Pink party: Make a toast to girl-power, or raise awareness for breast cancer by hosting a pink-themed party. Send out invites on scented pink paper, and ask your guests to dress in pink. Kick off with pink champagne, pink grape nectar, rose or berry smoothies. Virtually any sweet — cake, macaroons, rasogollas, coconut laddoos — can be made pink with a spot of food colouring. For hors d’oeuvres, wrap slices of parma ham around goat’s cheese and grilled figs, or, for a vegetarian version, simply grill halved figs and drizzle with honey.
Here’s a sample ‘pink’ menu to get you started: beetroot soup, pasta in a creamy tomato sauce (easy on the tomatoes!), seared tuna-fish slices and strawberry mousse for dessert. Decorate the place with pink streamers accented with silver and pink balloons, glitter and pink ribbons to underline the theme. Finish off with pink goodie-bags filled with chocolates to let the party mood linger in your guests’ minds.
Ice-cream party: What kid doesn’t love ice-cream? Throw an ice-cream party for your li’l tyke and all the kiddies in the neighbourhood. Stock up on ice lollies of all flavours, including flavours like sour kala khatta, tart raw mango or spicy jaljeera for adults. Or, go natural by freezing chunks of watermelon on bamboo skewers to make healthy ice lollies.
Add on with several flavours of ice-cream. You can also do a make-your-own-sundae party game — lay out fruit, ice-cream, dry fruit, colourful sprinkles, dried coconut and shaved chocolate, and let everyone make their dream sundae. Have ice-cream shakes to drink and sorbet or gelato for accompanying adults who might be watching their weight. Ice-cream cakes are another awesome option. Buy or bake a plain cake, slice it into two layers, sandwich the layers together with a thick layer of ice-cream et voila — a dessert your little guests won’t forget in a hurry! Turn the dining table into a snowy display with styrofoam, cotton or spray-on snow, and then decorate it with icy treats to make children’s eyes pop open in wonder.
Pyjama party: Got teenaged girls at home? Throw a pyjama party! Ask four or five girls over to make the ideal number for a party. Invite your guests to arrive in their PJs, and give them carte blanche to stay up as late as they like, talking or watching movies.
Keep munchies like chips, tacos, mixture, murukkus, cupcakes and biscuits within reach. Order in pizzas and cola or burgers, fries and soft drinks, but make sure you order lots of food, because growing girls are always hungry! Also, make sure there is dessert, since most girls have a sweet-tooth.
Get a CD or DVD of a cult horror classic or a chick-lit romance, depending on the tastes of your teen and her posse. Let the girls have the run of the TV room, while you turn in for a good night’s sleep — with earplugs.
