The Ultimate Potluck

Probably the easiest to prepare, and least expensive way to entertain for a meal is to host a potluck! Maybe it's because I love the suspense in not knowing just what the meal will turn out to be, but the potlucks I've hosted have ended up being some of the most fun and stress-free events I've hosted!

There are several ways to host a potluck, depending on how much luck you want to rely on, or how much control you want to have over the types of dishes that are brought. Most of my friends love to cook, so I know that when I have a completely random potluck, the dishes will be filling, unique, and something that was actually prepared homemade, rather than a simple bag of potato chips plopped on the table! (That bag of chips, though, is often quickly consumed by some very happy children, by the way!)


So, you have a range of options: from assigning each guest a specific dish (even offering to provide a recipe for that dish), to requesting a certain type of dish (such as appetizer, main dish, side dish or dessert), to having people bring dishes prepared by various local restaurants (a catered potluck of sorts!), to having everyone focus on a certain theme: Italian, vegetarian, finger-foods, soup and sandwiches, desserts only...the possibilities are limitless!

Depending on the circumstance of your group, you can have guests sign up to bring a dish, drinks, plasticware, napkins, cups, ice, etc. Or, you, as the hostess, can the necessary non-food items. As I mentioned on my post on invitations, you there is a place right on the Evite invitation where guests can sign up for what they want to bring. Even with a completely random potluck, I like to word my invitation in such a way to request that my guests bring a unique (to hopefully avoid repetition in dishes) and preferably homecooked dish.

There are several things you'll want to have available when hosing your next potluck: A table or counterspace large enough to hold all the delicious dishes that will be served, plenty of serving utensils for those who forget to bring one for their dish, and I like to keep plenty of extra napkins, plasticware and cups in case more is needed.

One more thing you'll need, (and this is especially true if you're going completely with luck in what people choose to bring!): Have a sense of humor! It is quite possible that the selection of dishes brought may not be as wonderful as you had envisioned! Perhaps everyone decided to bring the same thing, and all you have to choose from are hot dogs or more hot dogs! If you're hosting a potluck for those who would not have such a sense of humor or who would find this a turn-off, then put a little extra effort into organizing the dishes that are brought to the potluck to avoid such disasters! As for me and my great group of friends, we'd have fun anyways...after all, we're just happy to spend time together! I hope that no matter what ends up on the table at your next potluck, you and your guests will feel that way too!

Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

A Unique, Delicious Dip for Your Next Party

Sometimes when you're thinking about what to serve at a party, you want to offer something new and different, rather than turning to your time-tested recipes that you've collected through the years. I know that when I'm in that frame of mind, I'm looking for something that will be attractive, unique, and a conversation piece--in a good way! And, of course, it needs to be economical!

A wonderful, Middle Eastern dip that I came across is Roasted Garlic Hummus with homemade spiced Pita Chips. It is a great break from the usual, yet the flavors are easy to take a liking to...in all, it's some very delicious eatin'!

I've tried several Hummus recipes, but this one, with my tinkering, has become an absolute favorite. If you're not big fan of garlic, I suggest you decrease or eliminate the amount of raw garlic (but the roasted garlic is mild in flavor--it really is a wonderful addition!)

Here's how to make the pita chips (I adapted to go well with the Hummus):


12 pita bread pockets

olive oil cooking spray

1/4 t pepper

3/4 t garlic powder

1/2 t basil

1/4 t onion powder

1/4 t marjorum

1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray both sides of the pita pockets liberally with olive oil cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients. Lightly sprinkle both sides of the pita bread with herb and spice mixture.

With kitchen scissors cut the pita bread into pie shaped pieces, as big or as small as you'd like. Arrange pieces on 2 ungreased cookie sheets.

Photo Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime


Bake for about 7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Keep a close eye on the chips-they burn easily!

Instead of using olive oil cooking spray, you can use 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil and mix the spices in before drizzling on the pita bread. I just find that it's less messy for me to use the cooking spray.

Yum!....

Photo Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime


Now, for the incredible Roasted Garlic Hummus:



1 small head garlic, roasted (see below for instructions)

1 (15 oz) can cooked chickpeas, (also known as garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed with water.

1/2 cup tahini (Tahini is sesame seeds that have been ground to the consistency of peanut butter, often found at gourmet or health food stores in the peanut butter section.)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)

1 medium sized clove raw garlic, minced finely

1/4 t sea salt

1/4 cup water

extra virgin olive oil, paprika, and dry parsley for garnish

Photo Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roast the head of garlic by slicing off the top 1/3 of the head, place in small oven-proof container, and add water to cover bottom 1/3 of garlic head. Drizzle garlic with a little extra virgin olive oil and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Cool.



Photo Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Add all ingredients, except garnishes, to a food processor and process until very smooth (2-3 minutes). If necessary, add a tiny bit more water to make a dipable consistency. Place in serving bowl and top with extra virgin olive oil, paprika and parsley. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve

Photo Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Colorful and delicious!

Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Invitations

Have you noticed in the past few years how the internet has become so central to most of our lives? Most everyone I know has an email address and internet access. So, for your next party, why not utilize this medium for sending out inviations, all for free?

Used to, I would design my own invitations on a word processor and e-mail the invitations myself. But, recently I received in my inbox an invitation to an event that had been sent from a free invitation service online. When I R.S.V.P.'d to the event by going to the link that was on the invitation, I could see who all was invited, who had replied and comments they had made about the upcoming party. There was even a link to get driving directions: everything I needed to know was all right there!

So, for the next event that I hosted, I decided to use Evite's free service myself. I chose a design for the invitation from among a good selection, and filled out the details of the party. The website took care of e-mailing out the invitation on the day I specified and kept track for me who had viewed their invitation, who had R.S.V.P'd, and any comments people made. You can even have a place for people to sign up to volunteer to bring something to the party. You can select to send a reminder e-mail about the party as many days in advance as you choose, and after the party, you can upload photos to share with those who were invited.

Checking at the Evite website to see who has viewed your invitation is very important because it is possible that the invitation could be sent to someone's spam folder and they may never see it. This very thing happened to me. I noticed there was one couple on my list that had not viewed their invitation, so I called them to tell them about the party and mentioned the invitation that had been e-mailed. For this reason, and just because for some events it's probably more appropriate to send a tangible invitation through the mail, I personally will limit my use of Evite to more informal type events.

For someone who is always on the lookout for a good quality bargain I can use in intertaining (and you can't get a better bargain than free!) I think this is a great find! Maybe you'll want to try this yourself for your next event!

Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

To Buy and Ice Cream Cake...Or Not?

A favorite dessert for entertaining, especially birthdays, is ice cream cake. And are they expensive! An ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins that serves 8-12 people costs around $26! That can eat up your entertaining budget in a hurry! But, did you know how easy it is to make an ice cream cake yourself? It will cost you a fraction of the price of a storebought one, and it really isn't difficult to do!

photo copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Here's what you'll need to make an Ice Cream Cake:


1 box cake mix, any flavor (don't forget eggs and oil to make the mix!)

1/2 gallon ice cream, any flavor that coordinates with the cake mix

5-6 scoops vanilla ice cream (or other flavor you'd like for the "frosting")

1 container prepackaged or homemade frosting, any coordinating flavor to decorate cake




Before you start, make sure you have freezer space for the cake!

Cook cake according to package directions in 8 or 9 inch pans. (Depending on how you make this, you may have a layer of cake left over--See below)

Cool cakes completely, level the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife, then put the cake or cakes in the freezer. (See below)

Set out the 1/2 gallon of ice cream to soften enough to easily scoop out.

Scoop and pack the ice cream into one of the clean cake pans used to bake the cake. (Leave about 3/4 inch space at top of pan to later place the cake on top.) Use a spoon warmed in water to smooth and level the ice cream.

Place the pan with ice cream into freezer.

When cake and ice cream are frozen solid, remove from freezer. Run a hot spoon over top of ice cream to slightly melt it, then set one layer of cake on top of the ice cream. (Cake will be taller than the pan.) Return to freezer.

Set out, in a bowl, 5-6 scoops of vanilla ice cream to soften (or whatever flavor you're using for the "frosting"). Stir occasionally until it is a spreadable consistency, then place in refrigerator.

Put a few inches of hot water in the sink, remove cake and ice cream pan from freezer. Hold the bottom of the pan in the water for just a few seconds, remove from water, and invert the cake and ice cream onto a cake plate. Return to freezer to refreeze a few minutes.

Remove cake plate with cake and ice cream from freezer. Quickly frost with the softened vanilla ice cream, and return to freezer to freeze, about 30 minutes.

Prepare icing decorating bag and tips with the storebought or homemade frosting. Remove "frosted" cake from freezer, and decorate. Pipe boarders, words, or whatever you'd like. You may need to occasionally put the ice cream cake back in the freezer for a few minutes while decorating, to keep the ice cream from melting too much. Keep cake frozen until about 20 minutes before serving, when you should set it out to soften slightly.

Note: You can use the second layer of cake to place on top of the ice cream once the first layer of cake and ice cream are on the cake plate. If you do this, though, I recommend you frost the ice cream cake with actual frosting, rather than softened vanilla ice cream, as you would a regular cake. You'll be able to feed more people this way. Again, you may have to return the cake to the freezer for a few minutes to re-freeze while decorating. I added an extra layer of cake as frosted with regular frosting in this cake:

photo copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

You can see that the flavor combinations are limitless! Our favorite is chocolate cake with Cold Stone Creamery's Cake Batter ice cream and chocolate frosting. Mmmmm!

Let us know what kind of ice cream cake YOU make! Email me a picture and I'll post it here!


Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

A Quick Decorative Idea for Any Occasion

Entertaining On A Dime was created to give you creative ideas for entertaining on a budget. Here's an idea I came up with recently, while planning and hosting a going-away party for some friends. You can custom fit this simple decorative idea to any event you might host and you'll only need your computer, a printer and a few pieces of cardstock to create it! Here's what I made:

For my event, our friends were moving away, so I thought it would be a nice touch to include quotes about friendship on cardstock. I found the quotes on the internet. For this particular topic of friendship, I searched for quotes on long distance friendships, and friendship in general. One particular website helpful in finding quotes is Quoteland.com. It has a huge number of quotes all arranged by topic. You can find quotes for virtually any occasion if you do a good internet search!

On your word processor, choose a nice font to match the mood of your gathering, and print the card at the bottom of the page, which will allow you to fold the paper in half to sit upright on the table. Trim the sides to the appropriate size. You can also add images, a fancy border, glue on embellishments...be as fancy and creative as you want!

My event was a pot-luck, so I placed my cards on the dining tables. You can place your cards anywhere you think is appropriate...even on the bathroom counter beside a nice candle!

It's always a plus to add little details, like quote cards, to help set the mood of your occasion. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this? Please leave us a comment and let us about your great ideas!

Copyright 2008 Entertaining On A Dime

Entertaining- The Spice of Life!

It is a rare few who don't enjoy the company of a good friend or group of friends! Whether it be a special occasion, or no occasion at all, the memories created can last a lifetime!

But, entertaining can be expensive! I very much enjoy planning and hosting company in our home and away, and in doing so I've discovered some budget-friendly, simple, creative ideas to share with you for your next occasion! Hospitality doesn't have to be expensive!