big game = big prizes

Every year about this time, there's one question that you just can't escape: Are you ready for some football?

We have another question: Wanna watch the Super Bowl® on a brand-spankin'-new HDTV? Enter our Big Game Giveaway for a chance to win a 50-inch HDTV, food and drinks to stock your party AND a trip to see your favorite NFL team play next season.

To win, you just need to send an Evite invitation for your Super Bowl® party no later than January 23. Add football@evite.com to your guest list, and you're entered.

Find out more about the rules and prizes

Recipe for Pigs in Blankets Tasting Party

As you round up your buddies to watch the Super Bowl^®, don’t forget the second most important part of football: the snacks. What better way to celebrate the pigskin than with a pigs in blankets tasting party?

As any fan of the biscuit dog will tell you, when comfort food and finger food converge, magical things happen. This much-loved combo of sausage wrapped in dough is the ultimate low-maintenance appetizer, and also a perfect blank slate for some imaginative tweaking. I decided to put different spins on them, using a variety of toppings, and after a rigorous taste test (conducted by myself, my husband Eric and my friend Shaighn), we came up with some tasty variations:

• Relish and caramelized onions: The winner!
• Jalapeño and grated cheddar: A close contender for the top spot.
• Pepperoncini and bacon; pepperoncini and Dijon; peppernocini and caramelized onions: The verdict is anything with pepperoncini is good.
• Caramelized onions and chopped shiitake mushrooms: Earthy and delicious, but caramelized onions are also delish by themselves.
• Mustard and relish: We tried hot and sweet mustard on a variety of dogs, but found it was too sweet. Dijon is the way to go.
• Avocado, bacon and cheddar: This was the heaviest one of the bunch — good but greasy.
• Chutney and cream cheese: This got mixed reviews because some detected an aftertaste, but it was good enough to make the cut.
• Black olive tapenade and cream cheese: Better than chutney and cream cheese.
• Black olive tapenade and roasted red bell pepper: Delicious.

Read on for the recipe...

do me a favor

Like this design? Create an Evite invitation with this image.

Reader Annie says, “I would love some ideas for great party favors for children ages 3 to 8.”

Well, you’re in luck! My sister, and kids’-party touchstone, has an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old (and a 1-year-old and another due at the end of the month). Needless to say, she’s seen her share of party favors and has your demo nailed. Here are some ideas she passed along as to what she’s seen and her kids have loved:

• Favors that go with the party’s theme: At an all-Sponge-Bob bash, parents gave the children little bags of sponge capsules. Apparently, they’re still a hit — my nieces couldn’t wait to toss them in the sink and watch them morph. Likewise, if you’re throwing a pirate-themed party, send the kids home with bags of booty in the form of foil-wrapped chocolate coins. Or for a princess theme, hand out sparkly scepters.
• Craft projects: Multitask by planning a party activity where the children make their own party favors. They can string leis, color Shrinky Dinks, decorate sugar cookies... the possibilities are endless. For my 8-year-old niece’s birthday, each kid got to decorate a foam visor with his or her name on it. Seriously, these were the Hannah Montana of party favors — the kids went nuts for them.
• Anything that flashes, bounces or makes noise: When in doubt, stick with the classics. Toys like kazoos, mini flashlights and punch balls are popular for a reason — kids love them! So if you’re strapped for time or short on cash, head to a party supply and go with what you know.

To make sure your favors go off without a hitch, remember to keep them gender-neutral (unless it’s a no-boys/girls-allowed shindig) and as identical as possible so you won’t have to deal with drama of favor envy.

question of the week: winter wasteland?

It's cold. It's dark. And life can seem dreary for those of us not lazing on a beach somewhere. Is the season putting you into hibernation mode? Fight it! There are parties to be thrown, movies to be seen, hours to be made happy, playdates to be planned, networks to be expanded, memories to be made.

Share your thoughts on the season in the poll below, and add a comment about how you and your friends and family make it through the cold winter months.

more at twiigs.com...

we heart cupcakes

Okay, we love cupcakes. We really love cupcakes. Now we can show how deep is our love by making heart-shaped cuppies with this awesome pan from Kitchen Krafts.

This would be perfect for Valentine's Day, as well as birthdays, anniversaries, even romantic-comedy movie nights. Best of all, if someone compliments you (and they will), you can get all melodramatic and tell them to "Eat your heart out."

dinner at my place

Reader Sally asks, "I would like to bump up my social life by inviting people, friends, contacts to my house for various food events. A former chef, teacher, now retired and stuck out in the hills of South Natick, I need to jump-start some goals and desires. Can you help me?"

Sure, Sally! Personally, if I lived in South Natick (Massachusetts, right?) and knew a former chef and teacher, I would happily climb those hills if she invited me over to teach me some of her cooking tricks — like knife skills, saving a dish gone wrong or creating restaurant-quality dishes (is it really all about adding butter to everything?).

Here are more ways to get your social life cookin':

• Tasting party. We tell you how to plan an evening devouring and discussing your favorite indulgences, like chocolate, honey, cheese, wine, beer, tea, apples, cured meats, olive oil or balsamic vinegar.
• Dinner club. Dinner clubs are the new book groups. Invite over a few foodie friends to try out new recipes, practice challenging techniques, taste gourmet foods or explore ethnic cuisines.
• Monthly cake night. Inspired by Martha's Year of Cakes, a friend of mine hosted a monthly event where she made one of these gorgeous, challenging cakes, and we brought savory dishes to complement it. The story behind the making of each cake was as memorable as the cake itself.
• Progressive dinner party. If you have like-minded friends who live nearby, share the cooking and cleanup by moving houses after each course. This low-stress party is a good way to ease entertaining-phobic friends in to hosting their own events.

Infused wine recipes

After those busy holidays, there’s nothing more therapeutic than kicking back with a big glass of wine — especially if it’s infused with herbs. Herbs and spices add an unexpected zing, lending bright flavors that turn your regular glass o’ grapes into something special. While herbal wine may sound like a trendy mojito-gone-wrong, these concoctions date back hundreds of years in Europe and are wildly popular today in Italy. Many believe that herbal wines have health-promoting properties and help with digestion.

Whether truly tonic or not, one thing is for sure: All of the variations I tried were smooth and sippable, and super easy for the home mixologist to whip up, making it a great (and unique) hostess present. Another added bonus: It makes cheap wine taste better. Let’s drink to that!

Read on for the recipes...

it's a date

Like this design? Create an Evite invitation with this image.

So you’re having a party, and you’ve decided to invite your friends using Evite. (You’re clearly a genius.) If you’re like me, deciding on a date that works for everyone is perhaps the most harrowing part of the whole party-planning process. Well, did you know that you can throw out a few dates for your guests to choose from right on your invitation? Oh yeah, we thought of everything.

Call it a shameless plug if you will, but we want to make sure you know just how useful your Evite invitations can be. Like Christmas all over again, huh?

Read on to see how easy it is...

question of the week: party fouls

We all have strong feelings about how other people behave — and misbehave — at parties and other social events. Here's your chance to tell the world what you think. Take our poll and rant away in the comments.

And hey, how do you like this new blog feature, the question of the week? Yeah, it's one of our New Year's resolutions. Each Monday we'll post a new party-related question to find out what you're digging and dreading.

twiigs.com...

your turn: dream dinner party

Like this design? Create an Evite invitation with this image.

Put me on a long plane ride or car trip, and my mind will wander to which famous people I would invite to a fantasy dinner party. The rules are simple: It's a table of eight, four men and four women (yourself included), and you can pick any well-known person living or dead at any time in their life (like young Elvis or Woody Allen circa Annie Hall).

It's a fun game anybody can play: Smartypants can choose intellectual idols like Einstein or Ben Franklin, and the rest of us can select our favorite actors and musicians, childhood crushes and guilty pleasures (more wine, Beckham?).

If you're the competitive sort, make the game more challenging by assigning boy/girl seats to each person and adding the rule that you have to come up with realistic conversation topics for each guest and the people seated on either side of them. Warning: This can get heated. A friend and I once spent four hours in a Nissan hatchback debating seating arrangements and saying things in all seriousness like, "No way, Crispin Glover and Kate Winslet would not be able to carry on a non-awkward conversation. Drew Barrymore, maybe. I'll give you Drew only if you let me put Jon Stewart next to Lucille Ball."

My guest list changes often, but I tend to seat myself next to people like Peter Sellers, Richard Dawson (the Match Game years) and Eddie Izzard, men who I think will tell saucy stories and keep my wine glass full. Cate Blanchett and David Bowie make frequent appearances at my table, and recent invitees include Anthony Bourdain, Amy Poehler, David Sedaris and craft queen Vickie Howell.

Who would you invite to your celebrity dinner party? Comment below.... And no, you don't have to choose all 7 celebs to join your table, unless you're as obsessive about these kinds of things as I am.