World Cup Entertaining Ideas

Summertime is all about entertaining. With a successful Memorial Day Bash already under your belt, why wait until the Fourth of July to continue your summer of celebrations? The World Cup is just around the corner, and it only happens every four years, so why not gather around the boys, (and possibly some girls too), to watch this monumental event!

Because there are so many teams, and an entire month of soccer (excuse me, “football”) to watch, there are many ideas that you can come up with for your World Cup viewing party. Everyone has their favorite team, but popular team matchups include England vs. The United States, Portugal vs. Brazil, and Mexico vs. South Africa (and that’s just in round one!) If you decide to have all of the guys over for England vs. The United States, decorations and food won’t be too difficult since you can reuse some of the red, white, and blue party ideas from Memorial Day, or take your Fourth of July party ideas out for a test run. But, since that’s old news, why don’t we plan your World Cup party for Mexico vs. South Africa.

Mexico takes on South Africa in just four days, so if you aren’t ready to entertain by then, don’t worry, you can still use all of these ideas for when Mexico takes on France on June 17^th. My tips for World Cup entertaining are simple and relatively quick to organize, so it would be great to get everything ready to launch this year’s big opening game. I hear it’s supposed to be a real kicker.

For parties where the crowd will mostly be centered on the television, I recommend serving fun finger foods that your guests can easily grab with one hand, while still holding onto a beer in the other. But be creative! Wings, thighs, and drumsticks are SO Super Bowl. Since you are watching Mexico take on South Africa, why not prepare some mini beef tacos, corn on the cob, and a seven-layer dip served with your favorite tortilla chips. I have a great recipe for a seven-layer dip that takes only about 15 minutes to make, so just follow these instructions below!

Ingredients you will need:

·      ½ cup chopped green onions

·      ½ cup chopped tomatoes

·      1 can of black olives

·      1 can of refried beans

·      Picante sauce

·      1 cup of your favorite salsa (mild, medium, or spicy!) or pico de gallo

·      1 cup of guacamole (home made or store bought)

·      1 container of sour cream

·      1.5 pounds of lean ground beef

·      2 cups of shredded Cheddar cheese

·      2 cups of Jack cheese

Three Easy Steps to follow:

·      In a large skillet, cook the ground beef until it is brown. Add in some Mexican taco seasoning if you would like a little extra flavor!

·      Spread the refried beans and Picante sauce on the bottom of your serving dish and sprinkle 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of jack cheese on top of the beans. Sprinkle the beef on top of the cheese. Then add a layer of sour cream, a layer of guacamole, a layer of salsa, and the remaining cheddar and jack cheese. Finally, sprinkle your olives, tomatoes, and green onions on top!

·      Your seven layer dip is ready to serve! It’s easy enough huh? Or, if you like to prepare things ahead of time, which I do, place the dip in the refrigerator over night and serve cold or at room temperature when your guests arrive!

Instead of serving in one large dish that everyone has to fight over, use this recipe and serve in individual jars like show below! If your guests don’t finish their dip, they can take it home to enjoy later!

Picture from (http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/02/seven-layer-dip-recipe/)

All of these items can be prepared in advance, which is important so you won’t be cooped up in the kitchen and miss all of the action. There are endless ideas for Mexican “tapas” that you can serve, so have fun with it and ask your guests beforehand what some of their favorite Mexican dishes are so you can serve them!

Speaking of beer, instead of serving traditional Budweiser or Coors Light, try serving some unique microbrews or beers from the country you are rooting for. To take the pressure off of you, the host, ask your guests to bring their favorite microbrew. You will be surprised how many different beers from around the world you will be trying! For this party in particular, Mexico has some great beers such as Pacifico, Dos XX Amber, Dos XX Lager, Tecate, and Corona….so I am sure you will have a wide variety of beers for your guests to enjoy! In addition to beer, make sure to have plenty of waters and sodas on hand for those guests who prefer not to drink.

It wouldn’t be a sports viewing party without a little bit of harmless gambling. Set up a friendly bet, and whoever wins, gets to sport a pair of these great limited edition Havaiana’s World Cup Sandals. Nothing says bragging rights better then some stylish footwear. But hurry! These sandals are going fast and only available at Barney’s NY. Stop in a store or grab them here at this link http://www.barneys.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BNY-Site/default/Search-Show?q=Havaianas.

Overall don’t forget to have fun with this! Watching the World Cup with your buddies should be fun, casual, and relaxed. No matter what your budget is or how many people you plan on having over, don’t miss out on all of the excitement by slaving away in the kitchen all day!  After all, you are part of the party as well!

The first round of games starts June 10th! So get to planning!

For more information on game times and team matchups, visit the Official World Cup Website at http://www.fifa.com/

Shawn's End of the Week Treat!

It's the end of the week, so one of my Specialty Cocktails is in order! This week try my Key Lime Pie Martini! It is absolutely delicious and refreshing, and tastes just like a Key Lime Pie! To start, crush graham crackers on one plate, and pour honey onto another plate. Carefully dip the rim of the martini glass into the honey, and then into the graham crackers. Now you have a tasty graham cracker rim! Next, the most important ingredients!

Photo Courtesy of Bulldog Photography

3 parts Vanilla Vodka

1.5 parts Key Lime Juice

1.5 parts simple syrup (recipe to follow)

Pour liquid ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into the chilled cocktail glass that has been rimmed with crushed graham crackers. Sip and Enjoy!

To make your own simple syrup is quite easy as well! All you need is...

1 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

Dissolve in sauce pan on stove on the low heat setting

Do NOT boil

Stir continuously

Let cool

This batch of simple syrup should last you for up to two weeks if you keep refrigerated! You can use it to make more Key Lime Pie Martini's or other specialty cocktails!

Happy Friday! Cheers!

Casual Clambake

Summer is the perfect time for casual entertaining! Why not have a Clambake with your friends? I have lots of tips for a simple, easy, and fun Clambake all for under $250! Even if you don’t live near the water or don’t have an outdoor space to entertain, you can bring the beach to you with an intimate, elegant, and simple setting, indoors or outdoors!

Let’s start with décor. I always like to start off with my number one rule, Shop at Home! I love to incorporate items that are easy to find around the house; often using these items again and again while putting a new twist each time I use them. So, start with shopping around your kitchen, cupboards, garage, attic, or wherever in your house that you store items that you are not using. For example, maybe you have glass hurricane vases that you use during Christmas time on the mantle of your fireplace. You could use these same vases, fill them with some play sand to anchor them down and place a large candle in the center. You could even dress up these candles by hot gluing seashells onto them! Seashells.com is an amazing website where you can purchase all sorts of shells such as starfish and sand dollars and other festive items for an incredible price, and they ship quickly! If you are entertaining outdoors and are worried about summer bugs getting in the way of your Clambake, buy the Citronella scented candles to help keep those pesky insects away from your food!

Another easy addition to the décor that you may have found lying in the shed or garage is old terra cotta pots. If you don’t have any of these, you can find them at pretty much any garden center. White wash the pots with white paint, and use a glue gun to attach sea shells onto them! Again, seashells.com is a great resource! Use these terra cotta pots as holders for your Clambake tools. Place one of these terra cotta pots in between each guest in the center of the table so that they can share the lobster picks, crackers, and mallets. I actually found some very festive lobster shaped shell cracking tools at a local discount store! Oh, and don’t forget to include lobster bibs!

To add a punch of color and texture to your table arrangements, accent the candle and terra cotta centerpieces with daisy and mum heads. Also, place some extra terra cotta pots at each place setting so people can dispose of their food shells. It keeps everything in one place and it makes the clean up a sinch!

Worried about getting your table dirty from all this shell cracking? Simply cut garbage bags so that they cover the table, then cover the bags with sheets of your daily newspaper. You have just created a table cloth perfect for a traditional clambake and it makes cleaning easy. All you have to do is just roll everything up in the paper and toss it into a trash bag! If you are entertaining outdoors, my personal favorite replacement for a tablecloth at a clambake is to use netting from seashells.com as a decorative beach-setting option. Use newspaper for the placemats and terra cotta saucers as plates!

Since Clambakes do tend to get a little bit messy, I recommend using bar towels as napkins. They are cheap, super absorbent, and you can wash them or throw them away at the end of your party. Tie these towels with a little bit of rope to keep consistent with your beach theme and place them at each table setting with a shell or starfish! Also, to add some comfort and flare to your seating, place brightly colored beach towels around the table. Another great way to incorporate sea shells in your décor is to take half of the lion’s paw seashell and place salt and pepper into each half. You can place one at each setting for individual salt and pepper servings!

Guests are usually always asking, “How can I help?” “Is there something I can bring?” Take your guests up on this offer and have them contribute to the décor or to the food. This keeps the costs down for you and makes things more exciting! Ask them to bring what you need and what will help make this a fabulous party for all!

For the food, believe it or not mussels and other shellfish are not that expensive, they don’t stink up the house like you’d think, and there are plenty of wonderful side dishes that are inexpensive and get your guests in the summer spirit. I usually recommend mussels, clams, sausage, and potatoes. Throw everything into a deep pot with some water (or for flavor a cheap white table wine) simmer until everything is cooked and viola you have a hearty meal for not a lot of money! Serve it with some baguettes of bread and your guests will go gaga for this easy dinner! Have guests with allergies? No problem! Serve hot dogs or burgers. You can even do a Create Your Own Station for these favorite American Foods!

No party is complete without a specialty cocktail. For this summer occasion, I recommend my famous “Blueberry Tart.” All it takes is 2 parts Blueberry Vodka, 1 part Sour Mix, and 1 part Club Soda. Fill a ball jar with ice and pour contents in. Garnish with a bamboo skewer of blueberries and you have a refreshing cocktail! Tastes like blueberry lemonade!



For kids, or those who don’t drink, use blueberry seltzer and sour mix for a fun fizzy drink. Tastes just as good! Another fun drink for the summer is a “Creamsicle Martini.” Just take 4 parts Vanilla Vodka, 4 parts Orange Vodka, 2 parts Countreau, and a heavy splash of orange juice. Pour the liquid ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake, shake, shake! Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an orange slice!

To help put a little spin on this, have your guests bring their favorite beer; not the traditional Coors or Budweiser, but have them bring some unique micro brews. You would be surprised how many different beers there are and how many go great with this Clambake!

Now that the adults have fun cocktails, we can’t forget about fun for the kids! It is always important to have something fun to keep the kids occupied! A fun activity is to make sand art! While at the craft store picking up other supplies for the party, buy sand in a variety of different colors. Help the kids pour different colors of sand one at a time into ball jars and decorate with seashells! You can also use your lobster tool to push through the different color layers of sand to make neat shapes! Guests can take these home at the end of the evening to remember what a wonderful time they had at your Clambake!

All of these tips can help you prepare for an inexpensive, yet elegantly done Clambake! You are going to enjoy this so much that you will want to make it an annual event! This can take up to a full day of preparations, or you can choose to spread it out over a few days. Up to you! And it only takes a few hours for this easy set up! At the end of the night, don’t forget to save your seashells and other decorative items for another event! You never know when these things may come in handy!

Until nest time...Cheers!