Party Planning

Party ... Planning?!? No, its not spontaneous, but in order to help ensure a successful event while keeping your costs controlled and your last-minute work to a minimum (hey, you're throwing a party; you should be able to enjoy it too!)  planning is essential. And, having a plan before the party can help foster spontaneity during the party - which is always a good thing.

Consider just a few of the following questions:

What food will I be serving? If you save food planning for the last minute, you'll either be running out to the grocery for pre-made appetizer trays, hurriedly whipping together something yourself while guest are arriving, or just dumping chips in a bowl with salsa or some kinda dip. There are much better options,

What drinks will I serve? Alcoholic or non-, there are choices to be made: Ready drinks in bottles, making party punch in large quantities (a personal favorite), or playing bartender and making individual drinks?

How will I set the party mood? This covers sundries such as decorations, music, games ... even food contributes here -- for instance, that Halloween platter of cookie men frosted up to look like a bunch of slasher flick victims. (Cookie arm broke off? Another job for the red frosting tube!)

If guests need to stay overnight, what sleeping accommodations are there? This is something you should ALWAYS consider when serving alcoholic beverages.

Who am I inviting? If you don't figure this one out, you may forget to include someone you really wanted or needed to invite (Awkward!), or accidentally invite people who aren't speaking to each other ... which is just   bad party juju.

Most basic of all -- you're hosting a party; what is it about? Is it for a particular event or person? Would a party theme make your event more memorable?

If you’re having a party and don’t answer these questions – well, you’ll have some type of party, and it will probably be pleasant. On the other hand, if you answer “what is the party about?” questions, this is where you can potentially springboard your good event into a truly great one.

Enough theory for now; time for a practical bit. Food and drink is where the rubber meets the road for most parties, and we have a couple corrections to what Saveur magazine published in their recent Issue #156. On page 34, they have nine rum drinks, and two of the nine have mistakes. Here are the corrections:

Jasper's Jamaican

1 1/4 Appleton Reserve Rum
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz allspice liqueur, preferably St. Elizbeth's (this ambrosial liquid is also known as Pimento Dram)
1/2 tsp simple syrup (Saveur said 1/2 oz, and this will give you a sicky sweet drink - go with Beachbum Berry's proportions on this, who they reference elsewhere in their article)
Shake with ice and strain, nutmeg and grapefruit segment garnish.

The 2nd correction is to the Pineapple Express recipe - rather than reiterate the whole thing, just know that the 'Trader Tiki' cinnamon syrup they recommend is really B.G. Reynold's, already linked off of this blog -- the name for this excellent syrup line was change to B.G. Reynolds over a year ago, due to copyright issues (can we say 'Trader Vic's? I knew we could).