Its been a quiet awards season thus far with the writers strike affecting the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, but lucky for you the Writer’s Guild of America has decided not to picket the Grammy Awards. Scheduled for February 10, the night is guaranteed to be studded with music’s most glittering artists and rockin’ performances. Celebrate the Oscar’s of the music world with your own cast of stars at your very own red carpet party.
The Grammy’s are notoriously less formal and stuffy than any other awards show, so create a funky, rock and roll atmosphere in your home with metallics, animal prints, and red and black accents.
You can create some glamour by laying out a “red carpet” at your entryway and taking paparazzi photos with a Polaroid or digital camera. Give the pictures to your guests at the end of the evening.
Hang a disco ball from the ceiling for a full concert effect. Prepare food and drinks inspired by classic songs relating to food, for example, The Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever. Make an MP3 mix of all the songs from your menu and listen to it during the commercials. Have your guests guess the artist and give out music note-shaped sugar cookies as the awards.
Start your party early and ask your guests to bring the lyrics and music to their favorite Grammy nominated songs. Have them challenge each other to a karaoke contest or play a rousing game of Guitar Hero to get in the mood.
Give out a list of all the nominees so everyone can keep track of the winners and losers. Once the awards are under way, turn out the lights, turn on the disco ball, and enjoy the festivities.
MUSIC LIST
The Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever
Oasis: Champagne Supernova
James Brown: Do The (Mashed Potato)
The Beach Boys: Vegetables
Jimmy Buffet: Cheeseburger in Paradise
The B-52’s: Quiche Loraine
Don McLean: American Pie
PARTY MENU
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
Champagne Cocktail
Mashed Potato Casserole
Honey Marinated Vegetable Kebabs
Mini-Cheeseburgers
Mini-Quiche Lorraine
Individual Apple Pies a la Mode
RECIPES
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
10 ounces sweetened frozen strawberries
1 (12-ounce) can frozen pink lemonade
White rum (optional)
Ice
Sugar to taste
Wedges of lime
Directions:
Add strawberries, frozen lemonade, and one can full of rum, if using to a blender. Fill blender about 2/3 full of ice and blend about 1 minute or until smooth. Taste and blend in sugar if needed. Serve in frosted glasses and garnish each with a wedge of lime.
Champagne Cocktail
Recipe per cocktail
Ingredients:
Granulated sugar
1 jigger of vodka
1 jigger St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Splash of Champagne
Directions:
Fill a small bowl with about one inch of water. Fill a second small bowl with about one inch of sugar. Dip champagne glasses in water and then in sugar to make a sugared rim. Fill each champagne glass with 1 jigger of vodka and 1 jigger of St. Germain. Top each glass off with champagne.
Mashed Potato Casserole
Serves 10 to 15
Ingredients:
5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks (Yukon gold are the best)
1 cup sour cream
1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened at room temperature
Garlic salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons butter, divided
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash potatoes and 2 tablespoons butter together with a masher or fork. Place cream cheese and sour cream in a large mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to beat mixture until fluffy. Add garlic salt and pepper. Add cream cheese mixture to potatoes and beat until smooth. Spoon potato mixture into a 9×13-inch casserole dish and dot with remaining butter. At this point, casserole can be refrigerated up to 3 days. To cook, cover casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour or until sides are light golden brown. Serve warm.
Honey Marinated Vegetable Kebabs
Serves 4
Ingredients:
A variety of chunked vegetables (zucchini, button mushrooms, eggplant, onions, peppers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, etc)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Soak four bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. Thread chunked vegetables on skewers in an alternating pattern and place kebabs flat in a shallow baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over vegetables, cover with plastic wrap, and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, preheat grill or grill pan. Remove vegetable skewers from marinade, shaking off excess, but reserving the marinade. Place vegetable skewers on the grill and cook until golden brown, flipping every 2 to 3 minutes to grill evenly. Brush extra marinade on vegetables while grilling. Serve hot with brown rice.
Mini-Cheeseburgers
Makes 16 burgers
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon hamburger seasoning
1/2 stick butter cut into 16 slices
8 slices American cheese or another favorite cheese
16 mini-rolls, split in half
Directions:
Combine ground beef with salt, pepper, and hamburger seasoning. Form meat into 16 mini patties, wrapping each one around a slice of butter. Pan-fry or use a grill pan to cook burgers 2 minutes per side (for medium-rare) or until desired degree of doneness. After flipping burger over, place 1/2 slice of cheese on burger and continue to cook until cheese is melted. When burgers are finished, place on rolls. Garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise.
Mini-Quiche Lorraine
Serves 12
Ingredients:
2 refrigerated pie crusts that can be rolled out
4 eggs
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
4 slices bacon, crisped and broken into pieces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Roll out pie dough to about 1/16-inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter or by tracing around a glass, cut dough into 12 circles. Place circles into the cups of the muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, salt, and nutmeg. Mix in Swiss cheese and bacon. Pour egg mixture into muffin tins, filling cups about 3/4 full. Bake quiche 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a quiche comes out clean.
Individual Apple Pie a la Mode
Serves 12
Ingredients:
2 refrigerated pie crusts that can be rolled out
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups finely diced apples
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Vanilla ice cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Roll out pie dough to about 1/16-inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter or by tracing around a glass, cut dough into 12 circles. Place circles in the cups of the muffin tin. Use extra dough to make strips for the tops (3 strips for each pie). In a large bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Add apples and toss to coat. Spoon apple mixture into muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Dot tops of apples with butter. Lay 3 strips of dough across each pie. Bake pies for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve a scoop of vanilla ice cream with each pie.
For more information:
The 50th Annual Nominations List can be found at:
www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/
Get your party supplies at:
http://www.plumparty.com/partysupplies/musicparty.html
Life-size cardboard cutouts of musicians and actors, perfect for red carpet photos can
be found at:
http://www.hollywoodmegastore.com/frame-set3.htm?0standups.html
Music inspired cookie cutters can be found at:
www.thecookiecuttershop.com
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