For the mad and the mad only

Decided to organize a cookout party out of the blue one Friday night because I felt like it. I'm glad to say that it was a success! :) Every guest were belly happy and I had a fun time organizing and prepping it although a one-man show is indeed very tiring. I immediately conked out after everyone left.

Not only will I be sharing pictures of the party, I'll also share some recipes as well as some tips in organizing a cookout party within a budget.

1. Set your budget

Because I'm on a budget, I set the budget for a party of 10 at $100, which means it's $10 per pax. Try to set a reasonable budget based on the number of people and let's be realistic here, if we set the budget too low, the food won't be good and then there's the problem of food shortage. What is the point of organizing a party then right?  

2. Set a theme that is achievable based on the things available in your house 

Themes like Rainbow and Alice in Wonderland are easy because they are wacky and multi-colored meaning you can put everything that clashes together and it will still make sense. Decided to do with a Alice in Wonderland theme because last year I dressed up as the Mad Hatter for Haseenah's 21st Halloween themed party and I still have the hat with me. Also, for those who knows me personally, I'm a loud and colorful person and I have just about everything colorful; from colorful plastic plates to rainbow fairy lights to plates in different prints and designs. Hell, even my dining table chairs are colorful. In addition, coming up with the props for an Alice in Wonderland theme is not that hard; all i need is a black marker and some drawing papers.

For a simple Alice in Wonderland theme party, below are some decoration ideas you can draw:

Make sure you make full use of the paper. On top of drawing the "GO BACK", "THIS WAY" signs, you can draw small boxes of "EAT ME" for food tags.

Drawing all these gave me the opportunity to come up with different fonts - freestyle. Of course if you have a printer at home, that's even better everything can be found and created online! 

3. Raid your kitchen before planning the Menu

The first thing you need to do when planning the menu is to raid your kitchen. I'm sure there's already a pre-planned menu in mind, so try and see if you can find the ingredients needed at home first before heading to the supermarket. This way, you can save up on buying stuff that you already have at home. Prior to planning the menu for this party, I already had my mind set on making tacos as well as bacon cups. Whilst raiding my kitchen, I found packets of macaroni and so I thought of making Mac and cheese. I always google my recipes on www.tastespotting.com and I chanced upon this Mac and Cheese pie recipe which looks fucking awesome and coincidentally, I had a packet of Betty Crocker Pie crust, so I decided to include Bacon Mac and Cheese Pie into the menu as well.  

I came up with this menu that night:

Drinks - Sangria
Food:
-Bacon Cups w/ Feta Cheese
-Feta Cheese Salad
-Bacon Mac and Cheese Pie
-Fish Tacos w/ Lime and Cilantro Yogurt Dressing
-Dark Chocolate Brownies w/ Vanilla Ice cream

If you notice, I try to use the same ingredients for the dishes like bacons, feta cheese, milk, etc.

4. Start preparing early
Plan your time well, and if you have help, that's even better. I started preparing from 1pm and it was exactly just right!

I'll be sharing 2 easy recipes I got online - Sangria and Dark chocolate brownies.

Sangria

(I didn't take a proper picture of the sangria. Anyway its the red drink at the right corner of the pic)

Basically Sangria is wine punch. Its usually fruity and depending on the amount of juice you pour in, the alcohol taste isn't strong which is good for people who can't really drink. I adapted the recipe from here. I tried making both the red and white wine sangria and personally I prefer the white wine one!

Pomegranate Red Sangria (Makes 1 pitcher)
1 bottle of red wine
3 cups of pomegranate juice (but grape juice works fine as well)
1 Orange
1 Grapefruit

Orange White Sangria
1 bottle of white wine
3 cups of orange juice
1 orange
1 grapefruit

Cut orange and grapefruit into small cubes. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and serve with a little ice. Do pour the drink together with the fruit so you can eat them! The wine will soak into the fruits which makes them yummy. You don't have to limit yourself to just orange and grapefruit, you can use any fruits you like for the sangria.

Dark Chocolate Brownies


This, by far is THE BEST brownies I've ever made. EVER!! Everyone loved it and couldn't stop raving about it. I got the recipe from here (even the owner of this recipe quote that it's the world best brownies) and it's honestly really simple to make.

200 grams of good quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used Cadbury's Dark Chocolate)
90 grams of butter, chopped
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar (I tend to put lesser than necessary cos I prefer it less sweet)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup self rising flour
1/4 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt
an extra 150 grams of dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter, dark chocolate and cocoa together. Set aside and allow to cool. In an electric mixer, combine the eggs, sugars and vanilla and beat for a few minutes until it all turns a golden creamy colour and thickens up. 

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and sea salt. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, combining carefully. Stir in the flour mixture. This is now the time to add in any extras, such as the chocolate. Spread the mixture into a brownie pan. Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes.

Mid cooking, you may notice the brownies starting to rise, and panic, but persevere, as surely enough they will deflate when released from the oven. Do not wait for the brownies to set. When removed from the oven, the brownie must still be gooey as it will firm up considerably upon cooling.

Cut into as many squares as you see fit. Distribute accordingly.

More visuals of the party:

There are days where you just feel like cooking for your love ones and that day was just like that. There wasn't any special occasion and it was really just impromptu and spontaneous. I guess that's how we should live life sometimes- adding spontaneity into it. 

Recently I've been dabbling into quite a number of spontaneous activities and y'know what, I'm enjoying myself. I can safely say that May/June have been the happier months I've experienced this year. But then again, that's because my favorite month is not here yet (AUGUST!)

Anyway to sum up my "Alice in Wonderland" theme party, I spent a total of $92 for everything (from food to plates to props). I managed to stay below my budget and cooked up an awesome meal for my friends, so YAY! What mattered to me most was the company and I'm constantly telling myself how blessed I am to meet such wonderful individuals who never fail to make me laugh and happy. <3

xx

Fee