Need dinner party theme idea!!!

[PRINCESS VIJA]

We live in a new neighborhood and we have gotten together with some couples and round robin a dinner. This month is our turn. So far we have had grilled out burgers/hot dogs.... last month was mexican..... any ideas for what we can do? I was thinking halloween type, but the adults do not want to dress up, and the kids (except mine) are all under 2 so I don't know if a halloween type theme is worth it. HELP!!!!!!

 

[mtemm]

you could always do fall festival kind of theme...lots of apples, gourds, pumpkins...you could make soups and chili and cornbread, that kind of thing. apple pie/crisp for dessert. yum.

 

[snowball22]

Football theme
-crock pot stew
-sloppy joes
-wings
-coctail wienies
-chips and dip
-football cookies

German fest theme
-suasage dish
-noodle dish
-creme puffs
-fruit dish

Fall Harvest/Autumn theme
-stew
-baked apples
-baked squash
-waldorf salad
-banana or pumpkin bread

Check the food channel web site for some good recipes. Have fun.

 

[Papa Deuce]

We once did a "Bring Your Own Ethnicty" party..... Quite interesting as people brought stuff we had NEVER even known existed before.

 

[KelNottAt]

You don't mention when the dinner is scheduled, but, if it's during the World Series, why not a menu of items from the cities that are playing:

Chicago or Anaheim
Houston or St. Louis

I don't know what those cities are famous for, but there's got to be something.

 

[preb]

Fondue is always fun with a group!

 

[disykat]

I had a dinner party close to Halloween a few years ago. I'm not into Halloween, but wanted to encorporate the decor a bit. I took a pumpkin, carved star shapes in it (I bought a kit), stuck a candle in and used it for a centerpiece. I have a dark green tablecloth and used my good dishes. It was really nice. We just stuck to slightly glammed up steak, potatoes etc. with cappicino parfaits for dessert.

 

[vacanut]

I'd make it an italian theme.

Antipasto platter
Baked ziti and lasagna
salad
garlic bread


Make an apple pie and halloween cut out cookies.

Maybe throw mac and cheese in the crock pot for the kids.

 

[puffkin]

How about an Oktoberfest (German) theme. Beer for the adults, cider for the kids or non-drinkers. Lots of fun german foods and desserts.

 

[antmaril]

I had a casual Italian themed dinner party several years ago. I bought a red checked tablecloth and served Chianti in short juice glasses. As I recall, I bought those red glass candle holders that remind me of a citronella candle. I served minestrone soup, antipasto salad, lasagna, garlic bread and cannolis for dessert. I had Italian music playing when my guests arrived. I even had red, green and white (colors of the Italian flag) balloons attached to our mailbox.

Everything looked great, food was good and my guests were impressed.

 

[scoutsmom99]

What about an orient/far east themed party? There are lots of great apps you could do for that: wontons, potstickers, chicken satay, egg rolls, etc. Main course you could do beef with broccolli, a stir fry, pad thai, fried rice, lemon chicken, etc.

 

[greenyskp]

50's cocktail dinner party. Dress the part.

 

[dkzbdc]

My DH family does a Halloween dinner in October with dinner in a pumpkin (kind of like a goulash), rolls shaped like pumpkins, etc.. We dont dress up but it's kind of fun.
We also have a ton of little ones in his family, so my MIL has done a Mini-night.
We have mini-hamburgers, corndogs, tacos, hot wings... It's not high class eating but kind of fun. My FIL made a pretty extensive mini-golf course in the front room. The kids loved it and still talk about the night.
With it being World Series time and football season you could have a tail-gate dinner- I love tail-gating food but that just me.
How about a movie night- popcorn, nachos, all the stuff you can get at a movie. Sounds fun no matter what you chose!

 

[korzmom]

sounds like a fun neighborhood..i liked many of the suggestions,let us know what you decided. now I'm hungry.