Inauguration Party Preparations

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’re well aware of the fact that Tuesday is Inauguration Day for President-Elect Barack Obama. And no matter what your political affiliation may be, you’ve gotta admit, it’s going to be a historic day.

Since the majority of us can’t make it D.C. for big day, why not host your own Inauguration Party?

Here’s how I’m planning to invite my guests and set the theme for my own “Inaugural Ball”:

1. Invitations
To save money, I’m using a website that lets you design and print free invitations. Since it’s hard to find invitations made specifically for Presidential Inaugurations, I’m just altering one that was meant for a 4th of July party. Americangreetings.com and Invitationland.com both have some great options, or you can always use evite.com to send your invitations via email. (A great option if you don’t have time for snail mail!) Plus, evite.com does have invitation templates made up just for the Inauguration…how easy is that??

2. Theme
Well this one seems pretty obvious. I’m sticking with the red, white and blue color scheme and America-themed décor. And an added bonus of this theme is that you can find plenty of “Stars and Stripes” party supplies meant for 4th of July on sale this time of the year. You can try partyamerica.com.

3. Dress Code
My party is going to be a true Inaugural Ball…complete with a dress code!

I know most of my girlfriends still have old prom dresses sitting in the back of their closets, and if not, they surely have a bridesmaid’s dress handy. Or, if worse comes to worse, I’m recommending they check out local thrift stores. The point of my “ball” isn’t necessarily style – humor will get you in my door as well! The only rule is my guests can’t spend more than $20 on their whole outfit (this includes the guys as well). I can’t wait to see what kind of suits the guys can find for that price!

Of course, if you want your guests in less formal attire, you can always ask them to wear red, white and/or blue. Everyone has something that fits those criteria in their closet!

NFC Championship Party!

If you’re a fan of any of the football teams still vying for a spot at the Super Bowl, you must be pumped for the playoff games this Sunday. So why not invite your friends over for a Playoff Party (or crash the home of whoever has the biggest TV)?

With two brothers and a dad who are all lifelong Eagles fans – and who have lots of friends who are lifelong Eagles fans – I know the living room will be a sea of green and white bodies on Sunday. And those bodies are sure to be hungry.

Well, if you can’t beat em’, join em’, right? So on Sunday I’ll be donning my Eagles jersey and making a huge pot of chili. It’s easy, inexpensive, and always a crowd-pleaser, especially on cold winter days. I’ll keep it in a slow cooker so everyone can help themselves when they’re ready and I don’t have to worry about keeping it hot. Here’s the recipe I’ll be using:


Hearty Chili
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Serves: 6 (you can double or triple the recipe if you need to!)


1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup
1can (about 14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
½ cup water
2 cans (about 15 ounces each) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin

1. Cook the beef in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it's well browned,
stirring often. Pour off any fat.
2. Stir the beef, onion, garlic, soup, tomatoes, water, beans, chili powder and cumin in a
3 ½ quart slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

I'm serving it with slices of cornbread and a Romaine salad tossed with fresh chopped basil, chives, and Italian salad dressing.
Couldn’t be easier!

Also, I had several more requests to make buffalo chicken dip for the game. It’s becoming a football-viewing necessity among my family and friends! It even has it’s own website: www.buffalochickendip.com. The website has a printable recipe, easy step-by-step directions, and great tips and ideas. So, no matter who you’re rooting for on Sunday, at least everyone can enjoy the food!

Fiesta Bowl Party

Since I’ve just graduated from college, many of my friends hosted bowl game parties this year. I think the best one was our Fiesta Bowl party because Mexican food is my favorite! This was our opportunity to revel in the college football traditions that we miss so much from home. Of course I contributed my now almost famous buffalo chicken dip recipe, but the rest of the party potluck was focused on Southwestern foods.

We “kicked things off” yes, pun intended, with my easy chicken quesadillas. My friends also thought that a funky Mexican dish would complement these well so we made a chunky salsa cheesecake as well.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup crushed tortilla chips 

1/2-cup butter or margarine, melted

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 pt. sour cream
2 eggs 

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper 

1 jar (16 oz.) Pace® Chunky Salsa

Directions:
Mix tortilla chips and butter. Press into bottom of 9" springform pan. Place in shallow baking pan.
Combine cream cheese, sour cream and eggs in bowl. Beat until smooth, using electric mixer at medium speed. Stir in cheese, onions, garlic and black pepper. Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan.
Bake at 350°F. for 30 min. or until set. Cool cheesecake on wire rack. Refrigerate until serving time. Remove from pan.
Top cheesecake with salsa and cut into wedges.

For dinner we made a big batch of fajitas and let everybody roll their own. This was a hit and it served a lot of people. We sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms, chicken and spices together and left a bowl out on the table. We told everyone to bring an item to contribute to our “fajita bar” and we had everything: warmed tortillas, some chopped lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. Then everyone could make his or her own creative combination and there was certainly plenty to go around. This is a fun (and cheap) party idea that we will use again!

And maybe it was our Southwestern-themed karma coming into play, but to top things off the Texas Longhorms won the game!