go back to purchasing their grocery-store counterpart. Instead of dipping the marshmallows in coconut, I plan to dip the squares in chocolate and roll them around in crushed oreos! Served plated with toothpicks they're the perfect party dessert. For the recipe, read more.

Homemade Marshmallows
From Ina Garten

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
Spay a 8 by 12-inch nonmetal pan with cooking spray. Pour in the marshmallow batter and smooth the top of the mixture with damp hands.
Allow to dry uncovered at room temperature overnight.
Remove the marshmallows from the pan and cut into squares. Roll the sides of each piece carefully in confectioners' sugar. Store uncovered at room temperature.

Makes 20-40 marshmallows.

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Come Party With Me: Black and White Luau - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:45:41 -0700

Fab is strictly enforcing the black and white dress code for our upcoming luau, so I'm creating a menu that features black and white dishes. Since the party starts after dinner, we'll offer guests only a few small bites.

Although it's not Hawaiian, a platter of sushi from our favorite Japanese restaurant is perfect for late night noshing. Homemade finger foods will include piña colada scallop brochettes and spicy black bean cakes. The scallops are easy to make and pretty to present. The black bean cakes will be served with a cooling lime scented sour cream.
To get these black and white recipes, read more.

Piña Colada Scallop Brochettes
From Sandra Lee

Ingredients

12 large sea scallops
1 (10-ounce) can frozen pina colada mix, thawed (recommended: Bacardi)
1/2 cup light rum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (recommended: Christopher Ranch)
12 ounces fresh pineapple wedges, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted

Directions

Soak 8 bamboo skewers in water for at least 1 hour.
In a large zip-top bag, combine scallops, thawed pina colada mix, rum, salt, pepper, and garlic. Squeeze out air and seal bag. Gently massage to thoroughly combine ingredients.
Marinate in refrigerator 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Do not marinate longer then this or the marinade will begin to cook the scallops.
Set up grill for direct cooking or a grill pan over medium heat. Lightly oil the grate when ready to start cooking.
Remove scallops from marinade and discard marinade.
Thread 3 scallops through 4 skewers and thread the pineapple wedges onto the remaining skewers. Season with salt and pepper.
If grilling indoors on a grill-pan, pat the scallops dry before grilling.
Spread toasted coconut on a plate; set aside.
Place brochettes on hot oiled grill and cook until scallops are opaque and just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Grill the pineapple until there are nice grill marks and fruit softens a bit, about 4 minutes.
Remove from grill and immediately press both sides of brochettes into toasted coconut. Serve hot.

Serves 4.

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Spicy Black-Bean Cakes
From Everyday Food magazine

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 to 2 jalapeno chiles, finely chopped (ribs and seeds removed for less heat, if desired)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 large sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated (2 cups)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
Lime Sour Cream (see recipe, below)

Directions

Heat broiler.
In a small skillet over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook scallions until softened, 1 minute.
Add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin; cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl.
Add beans to bowl; mash with a fork or a potato masher, leaving about 1/4 of the beans whole. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Fold in sweet potato, egg, and breadcrumbs. Divide into 8 balls of equal size; flatten into patties.
Brush a baking sheet with remaining tablespoon oil; place patties on sheet, 1/2 inch apart.
Broil 4 inches from heat until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. With a thin metal spatula, carefully turn cakes.
Broil until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes more. Serve with Lime Sour Cream.

Makes 8 cakes.

For the Lime Sour Cream: in a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream with 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice and 1 small minced jalapeno chile (ribs and seeds removed for less heat, if desired) season with coarse salt.

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Come Party With Me: Black and White Luau - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:15:50 -0700

A girl after my own heart, FabSugar loves to host parties. Since our Sex and the City Marathon went so well, Fab and I are collaborating on another upcoming event: a black and white luau. The party will have all of the aspects of a typical luau - tropical flowers, Hawaiian-inspired dishes, etc, - but since it's a black and white theme the event will be chic and sophisticated.

A luau is a classic Summer party that's fun and fabulous to plan, so take my ideas and adapt them to make your own memorable bash. Let's start by sending invitations. To see how I made the ones here, read more.

You will need the following supplies to make a similar invitation:

tropical print decorative paper
nice white paper
glue
scissors
computer and printer

To assemble the invite:

Start by creating a new document in Microsoft word. Write out a fun message describing the party. On our invite, I wrote the following message in Baar Sophia size 14:

Fog city doesn't host enough luaus, so join me in toasting
Summer and fog, with a black and white themed luau!
Bring your friends, your rum, and your fun.

FabSugar’s Grotto, San Francisco, CA
Saturday July 12, 2008
9:30 PM

The dress code is strictly enforced!

At my luaus everybody gets leid.
Mahalo and hope you can make it!

If desired, add a thick, black border to enclose the text. Print out on regular paper and check for grammar and spelling mistakes. Once satisfied with the look and feel of the invite print out on the nice white paper.

Cut down to size.

Using the glue, mount on the decorative paper. Cut down to size.

Turn the invite over and paste more decorative paper to the back. Cut down to size.

Slide into an envelope and send.

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Black and White Luau Invite: Step by Step

partysugar — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:25:26 -0700

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Come Party With Me: Technicolor Luau - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:39:01 -0700

Every Summer FabSugar hosts a luau. Since Fab is so fashion-forward, the theme is not your typical Hawaiian-shirt extravaganza; each year she picks a different style for the luau. Last July she threw a sophisticated black-and-white soirée, and next month, she's going vibrant with a technicolor luau. Fab and I often collaborate on parties and this time will be no different. I'm doing the planning and cooking, she's doing the hosting. To get things started, I had to make Fab an invite. Learn how I made the one seen here and read more.

After spending some time in Costa Rica, Fab was totally inspired by aquatic life, so we browsed pictures of jellyfish and came across these amazing images.

Once I had several pics, I dragged and dropped them into Photoshop. I flipped one of the images upside down and copied it into a blank file three times. Then I took another image (one with plenty of room to write the text) and pasted this on top of the jellyfish. Next I inserted the following text:

Surf's Up...at FabSugar's Technicolor Luau
You're invited to have a tropical blast!

Saturday, August 15
9 p.m.
Fab's Grotto
San Francisco

Wear your loudest, freshest, hottest gear.
Neon encouraged.

Bring your preferred poison

I sent the invitation to Fab and she helped make several edits. Once we were both satisfied with the look, I saved it as a JPEG. Fab can upload the image to Evite or pingg, or simply send attached to an email.

Have you ever hosted a luau? How did you invite your friends?

What's Yummy This Week - YumSugar Weekly Recap

YumSugar — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:30:21 -0700

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My Favorite Invites

partysugar — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:03:31 -0800

You probably already know this, but I love the act of planning a party as much as the party itself! While Yum had 52 weeks of baking adventures this year, I planned 52 virtual parties! From the look to the drinks, I supplied you with inspiring ideas, tantalizing recipes, and crafty invitations. The invite sets the tone, atmosphere, and mood of an event so I always send handmade invitations. It also makes a lovely keepsake of the party. I've browsed all of the invites and picked out my top five. Pictured clockwise from the top right, they are:

How about you? What was your favorite invitation?