a semi authentic st. paddy day big-party spread

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There’s a St. Patrick’s Day party that’s legendary around these parts (i.e., Los Angeles). It’s a party filled with corned beef, boiled cabbage, Guinness and more. Green-clothed revelers come from miles away, even as far as the Valley. Cupcakes are involved.

It is Brett’s St. Patrick’s Day party; it has a dinner spread that feeds 50 people and requires no cooking skills beyond an ability to boil water; and it eliminates the walking and waiting for drinks involved in a St. Paddy’s Day pub crawl. Here’s Brett's advice on throwing your own:

chilly idol

Edy's (aka Dreyer's to those of us in the western part of the country) makes American Idol-themed ice cream. Did we know about this? Is there any question about what to serve at your finale viewing party?

The flavors, which are all light, are:

• Cheesecake Diva (cheesecake-flavored ice cream with brownie pieces and fudge swirl)
• Cookies 'n Dreamz (chocolate ice cream with chocolate sandwich pieces)
• Mint Karaoke Cookie (mint ice cream with chocolate sandwich cookie pieces)
• Most Orange-inal (vanilla ice cream with an orange sherbet swirl)
• One Split Wonder (banana ice cream with fruit and fudge swirl)
• Take the Cake (yellow cake-flavored ice cream with frosting swirl and multicolored sprinkles — thanks to commenter Laura for letting us know about this flavor. Yum!)

They're apparently only available January through May, so get to scooping now.

This product tie-in is not quite as awesome as my Donny & Marie magic microphone, but I vote yay nonetheless.

make your own Shamrock Shakes

After a tortuous hiatus last year, my local Mickey D’s came to their senses and decided to bring back the Shamrock Shake, just in time for St. Paddy’s Day. But for some of us, access to this minty, frosty delight for a limited time only is simply not good enough. Plus, the Shamrock Shake could strangely and suddenly disappear again, and could you live with that?

Not to fear, Shamrock Shake-lovers, here’s a recipe to enjoy at home. Full disclosure: This tastes a little like mint-chip ice cream, another thing I lived for as a kid. This version is extra thick; to thin it out, just add more milk.

Shamrock Shake

• 3 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 10 drops green food coloring

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Serves 2.

taking the cake

Oh, Eviters, you amaze me. Today's stroll through blogville turned up a dessert blog called Frosted Garden, where Steph shares her masterful baking and decorating skills. The gorgeous cupcakes above are reason enough to feature her blog here, but get THIS: She designed these cupcakes to match the Evite invitation for this party! (This is the invitation design.) How cool is that?

Head to Frosted Garden for more about these luscious red velvet and milk chocolate cupcakes (and the color-coordinated sugar cookies) as well as her other whimsical, spectacular creations.

My faves so far: The Rubik's Cube cake for an '80s party! A Wii cake and an edible Wii-Mote for her teen brother's birthday! A pink treasure chest cake that would be the hit of a pirate party or any girlie event, and that I really, really want someone to make for me. And be sure not to miss the outrageous turkey-shaped cake that would delight vegetarians (and turkeys) at Thanksgiving.

You rule, Steph! Can't wait to see what you cook up next.

question of the week: party awards

Isn't award season great? Everyone's getting rewarded for their hard work and accomplishments. But shouldn't we non-celebrities get some appreciation for our feats? Take parties, for example. Did you get a shiny statuette for venturing out into the freezing cold in that little black dress? Or make a fulfilling acceptance speech after introducing two people who hit it off? How about a standing ovation for creating the playlist that made the party? Let us know what you think is your most award-worthy party move.

twiigs.com

festive dress for the rest of us

I was recently invited to a splashy event at an art museum. That’s terrific. Keep ’em coming. Less terrific was the dress code, “festive attire.”

Festive in relation to what? And according to whom? A quick online search revealed that festive attire is semi-formal with a twist. In other words, brighter colors, bolder styles, hats, anything sparkly. If it raises an eyebrow, wear it. It’s supposed to let you throw together something that makes you feel good and shows off some personal style.

Now, you unleash that kind of festiveness on an art museum crowd, and things can take unexpected turns. To some, festive translated to mismatched socks with sandals, skirts the size of belts and woolly ... jackety things (preferably worn together), all topped off with a never-before-seen hairstyle. And hey, if that festive attire contributed to their festive mood, then it served its purpose.

Here’s a quick recap of traditional dress codes so you don't get caught without the minimum pieces of flair.

throw an award-worthy party

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Spending this Sunday with Jon Stewart, friends and a bunch of weirdly dressed, nervous celebs? Me too! Can't wait!

Add these crowd favorites to your Oscar^® viewing party:

• Create your Oscar pool and bingo game
• Set the mood with a playlist of Oscar-winning songs
• Go for the gold with a show-stopping dessert. How? Two words: chocolate fountain.

Let's talk Oscars! Who are you rooting for? What are you looking forward to about the show or your viewing party?

Love (and hiccups) in the afternoon

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I recently got sucked back into watching All My Children when an actor friend of mine booked himself a two-day trip to Pine Valley. He played a CDC expert, and, yes, one of his three lines was, “We just don’t know.” How classic is that? Sure, I’d heard that line, oh, about 6,384,226 times before on daytime TV, but to credit my friend’s acting chops, I actually believed it. And it also made me remember that while soaps might be a tad (Martin) predictable, that’s part of what makes them so gosh darn fun.

This got me thinking that a soap opera party could be just the ticket to having a totally fun and wacky get-together with your best pals ... or long-lost cousins who you thought were abducted by your amnesic grandmother who just got out of jail by dressing up as a nun. Hey, it could happen.

So read on after the jump for my tips for a good, clean (and soapy!) good time. All you need is some recorded daytime drama, tasty snacks and a rowdy cast of characters.

express yourself

Okay, Eviters. We know you like to party. And we know you love to leave clever comments on your Evite invitations. (Well, some of you stress out about the comments, but you still like reading them.)

So get this: What you see above is our new party personality, a supereasy, superfun way to express yourself on your Evite invitations. What is a party personality? Oh, just a talking character you get to design and add a voice to!

You can make it say whatever you want — an inside joke, your favorite movie line, a personal message to the host or another guest. Around these parts, we're pretty fond of making ours quote obscure '80s songs.

If you have an upcoming invitation, you can create one right now! If not, learn more about creating a party personality and start coming up with your catchphrases.

question of the week: party laws

This being Presidents' Day in an election year, our brains are on parties — the presidential kind as well as the social ones. If we were elected president, we'd like to see some changes around these parts. And judging by your comments and emails, you would support us. Cast your votes below for the laws you'd like to see in place and vote Evite in '08!

more at twiigs.com...