Christmas...in April?

I'm a little late on this post.  Christmas was, well, months ago.  Better late then never?  For Christmas this year my dad hosted a party for some of his friends and clients.  Since Music Man works with my dad and the event was to be held in the building we live in, my mom and I were appointed to make all arrangements for food, decorations, invites, etc.  I really wish I would have taken better pictures, but seeing as I am greatly lacking in the camera department and we were too busy getting things ready to remember to take decent picts.  So this is all we got.

Here's kind of an aerial view of the room.

The table decor.  The centerpieces are vases filled with cranberries and glittery (snowy) branches.

This does not do it justice at all, but this glittery/snowy branch was so pretty (take my word for it!).

The food (you can't really see the bar is filled with desserts and such.

 The favors...some really tastey toffee!

The dessert bar (all the cookies and candies were white).

Hot chocolate bar (regular and sugar free for the diabetics in the room...there was also hot cider).

The fixin's for the hot chocolate bar.

The entertainment :-) (You might not recognize Music Man on the left with the bushy stache and all.  My dad is on the right)

Until next year...

Seafood Boil

This weekend we had our first annual Seafood Boil here at the house.  I seriously need to sleep for a week to recover from these last few weeks (remember, just the week before my son had his Willy Wonka party and we had 18 people staying at our house!).  I'm wiped out!  Originally we had invited a group of people (30-50 people) from church, but unbeknownst to us it was announced to EVERYONE that they were invited.  If everyone would have come, that'd be like 200+ people.  Luckily since it was last minute, we had a decent turn out of about 100.  Ya, we kinda freaked out inside, freaked out a little more, then somehow with some AWESOME help, it all pulled together wonderfully!  An AWESOME couple totally pulled through for us and did SO much work...the shopping, brought in some extra bbq's, manned the bbq's and worked their tales off!  The best comment of the day for me was when he commented to me, "Sorry we ever doubted you, this is SOOO good!  I'm gonna go home and make this!"  Mission accomplished! :-)

• 4 lbs seafood (you can add whatever you want!  We tried tiger prawns, whole dungenous crab, king crab legs, clams, mussels, and a seafood medley of calamari, clams, and shrimp.  By far the biggest hits were the tiger prawns, followed by the king crab legs, then dungenous crab.  Next time we do it, I think we'll just stick to those 3)
• 2 lbs kielbasa, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 lbs red potatoes
• 6 ears sweet corn on the cob, halved, frozen or fresh (figure 1/2 to 1 cob per person)
• 1 to 2 boxes Zatarain's crab boil (you should be able to find it in the spice section of the grocery store by all of the Creole seasonings)

You'll also need:

• 1 large stock pot, 10-12 quarts (best if it has a strainer in it...makes things easier in the end)
• 1 large slotted spoon or a large metal strainer

Prepare all of your ingredients (cut anything that needs to be cut, etc so its all ready when it comes time to put them in the pot).  

Fill your pot about 1/2 full of water and bring to a boil (can do on a bbq, stove top, whatever). 

Add Zatarain's crab boil (we used the kind in a bag, so you just throw the bag in) and red potatoes.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Add sausage and sweet corn and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Add seafood and cook for about 5 minutes (or until the seafood is done, but be sure not to overcook it!).  

Poor out the water / strain the food (either with a strainer or ladle it out with a slotted spoon).  Arrange food on a serving platter or pour out onto newspaper laid out on tables.

Enjoy!

Serves about 12 (or 6 REALLY hungry guests)

Willy Wonka Party

Last weekend we celebrated my oldest sons birthday with a big birthday bash.  I'm all about themes...for Halloween we always go with a family theme, for birthdays we go with a theme.  It makes things more fun.  And I must note that since I only do a birthday party (well a big one with friends) every 3 years (1 boy a year), I go a little nutso.  I go WAY above and beyond.  I'm just crazy like that.  Its just too much fun for me!  I have to remind my husband that if I actually had money to spend, he'd better watch out!

The theme for this party was Willy Wonka.  You can say my family is a little obsessed with Willy Wonka...the original, Gene Wilder version, that is...the GOOD one.  REALLY is there even a comparison?  It's just so clever!  We've read Charlie & the Chocolate Factory for our night time reading.  My boys watch the movie pretty much once a week.  We quote it on a regular basis.  It's just so good!  Really what is NOT to love about it (other then the creepy boat ride in the tunnel)?

I just had SO much FUN putting this all together and so much MORE FUN watching all of the kids enjoy it!

Here's the invites (modeled after the Wonka bars in the movie):

I printed them out, then wrapped them around a real Scrumdiddlyumptious bar (found them at Target).  Here's what the backs looked like:

Inside each wrapper was a golden ticket (this image is B&W, but it was printed on gold paper):

I'm SOOO bummed that I don't have a good working camera right now.  So all I have to share with you are from my husband's iPhone, which only takes good pictures when in perfect sunlight!  So most all of these are blurry or grainy.  I'm REALLY bummed!

The day of the party we actually had 18 family members staying at our house.  I really wanted the "Chocolate Factory" to be a surprise to everyone, so I had to barricade the living room so no one would go in.

As the kids arrived, we had them wait downstairs for our VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY GUEST.  

Can you guess who it might be?

Why it's Mr. Willy Wonka himself!! (aka my husband)

The first order of business was to have each child sign Wonka's contract.

Cue "Pure Imagination" and now it's time to introduce the Chocolate Factory!  Sooo Exciting!

My son's expression and excitement was worth every minute of work and every late night I spent getting ready for his party!

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Chocolate Factory!

Here's a closer look:

There was Wonka Vision, with Mike TeeVee Dinners, Fizzy Lifting Drink Testing Room, Willy Wonka & an Oompa Loompa portrait, the candy man's Candy Shop, a candy tree, and the goose that lays the golden chocolate eggs!  Phew!

But what would a proper chocolate factory be without a

CHOCOLATE WATERFALL!

No other factory in the world mixes its chocolate by waterfall. 

But it's the only way if you want it just right. 

Mmm!

I don't blaim Augustus Gloop in the slightest.  I would have done the same thing in his position!

The chocolate waterfall ended in a scrumptious fountain of silky milk chocolate...

...flowing into a chocolate river scattered with delicious treats.  

My personal favorite (from the movie AND the party)...the mushroom filled with creamy goodness!  My 4-year-old was so upset when I dipped a strawberry in it.  He told me "No Mom, you're supposed to scoop it up with your hand, just like the movie!"  Mmm, wouldn't I have LOVED to do that, but somehow I refrained.

My lil' sis made the cutest Wonka cupcakes EVER!  And they were SO delicious!  You seriously would never be able to guess that they were gluten-free, dairy-free!

For activities, we played a golden chocolate goose relay (the kids raced to get the golden egg and run back to their spot first), pop Violet Beauregarde (which we didn't actually play since a few of the kids were a little more than bothered by popping balloons), 

Wonka Trivia, and creating your own Everlasting Gobstopper in the Inventing Room.

I think the biggest hit of the party was watching everyone pose as Willy Wonka & his Oompa Loompa pal!

Such a fun, fun party!  

Thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed everything.  And thanks to my son most of all for having a birthday and loving Willy Wonka as much as I do!


{Click here to download all of my Wonka printables...beware its a BIG file.}