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Come Party With Me: Technicolor Luau - The Look

partysugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:40:58 -0700

The look of FabSugar's technicolor luau is eclectic but fun. Since some of the decorations - surfboard-shaped party lights, tiki-face napkins, neon plastic glasses - are loud, the food will be plated on simple white platters. Instead of serving the drinks in a stereotypical punch bowl, let guests help themselves to the cocktails from a beverage dispenser. Place a bowl with paper umbrellas near the glasses. The night may get wild, so skip expensive floral arrangements and opt for lush, green potted palm trees. After the party, Fab can put them on her balcony. Finally, when guests arrive, they'll expect to get leis, but surprise them with neon glow necklaces!

Name That Dish!

YumSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:00:27 -0700

If you were throwing a Technicolor Luau like Party's planning with FabSugar, you could impress guests with this deep-fried seafood appetizer that's a quintessential part of tiki culture and cuisine. Can you name it?

Come Party With Me: Technicolor Luau - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:00:20 -0700

When Fab first asked me to help host her technicolor luau, I envisioned serving a fabulous layered tiki cocktail. However, deep down, I knew there was no way I could offer this kind of cocktail because it's too much work and I would end up spending the entire night behind the bar! To make things easier, I'll serve a tropical rum punch instead. The super-simple recipe can be multiplied for a large crowd. It combines light and dark rum with fresh squeezed orange juice, mango nectar, and pineapple juice. It's a potent, yet refreshing drink, that's sure to get any party started. To look at the recipe, read more.

Rum Punch
From Food and Wine

Ingredients

80 mint leaves, torn or thinly
8 ounces light rum
8 ounces aged rum
8 ounces fresh orange juice
8 ounces mango nectar or juice
4 ounces pineapple juice
Ice
8 pineapple wedges

Directions

In a pitcher, combine all of the ingredients except the ice and pineapple wedges and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Stir well and serve over ice in red wine glasses. Garnish each drink with a pineapple wedge.

Serves 8.

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Come Party With Me: Technicolor Luau - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:50:07 -0700

When I hear the word luau, I immediately think of a creamy, cool coconut dessert. This recipe is just that; it combines two favorite pie flavors - key lime and coconut - into one fabulous finger-friendly dessert.

Key lime-coconut bars are ideal for a Saturday night bash. They must be made in advance, are bite-sized and easy to eat, and with their dusting of confectioners sugar and lime zest, look pretty delightful!

Sound scrumptious? Get the recipe.

Come Party With Me: Technicolor Luau - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:30:21 -0700

Although the technicolor luau starts after dinner, I plan on providing guests with a quartet of savory bites. A pupu platter is a Polynesian-inspired spread of appetizers that combines crispy and soft textures. What's on it? Crunchy fried shrimp toasts, salty sweet bacon-wrapped pineapple, and beef teriyaki zucchini skewers. The fourth item isn't tropical, but simply a classic favorite that Fab requested I make: corn dogs! However, I'm not making just any old corn dog, these addictive ones have a blue cheese crust and are served on skewers. For the festive recipes, read more.

Pupu Platter
From Gourmet

Ingredients

For shrimp toasts
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon medium-dry Sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 scallions, finely chopped
6 slices firm white sandwich bread, cut into 1 1/2-inch rounds (24 total)
About 6 cups vegetable oil for frying
For bacon-wrapped pineapple
12 slices bacon (about 3/4 lb), halved crosswise
1 (1 1/2-lb) pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 24 (1-inch) chunks
1 bunch scallions, greens cut into 5-inch-long pieces and halved lengthwise
For beef teriyaki
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger
1 medium zucchini
1/2 lb flatiron steak, cut across grain into 1/8-inch-thick slices

Directions

Assemble shrimp toasts: Pulse shrimp, ginger, oil, Sherry, soy sauce, and egg white in a food processor to a coarse purée. Stir together with cilantro, scallions, and 1/4 tsp salt. Spread on bread (a scant Tbsp each).
Make bacon-wrapped pineapple: Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each pineapple chunk, then wrap scallion around outside, securing with a wooden pick. Arrange in a parchment-paper-lined 4-sided sheet pan. Bake, turning once, until bacon is crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make beef teriyaki: Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ginger.
Thinly slice zucchini lengthwise with slicer. Put each slice of steak on a slice of zucchini, then thread lengthwise onto a skewer. Brush with soy mixture. Arrange skewers, meat side up, on an oiled broiler pan.
When pineapple has finished cooking, preheat broiler. Broil skewers 5 to 7 inches from heat until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry shrimp toasts: Heat 2 inches vegetable oil to 360°F in a 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Fry 8 bread rounds, shrimp sides down, until browned, about 1 minute. Turn and fry until golden, about 30 seconds. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry remaining rounds.
To serve: Arrange skewers, bacon-wrapped pineapple, and shrimp toasts on a platter.

Serves 6.

Make ahead: Shrimp toasts can be assembled 1 hour ahead and chilled. Pineapple can be wrapped with bacon and scallions 4 hours ahead and chilled. Skewers can be chilled 2 hours ahead; brush with soy mixture before broiling.

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Blue Cheese Mini Corndogs
From Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. shortening
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup blue cheese
1 egg
3 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and finely crumbled or chopped
Oil for deep fat frying
6 jumbo beef franks, cut in half crosswise
12 6-inch wooden skewers
Honey mustard or mustard
Blue Cheese Dip (optional, see below)
Fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, dry mustard, and salt. Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs. In a blender combine milk, blue cheese, and egg; cover and blend until almost smooth.
Add egg mixture to flour mixture along with bacon; mix well. (Batter will be thick.)
Meanwhile, heat 1 inch of oil in a heavy 10-inch skillet over medium heat to 365 degrees F. (should take about 15 minutes).
Insert skewers into ends of franks. Holding onto skewers, hold franks over bowl of cornmeal mixture. Spoon cornmeal mixture on franks and slightly spread to completely cover.
Place coated franks, 3 or 4 at a time, on their sides in hot oil. Turn franks with tongs after about 10 seconds of cooking to prevent batter from sliding off. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more or until golden brown, turning to brown evenly. Remove and drain on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Keep warm in a 200 degrees F. oven while frying remaining franks.
Serve warm with honey mustard and/or Blue Cheese Dip. Sprinkle parsley.

Makes 12 appetizer corn dogs.

Make-Ahead: Make these fresh. Skewer hot dogs ahead of time, cover and refrigerate. Once fried, corn dogs can be kept warm in a 200 degree F oven up to 30 minutes.

Blue Cheese Dip: In medium bowl combine 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup dairy sour cream, 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

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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?

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 - 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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Come Party With Me: Luau Dinner For 8 - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:11:31 -0700

I've been planning so many large bashes these past few weeks, that I decided to do something a little more intimate this week. Dinner parties are my favorite kind of party and they are even easier to host when you have a theme to plan everything around. There is no better theme for summer than a fabulous tropical soirée! Bright flowers, plush textures, soothing waves, and cool cocktails bring you and seven close friends together for a tasty dinner. This party can be held anywhere from a deck with an view of the Pacific, to a teeny apartment with no balcony, just adapt the theme to fit your needs. To get things started, I'm making a gorgeous invitation that will get guests in the mood the second it arrives in the mail. To see step by step instructions on how to make this invite, read more

To make an invitation similar to the one seen here you will need:

computer & printer
scissors
glue stick
envelope
orange cardstock
a fun Hawaiian image
printed or cut out images of tropical flowers (I found mine doing a google image search for tropical flowers, but get creative - you could even find them in a travel magazine!)

To assemble:

Start by dragging the fun Hawaiian cartoon image into a new Word document. Insert a text box as a border and change the color and size of the line to match your image. Write out the details of the dinner in a creative formation around the image. I used Papyrus in size 14 Bold to write:

Grab your leis and join me for a luau themed dinner!
Saturday, August 10, 2007
7:30 pm

PartySugar’s House
-San Francisco
415.555.5555

Tropical attire requested please

Print out a test copy and when satisfied cut down to size.

Mount on cardstock with the glue stick.

Glue your favorite flower image on the back of the invite.

Cut the invite down to size and set aside.

To make the envelope cut out a bunch of tropical flower images.

Glue to the envelope in a creative collage style until the entire envelope (including the inside) is covered in a tropical flower collage and cut down to shape of the envelope.

Write the name and address of each guest on a white sticky label and place on the back of the invite and send.

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