Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Be Nice Dice! It's party time...

BUNKO NIGHT 2011

By: Laura

As a new mom, it's sometimes (wait, always) hard to find the time to get away for the evening and have some fun with the ladies.  I'm here to tell you, though, it's a must do, at least once in a while.  In order to keep from going crazy, I'm lucky enough to be in a Bunko group here in Norfolk that meets once a month.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the game of Bunko, here's the low down.  Basically, it's an easy dice game that anyone can play, including kids.  So, it's perfect for a group of chatty women who would rather talk than play a game anyway. (we just need some excuse to leave the house, not simply, "I'm going to talk with my gal pals for two hours or so, see you later, hubby.")

For that reason, when Bunko night rolls around, I'm kissing Ella and Derek goodbye and I'm out the door in two minutes flat.  This month, though, I was host of Bunko night, which means I had people heading to my crib.  In that case, preparations were in order.  Check out the appetizer menu as well as the decor chosen for the party.

To begin,  I decided to make some pom poms to hang over the buffet.  Leslie made some cute ones for her wedding last year to hang at her wedding reception.  She and mom got pretty good at folding and fluffing.  Here are the easy steps to follow on how to make one, or you can go to the Martha Stewart website to find more pictures and detailed directions.

First, fold a bunch of tissue paper pieces (7-10) accordion style .  Look at that excellent folding technique!  


Once your pieces are folded then trace a a circular pattern at the edge of the paper.  (you can do points as well, depending on the look you want.)

Next, use scissors or an exacto knife to cut your pattern.

Before fluffing, tie a piece of wire around the middle of the tissue paper folds....then get fluffing.  Doesn't my Mom look fantastic? No poses for her.  She just looks pleasant when crafting.

And there you have the finished product.  Cute!


Now, hang them where you like.  Too bad this picture stinks!!!  I didn't realize.
 And on the table there are my little buffet bites.  I'll give you a closer look in the next few pictures.   

Here is the fruit dish.  So easy and so delicious. 


Followed by pizza dip with crisp french bread to spread it over.  This recipe is so easy.  I found it here.

Then there were the taco bites, which were too easy, and very delicious.  Check out the simple recipe here.
And, of course, the desert tray with s'more bars and scotcheroos.  The s'more bars are a bit time consuming to make, but they are so worth it.  Scotcheroos, on the other hand are super speedy to make and to die for.  The recipe is below.

And there you have it, a delicious bunko buffet.


This party was so simple to host because I chose easy to make items that were delicious to munch on, so go ahead and have a party, it doesn't have to involve bunko (but it would be fun), just be sure to make the menu a breeze so you can have some fun. 

The test nesters love having get togethers. What have you been up to lately? Any parties or summer barbecues? Let us know what was on your menu or what you plan to make.  We'd love to hear about it. 

Note: My mom also made homemade lemonade for the party, which was awesome, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but check out a post of Leslie's to see how it looks and how to make it. 

Scotcheroos

Recipe courtesy of my Mom

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
6 cups of rice crispies
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of butterscotch chocolate chips

In a sauce pan bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil.  Take the mixture off of the heat and stir in the peanut butter until it is melted.  Add the rice crispies and stir until well mixed.  Pat them into a 9 by 13 pan.  For the topping, melt the semi-sweet and butterscotch chocolate chips in the microwave one minute at a time, stirring after each minute.  After the chips are melted, spread them over the rice crispy mix.  Let the scotcheroos harden and then eat up.  How easy is that? 


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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Be Nice Dice! It's party time...

BUNKO NIGHT 2011

By: Laura

As a new mom, it's sometimes (wait, always) hard to find the time to get away for the evening and have some fun with the ladies.  I'm here to tell you, though, it's a must do, at least once in a while.  In order to keep from going crazy, I'm lucky enough to be in a Bunko group here in Norfolk that meets once a month.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the game of Bunko, here's the low down.  Basically, it's an easy dice game that anyone can play, including kids.  So, it's perfect for a group of chatty women who would rather talk than play a game anyway. (we just need some excuse to leave the house, not simply, "I'm going to talk with my gal pals for two hours or so, see you later, hubby.")

For that reason, when Bunko night rolls around, I'm kissing Ella and Derek goodbye and I'm out the door in two minutes flat.  This month, though, I was host of Bunko night, which means I had people heading to my crib.  In that case, preparations were in order.  Check out the appetizer menu as well as the decor chosen for the party.

To begin,  I decided to make some pom poms to hang over the buffet.  Leslie made some cute ones for her wedding last year to hang at her wedding reception.  She and mom got pretty good at folding and fluffing.  Here are the easy steps to follow on how to make one, or you can go to the Martha Stewart website to find more pictures and detailed directions.

First, fold a bunch of tissue paper pieces (7-10) accordion style .  Look at that excellent folding technique!  


Once your pieces are folded then trace a a circular pattern at the edge of the paper.  (you can do points as well, depending on the look you want.)

Next, use scissors or an exacto knife to cut your pattern.

Before fluffing, tie a piece of wire around the middle of the tissue paper folds....then get fluffing.  Doesn't my Mom look fantastic? No poses for her.  She just looks pleasant when crafting.

And there you have the finished product.  Cute!


Now, hang them where you like.  Too bad this picture stinks!!!  I didn't realize.
 And on the table there are my little buffet bites.  I'll give you a closer look in the next few pictures.   

Here is the fruit dish.  So easy and so delicious. 


Followed by pizza dip with crisp french bread to spread it over.  This recipe is so easy.  I found it here.

Then there were the taco bites, which were too easy, and very delicious.  Check out the simple recipe here.
And, of course, the desert tray with s'more bars and scotcheroos.  The s'more bars are a bit time consuming to make, but they are so worth it.  Scotcheroos, on the other hand are super speedy to make and to die for.  The recipe is below.

And there you have it, a delicious bunko buffet.


This party was so simple to host because I chose easy to make items that were delicious to munch on, so go ahead and have a party, it doesn't have to involve bunko (but it would be fun), just be sure to make the menu a breeze so you can have some fun. 

The test nesters love having get togethers. What have you been up to lately? Any parties or summer barbecues? Let us know what was on your menu or what you plan to make.  We'd love to hear about it. 

Note: My mom also made homemade lemonade for the party, which was awesome, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but check out a post of Leslie's to see how it looks and how to make it. 

Scotcheroos

Recipe courtesy of my Mom

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
6 cups of rice crispies
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of butterscotch chocolate chips

In a sauce pan bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil.  Take the mixture off of the heat and stir in the peanut butter until it is melted.  Add the rice crispies and stir until well mixed.  Pat them into a 9 by 13 pan.  For the topping, melt the semi-sweet and butterscotch chocolate chips in the microwave one minute at a time, stirring after each minute.  After the chips are melted, spread them over the rice crispy mix.  Let the scotcheroos harden and then eat up.  How easy is that? 


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