Greetings again from The Dread Party Blog

Since Jeanie and I have something like 50+ years experience between the two of us in hosting large parties, but most who eventually read us won't actually know us, its only fair to start by mentioning a few of our biases up front, so you know what you're getting in for.

The first I'll mention is this: We prefer theme parties to any other sort of event. No, not kiddie birthdays ... if anything, we find the adults in our lives need the escapism of a good theme party way more than the young ones, and are generally more able to appreciate the effort.

So ... why, may you ask? It comes down to this:

1) Theme parties give you, the host, a framework in which to build your event.

2) Theme parties provide your guests with a novel setting within which they can play and interact.

3) In our experience, a "party with a purpose" is simply more fun for all concerned.


All well and good, but there are rules. First and foremost - if you aren't going to execute the party's theme in a consistent, complete way, then stick with hosting a non-themed event. Partially-carried off theme parties are lame!

For instance, we once attended a small adult birthday that was advertised as a pirate party. The reality was, the paper plates and other partyware were pirate-themed, there were a few paper decorations ... and that was about it. The dinner was standard American-Italian, there was no music, sea shanties or otherwise. The end result was just ... odd, and not surprisingly, fell completely flat.

Thing is, it wouldn't have taken much to salvage this 'Pirates of Tuscany' evening. First -- the host was cooking anyway, so why not make a Caribbean dinner menu instead of an Italian one? Second - one of the lynchpins of any good event -- music. With a little forethought, a used Pirates of the Caribbean or Cutthroat Island soundtrack album from Amazon would do the trick, or with even less forethought and no outlay, keying in Pirates of the Caribbean on Pandora - or the aforementioned sea shanties - and you'd be in business with your mood music, as the Pandora application would more or less take care of the rest. Music - food - decor -- after you have these three legs of the stool in place, anything else you choose to add is nice, but optional -- OK, rum punch is also mandatory; we are talking pirates, after all. Point is, now you have a still fairly simple, but memorable occasion on your hands.

As for that punch, here's one of my original solutions:

Skull Rock

1 part decent quality light rum (like DonQ or Cruzan)
1 part decent silver tequila
1 part fresh-squeezed lemon juice (bottled doesn't hold a candle)
1 part raspberry syrup, such as Torani

Shake vigorously with lots of ice, and pour into a large glass or mug. Garnish with Tiger Lily ;^)

(And if you want to make that mug a bit pirate-y ... http://www.dynastywholesale.com/ceramic-mugs.html  )

Until next time.