What You Make it...: Hawaiian Party

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Hawaiian Party Food + Recipes!

As promised, here is the menu and recipes from my Hawaiian Party that I posted about earlier in the week. I will be honest, not all of it was homemade (Schwan's anyone?) or that it is authentic Hawaiian food. Funny how you add pineapple to something and it's magically Hawaiian. But it looked cute and tasted good so we are going with it :)

Menu:
Ham/Pineapple Skewers (Recipe below)
Tempura Shrimp (from Schwan's)
Hawaiian Rice (Recipe below)
Fresh Fruit Cups ('Recipe' below)
3 Layer Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipes below)

Drinks:
Mai Tai (Recipe below)
Sex on the Beach (Recipe below)

Ham and Pineapple Skewers

Fresh Fruit Cups
(no recipe here, just cut up fruit and place in individual serving cups)

Hawaiian Rice

Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I tried to incorporate the colors into the food and drinks. The small pops of orange in the carrots, the yellow in the pineapple, and pink garnishes in the drinks do a subtle job of tying it all together. For an unexpected surprise, the cake even had color!

Mai Tai & Sex on the Beach

What is your favorite 'Hawaiian' food or drink?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pre-Hawaiian Party

This week, Dustin and I along with 2 other couples are off to Hawaii for a much needed vacation! To celebrate our upcoming time-off and get in the Hawaiian spirit, earlier in the month I threw a 'Pre-Hawaii Party'.

I stayed with a simple color scheme- pink, orange, and yellow and added typical touches like palm trees, woven place mats, and hibiscus flowers. The backdrop is loud so I wanted to keep the actual 'table cloth' neutral (it's actually a bed sheet) to allow the food to stand out. To pull in the theme, I strung a hula skirt around the table and added a few touches of greenery. Natural touches always seem to ground a theme (whether you are decorating or entertaining).