Recipe Party

Rationale
I was getting fed up with my everyday recipes and decided I wanted more. I chose to host a 'Recipe Party' as a fun way to collect more.

Invitations
I printed up invitations and sent some as PDF attachments. You could do it up classy and do a two page vellum type. Attach them to colored paper with ribbon at the top. It could be a very classy and elegant invitation. Any how, it was a long and wordy invitation, but I thought a cute rhyme would be fun.

WORDING: My tast buds are bored! My pantry is bland! Please won't you all come and lend me a hand? Tis the same 'ole stuff at the same 'ole store. My old stand-bys are dying and I need some more! We can all gather 'round with nibblings and tea, and swap our ideas for some new recipes! Brind the cream of the crop, your best five will suffice. Make twelve copies of each, 'cause not writing is nice! Since our discussion is food while the clock keeps on tickin' You know for a fact we'll end up in the kitchen. So RSVP, that's my one simple wish, To sign up for dinner, we will each bring one dish. The 12th of this month is slated for fun. Please show-up around six. I hope you can come!

If twelve ladies come and they each bring five recipes - we're talking about a TON of new dishes to try! And each recipe is considered 'the best of their best'! I could have asked them to each bring recipes for 2 main dishes and the rest could be anything from appetizers, vegetables, salads, breads or desserts or more, but we went for chance this time. I am trying to arrange it so we will have a full meal to eat. Several appetizers with punch, three main dishes, 2-3 vegetables, two salads and several desserts. The great thing about dinner was we were eating dishes that we were about to receive the recipes for!

Decorations/Set-Up

I had some small floral arrangements that I had for the centerpieces on the tables. Inside the arrangements I have wooden skewers with recipe cards hot-glued on the top. Each recipe card has one of my favorite recipes on it (they were desserts, appet., side dishes, and salads).

I made pretty name tags on the computer before the party and will have them out for the women to put on when they arrive. The other thing I did was make pretty place setting cards. I printed out everyone’s name, cut it out and glued it on a small decorative piece of paper folded like a tent. Using this same layout I made food label cards so people would know the name of the dishes on the food table. I also printed out the women's names on an envelope to hold the recipes they would receive at the party.

Games
I have two games to play at our leisure. The first one is the "Spice Sense". I have covered up ten different spice bottles with black paper, and then had a corresponding sheet for them to guess (I included the choices). The second game is "Cooking Questions". I has ten questions about cooking, i.e. measurements, substitutions, and types of cheeses. This is multiple choice.

After everyone exchanges their recipes, I will share the answers to the games, give out small prizes to the winners, and then we can take turns sharing our best "cooking horror stories".

It will be a blast. I am already excited about the next one. We may do a dessert night next!

I hope these ideas get you excited about cooking too!