Dear CN,
My, what a fabulous milestone party you are going to give!! I just love the expression, "older than dirt", don't you? For a party like this, one must think garden and flowers and dirt and all the fun things that go with it!
You can make a "garden motiff" cake with worms in dirt... Using devils food cake, chocolate pudding, and crushed Oreo cookies all mixed into a large glass punch bowl. Mix all of this to a big mess (it looks like a huge clump of mud). Put it in a clear bowl and used a toothpick to push gummy worms and sour bugs into the cake. Add some more on top (push them into the mud a little to make them look like they are crawling out of it). If you need an exact recipe, let me know and I will be happy to post it for you.
All around the cake, on the tabletop, place apples with worms in them. This is how to do it: Break toothpicks in half and dip them in lemon juice. Then put a half of a gummy worm on one half and stick the other half into the apple. It will look just like worms are coming out of the apples.
Here are some great appetizer ideas...
Kebabs
Kebabs are a great way to serve a little something for everyone. Make small, individual skewers of chicken or beef, and serve with peanut or horseradish sauces. You can also ask your butcher at the grocer to make the kebabs for you for grilling out doors. SImply marinate them overnight using an entire large bottle of Italian Salad Dressing....
A nice complement for veggie kebabs is a dill dip. Alternate red and white tortellini, and serve with red or white sauce for dipping.
Another idea is to toss cooked tortellini in taco seasoning and serve with salsa for a Tex-Mex version.
Other Ideas for hors d'oeuvres:
Tortilla pinwheels are also a quick, easy tasty and colorful hors d'oeuvre. Mix cream cheese, small can of diced jalapeno peppers (drained) and a packet of taco seasoning. Spread mixture on room-temperature tortilla, and roll up. Slice into half-inch sections. Place a toothpick through each section, and serve with salsa and sour cream. Another option is to spread plain cream cheese, salmon or ham, chopped red pepper, scallions and black olives.
Stuffed mushroom caps are an elegant and simple addition to any buffet. Simply remove mushroom stems, blend in food processor with garlic, bread crumbs, melted butter and some onion, then use a cookie scoop to dab onto mushroom caps. Broil for five minutes.
Blend equal parts cream and blue cheeses, and put in pastry pouch. Pipe onto apple and pear wedges, and top with crushed walnuts. Pea pods make a pretty addition to the platter, but take additional time to open and fill.
Chilled marinated vegetables are an easy appetizer that may be prepared in advance. Asparagus spears, pearl onions, spears of zucchini and eggplant work especially well. Blanch the vegetables and marinate in your favorite vinaigrette overnight. Remove from marinade and broil or grill until slightly tender. Chill in refrigerator until time to serve.
Crostini is a multifaceted addition to your table that can be served with a variety of dips/toppings. Crush a clove of garlic in 1/2 cup olive oil. Slice French bread into 1/4-inch slices, place on a baking sheet and brush lightly with garlic/olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are lightly browned and centers are crisp (approximately 10 minutes). Serve with olive spread, chopped tomatoes and basil or humus.
Cut summer squash and zucchini into one -inch sections, and scoop out the center with a melon baller. Place dollops of chicken or salmon salad in the center.
Slice open Turkish apricots and dollop with walnut cream cheese.
Make toast cups with bread that needs to be used. Cut off crust, form in muffin tin and place in oven until crisp. Fill with chopped, sauteed mushrooms and sour cream.
Here is a great idea for place settings for the table. The centerpiece of the table should be filled with assorted potted plants and flowers, potting tools, watering cans, paper butterflies and bees, dragonflies, etc....Place packets of flower seeds, which cost about 50 cents, inside a small terra-cotta pot. Tie a bow around the pot and put at each guest's place setting. They can take these home afterwards as paraty favors!
Use several wheelbarrows lined in plastic and fill them up with ice so you can stick all your bottled and canned drinks in there.
Motif: Flowers, wheelbarrel, gardening tools, watering cans, flower pots, pails, shovels, parasols, market umbrellas, bees, ladybugs, butterflies, dragonflies, ants, patio lights, topiaries, picket fence, trellis.
Garden Party Ideas
Garden Party Invitations
Purchase small clay pots and write the party details on craft foam that you have cut into a flower shape. Have the flower sticking out of the pot by a dowel rod surrounded with green shredded tissue. You may need to hand deliver these - but well worth the extra work!
Buy several flower seed packets. Type up your party details on paper and glue it to the packets being careful not to cover up the flower's picture!
Try these ideas for a unique tabletop ideas:
Floral partyware or paper goods with a butterfly, ladybug or jitterbug pattern will set the tone for your garden party.
Pin wide ribbon around the base of several sheets of wheatgrass (available at health food stores) and use as a runner down the center of your table. Tuck a flower (daisy, sunflowers) inside a water tubes, stick water tubes down into the wheatgrass to create a garden-themed tabletop.
Take plain glass cylinders & line the inside of the cylinder with paper, cover the outside of the glass cylinders with stickers (dots, geometric shapes, bees, butterflies & etc.). Add an oasis cage to the top of the cylinder (a size that fits down into the top of the cylinder) to create a funky vase for masses of carnations. Just cover the oasis cage with carnations (cut the flower stems to about 2" to 3" long and poke them down in the foam). Tie feathers together with wire, top each arrangement with the feathers for a whimsical touch.
Dress tables with centerpieces of whimsical wig forms - covered in natural materials such as rice paper, lentils and legumes - crown each head with a hat made from springtime blossom such as roses, daisies and snapdragons. In order to create the centerpieces - "The Ladies" as we call them- use white Styrofoam heads covered in glue and rolled in different edible materials, including lentils and split peas. Add a hat trimmed with leaves and buds or cover the head with yellow and white daisies to resemble a hat. Make the heads appear to float above the tables, rather than rest on top of them. To do this plant each head in a box of green wheat grass using a wooden dowel stake, which is then hidden among the blades of grass. To enhance the natural design, cover tables in a neutral burlap linen that don't compete with the heads. Keep your table design simple because you really want the heads to "pop". Using square shaped tables will reinforce this design. Even your dessert can become part of your hat-happy theme, ask your caterer to make caramel spun-sugar "hats," decked out with a strawberry, leaf and flower garnish.
Use glass plates (no pattern on them). You will need 2 plates for each place setting. One one plate, create a design using fresh or freeze dried pansies & leaves. Cover the design with the second clear plate. For an inexpensive alternative use clear plastic plates.
Garden Party Decorations
Now is the perfect time to host an "older than Dirt" Garden party because all the flower bulbs are in full bloom! Be sure to use them in your decorating as much as possible - cut some and bring them into your house. Place them in various size vases and have some potted flowers as well for big impact. You don't want to bring those pesky live bugs in your house though, so here are some cute - but stationary critters that can really add pizzazz to your decorations!
Start your decorating by hanging a large flower paper cardboard on the wall. Copy a picture of the Guest of Honor and glue it in the center.
Visit your local Tuesday Morning or Costco or Party Supermarket for bloom invitations, tableware, cute topiaries, vases, small metal pails & lots more to create an enchanting garden decor. Also, Target is another great place for these types of goods at good prices!
Mylar balloons are great to tie on the backs of chairs, or bunch together and use as a centerpiece on your tables. These bee, and butterfly balloons can be combined for an adorable collection!
Float away on gossamer wings to an enchanted garden with pretty carboard butterflies. Use them to decorate your garden party. The local party supermarket and also a local teacher's supply store have these...
Create your own enchanted garden, full of sparkling butterflies and beautiful flowers! Lots of potted impatians and vases of sunflowers add charm!
If you have a main buffet table, set up a trellis behind it. Take Ivy Garland and weave it in and out of the trellis. You could also add some fresh flowers too.
On your buffet table, a cute accent on one end of a long table is to place a White Lace Umbrella with fresh flowers placed around it. Add some checked ribbon in your color scheme to finish off the look. You could even place a couple of the decorative garden butterflies mentioned earlier on the top of the umbrella.
Create your own giant fun flowers out of latex Balloons! Another option is to purchase a few dowel rods at your local hardware store and cut them to various lengths. Paint the rods green and attach them to a wood base. Blow up five balloons in the same color and two in another coordinating color. Using pipe cleaners, attach the five balloons to the dowel rod in a circular fashion. Place the other two balloons on either side of the "flower" in the middle. These look like big daisies and are inexpensive but give a huge impact! Place them in your entryway in flower pots & place a wheelbarrel next to them. Add some gardening tools to the wheelbarrel.
Here are a few favor ideas that go along with the "Older than Dirt" garden theme:
Serve punch or lemonade from a well-washed watering can! Tie a floral ribbon around the handle to coordinate it with your décor.
If you are serving a light meal, add an adorable caterpillar sandwich to your tabletop garden! Make a variety of sandwiches (ham & cheese, chicken salad, peanut butter & jelly) on mini buns or rolls, and arrange them on a tray in a train (to look like a caterpillar). Add little tiny carrot and celery sticks for the legs. Complete the edible bug using baby tomatoes or green olives, stuck with toothpicks into the front sandwich for the eyes.
Hope you can use these ideas for your party!!
