slumber party sugar rush

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As someone who grew up in a junk food-free household, half the fun of getting to stay up late with my friends at slumber parties was the sugar rush that helped get us through those countless games of Truth or Dare and repeated Princess Bride viewings. Now that I'm older and after-midnight girl time has graduated to cocktails and discussions of John Cusack's career choices since Lloyd Dobler, my friends and I still get nostalgic for the late-night munchies of our youth.

Turns out, we all had different sleepover snacks depending on where we grew up. When I lived in Minneapolis, the treat of choice was Puppy Chow — the ooey, gooey mixture of melted chocolate and peanut butter coating Rice Chex and covered in powdered sugar. When we moved south to Little Rock, the custom was to nuke slices of Velveeta cheese and a can of diced Rotel salsa to create our own queso.

DIYers like my friend Gena from New Jersey long for the days of build-your-own pizzas. Rice Krispies Treats were the big thing in the West, according to Connie from Orange County and Celena from Seattle. And popcorn was all the rage in the South: Jodi from New Orleans liked hers covered in melted chocolate; Christine from Knoxville craved caramel corn; and in Birmingham, Amy preferred it air-popped and buttered.

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cream and sugar?

Cookie Puss, Fudgie the Whale — I got nuthin' but love for ya, baby. Choco Taco, we've had some good times, my little ice cream novelty. Make-your-own-sundae bar? Don't go changing.

But sometimes I want something a little more refined. A cool, cold dessert I can bust out for grown-ups that is full of icy-good flavor but skips the supersweet icing, smiley faces, drippy messes and all that other kid stuff.

I'm talking about what you serve when you want to drop a bomb, people. Make that a bombe, an ice cream bombe — layers of ice cream and/or sorbet in a funky dome shape. It looks tame at first, but cut into it and hear guests gasp at the cross-section of ice cream awesomeness that awaits.

Bombes are easy to make, despite their impressive appearance, and there's an endless amount of flavor and color combinations you can try. Not up for it? Then get in on the next big thing in ice cream and buy a gourmet ice cream cake, like the one pictured above from Café Glacé.

Café Glacé comes up with the clever combos so you don't have to: mint chocolate macaroon, lavender and plum, even sophisticated takes on kid favorites like PB&J and creamsicles. I tried the spiced pear (cinnamon ice cream, pear sorbet), which would dress up an autumn dinner party and make a great addition to the usual spread of Thanksgiving desserts.

Butternut Squash Risotto in Pumpkin Bowl Recipe

It’s the motif of the season: the ever-present pumpkin. You carve them, decorate them, even drill holes in them, but perhaps the best way to show them off is on the dinner table — as bumpy, colorful serving bowls (the more warts the better).

After carving a couple of massive jack-o'-lanterns for the front step, hollowing out these cute sugar pumpkins was a snap. It only takes a minute but your guests will think otherwise, especially when they lift off the top to find this butternut squash risotto hidden inside.

Risotto has a reputation as a high-maintenance dish, but you seriously don’t need to hover over the stove, stirring your little heart out, while your guests are carousing. A gentle stirring every time you add a cup of stock is just fine. The result is a super-comforting main course that will chase away the evening chill.

Read on for this risotto recipe...

Calling All Vampires: Bloody Good Sangria

I thought it was going to be a simple matter of adding twice as much cold water as usual to cherry JELL-O mix, but it turned out that making drinkable "blood" — that is, matching the color, opacity and viscosity of blood in a delish, seasonally appropriate cocktail — was far more complicated than I thought.

The thinned JELL-O came out too clear and globby, so I added a little chocolate syrup (the blood double in Psycho, according to my spouse, who used to work at a visual effects company), and the flow and color improved instantly. However, I couldn't help but make a face while tasting it. "Hey, it's not bad," my husband proclaimed, trying to be supportive. "Kind of like liquid cherry-flavored Tootsie Rolls." As though that was something you might actually voluntarily drink a glass of.

Read on for more blood and guts...

Jack o Lantern Cheeseball Recipe

Let the power of cheese cast a spell over your guests this Halloween by giving the standard party platter a silly, spooky makeover. This mixture of cream cheese, goat cheese and Parmesan can take on whatever bewitching shape your imagination conjures up — spider, monster, brain— with the help of plastic wrap or wax paper.

I chose to make a pumpkin adorned with black poppy seeds, orange bell peppers for the eyes and nose, and green olives for the mouth. Black pumpernickel toasts continue the creepy color theme. Decorating the cheeseball takes about 15 minutes, but it’s worth the effort because no creature will be able to resist this delectable treat.

Read on for the recipe...

Eating Good From Your Hood

Creating new and improved dinner party menus for all of your picky friends doesn't just mean reading up on every food trend and style, it means knowing every foodie trend. The herbivores’ dishes can’t be like the omnivores’, and certainly keep them away from any Atkins-obsessed full-on carnivores. Luckily, there's a buzzword they can all get behind: locavore.

Sometimes spelled “Localvore,” these eco-friendly eaters only buy goods from farmers and growers in their area. Just as our tree-free Evite invitations cut gas prices for mail delivery, ecophiles can rejoice that buying locally means fewer gas-guzzling jumbo trucks on the roads. Plus, it cuts mass production's pollution, chemicals and waste while helping small farms compete with big business.

The restaurant industry is eating this trend up, as more chefs can be spotted perusing their nearby farmers’ markets in the early morning hours. But it's also a trend that the rest of us can embrace. Websites like Local Harvest list farmers’ markets, family farms and other sources across the U.S., and sites like Locavores have recipes and networking information — all to make sure that going green never goes out of style.

Slime Punch Recipe

Give a pretty punchbowl a ghastly makeover for your Halloween party by filling it with foaming, green punch. This potent brew has a hint of slime…uh, lime…and is frighteningly simple to pull together at the last minute (no eye of newt or toe of frog required).

I chose lime sherbet for its tangy taste and dreary color. To get the foamy murkiness pictured, just give the punch a quick stir after adding the champagne and ginger ale without mixing the contents together too much. Add more ginger ale throughout the night to keep the foam from fading.

Obliging bugs and spiders (plastic or otherwise) can be frozen into ice cubes the day before for an extra splash of creepiness.

Read on for the recipe — and a non-alcoholic variation...
 

want a taste?

What’s easier than a dinner party, cheaper than a cocktail party and provides tons of conversation topics? A tasting party.

What you taste is up to you — chocolate, honey, beer, cheese, whatever your weakness. Dina Cheney, tasting party hostess extraordinaire and author of the book Tasting Club, tells us how to host our own.

How does a tasting party work?
For a tasting party, the host gathers several products in one food or drink category (such as chocolate or cheese), and then everyone sits down and "deep-tastes" the samples, or slows down and savors them in a structured fashion, to get in touch with their palates. Deep-tasting involves assessing the samples' appearance, aromas, flavors, texture, and finish or aftertaste, and asking the most important question of all: Did I like it? In between trying samples, participants cleanse their palates — usually with water and mild-flavored bread or crackers — and share their observations. Before getting to the actual tasting portion, I love to serve guests a welcome drink and some food and then mingle a bit.

What does a tasting party offer that a traditional dinner party doesn't?
First of all, tasting parties are easier to pull off — you can have people over, but without cooking. And there's barely any clean-up! Plus, tasting parties are frequently less expensive to host — you can put together an apple tasting, for example, for little more than $15. Other than their ease and cost-effectiveness, tasting parties are really fresh and new — not the same old, same old dinner party. Plus, they're sensual, fun, educational and great ice-breakers. Everyone instantly has something to talk about! There's no better entertaining strategy when you're hosting a get-together with people who don't know each other well.

Read on for more about tasting parties...

Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe

Move over, pumpkin pie, there's a new dessert on the table: pumpkin bread pudding. I think this sweet treat is the perfect ending (or beginning) to any fall day, just right for a dinner party or a brunch.

Why? Bread pudding is the paella of the dessert world: It gives leftovers new life. Throw in some old bread and almost any ol' spice from your cupboard and chances are it will turn out great (thanks to all the cream and sugary goodness).

Now, you can get more mileage out of those artisan loaves that entice at the bakery but turn hard after a day or so. If the bread gets super hard, use a rubber mallet to break it up (a great way to blow off some steam).

Read on for the recipe...

scary monsters and super treats

It may seem like we have a slight cupcake fixation at Evite. But that’s because we really do.

Fellow Eviter and cupcake-aficionado Jeff turned us on to this post of creative cupcakes from Wisdom of the Moon that are perfect treats for any Halloween party. We love these as an imaginative alternative to the classic 'cakes topped with those sugary pumpkin candies or plastic spider rings. If your guests are crafty, buy a bunch of candy and let them ice and decorate their own. Or spend hours making them perfectly and watch as your friends descend without even noticing the intricacies of your handiwork.

Simpsons fans: Be sure to check out the Kang/Kodos-esque cupcake, complete with a single gumdrop eye and Laffy Taffy tentacles (but, thankfully, it's free of drool).