Article by Joseph Oklert

Chocolate fondue parties are not a thing of the past. Fishing out a piece of food from the fondue pot while cutting up with a group of friends can be tons of fun. However, since chocolate fondue is not a regularly served food, your dinner guests might not know how to work the fondue pot, but once you get the hang of it, you and your friends will be enjoying chocolate fondue in no time.

Of course, you are not restricted to only serving chocolate fondue as it might not fill up your guests. Instead, you can provide chocolate fondue as your after dinner dessert. And it is usually best to offer a flavorful beverage along with it, such as Irish coffee or a cappuccino.

One of the best aspects of chocolate fondue is that it is easy to make. In order to get the fondue ready before your guests show up, you need to have all of your ingredients and dipping food prepared several hours in advance. However, the chocolate fondue sauce itself should not be made until after everyone has arrived because it can become thick if it sits too long.

For your party, you must have a minimum of one fondue pot, depending upon the amount of dinner guests that will be coming. A normal fondue pot can serve six people. But although having an actual fondue pot is great, it is not necessary. You can use the utensils, pots, and platters most people already have in their kitchen as a fondue pot is just a dish sitting on a stand that is warmed by a candle. And you can substitute dinner forks in place of the dippers.

There are many recipes for chocolate fondue, but if you would rather use a simple one, you can combine 10 ounces of chocolate,

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Funniest Halloween party games – Do you think it’s a little early to be making plans for Halloween night? If so think again if you plan on throwing a Halloween party for children. No matter what the occasion is you’re about to celebrate, and especially if it includes kids then it’s never too early. Making preparations well in advance is the best policy if your party is to be a success. You can bet a bottom dollar that even the best planned out Halloween party can experience some last minute hiccup. Getting things in order for your kiddies Halloween party sooner than later will lessen the list of upsets that could rise than that of the list if you hadn’t planned early.

The vast majority of parties that turn out to be a flop are usually the result of bad management. When organizing a social event there are more things to consider than just supplying food and music. They say it’s easy to amuse children, I don’t doubt this for a minute, however my penny worth says, as long as you amuse them with what they want to be amused over then yes it’s easy. When you have a gathering of kids it’s imperative the Halloween party games will suit all age groups so no one misses out on the fun. Although the games are important, so is the food you serve up. Some kids might have special needs and have to follow a special diet. Speak to all mom and dad’s beforehand about things their children might not like, or not allowed to eat, or allergic to like (nuts etc.) We will look at the yummies you can lay on as spread after we have sorted out your Halloween entertainment.

Funniest Halloween party games need to be just that “funny” if the kids are to enjoy themselves. How do you know what games to play that will excite the kids? That’s it you don’t. The solution is to have various games to choose from and find out this way. It beats holding your breath and keeping your fingers crossed that the 1 game you had in store for them will go down well. With choice then you’re sure to please.

Remember, a bored child can run a mock and cause serious chaos…and depending on the child it is damage you could be looking to prevent a mischievous imp from causing. If you play some of the funniest Halloween party games it will distract them from any intended destruction.

All the games you have planned for the party will have a winner, and what to winners get, yes they get a prize. If you’re counting the pennies after splashing out on other party items for your Halloween night celebrations then buy, or better still make a large slab of treacle or cinder toffee and break into pieces which you need to bag and award to the winners. Or you could make toffee apples to present to those who triumph…

Some funniest Halloween party games that the kids will love.

Halloween party game 1

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Halloween Who Am I?

When each kid arrives at the party, stick a name tag on their back with the name of something related to Halloween night written on it like (witch cats pumpkin etc.) Each child must guess what it says. This is done by asking other guests ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions about what the paper says. If a correct answer is given, they win a prize.

Halloween party game 2

Pumpkin Bowling Ghosts

Items needed: 3 small pumpkins, 30 empty 2 liter clear plastic pop bottles, 1 tin white spray paint, permanent black marker and a bag of gravel or pebbles.

Spray paint the pop bottles white. Allow the paint to dry and draw a ghost face on each bottle and add some sand or pebbles to weight each bottle down. Separate the kids into teams… line them up and let them take turns at bowling over the Ghosts! The small pumpkins are the bowling balls.

Halloween party game 3

Spooky Walk Items needed: Cut out pictures, craft supplies, music

The spooky walk is similar to musical chairs but not as aggressive (pushing and shoving) Cut out pumpkins, witches, ghosts, broomsticks, scarecrows, cauldrons and ghouls, and other Halloween features and symbols you can think of.. You’ll need 1 item per child participating. Place the cut outs in a circle on the floor. You’ll need some haunting spooky music to play. Have your children walk around in a circle stepping or standing beside or on the picture cut outs while the spooky music is playing, and then at random intervals stop the music and everyone freezes by the item next to them. Then from a hat pick out the name of one of the cut outs that match those on the floor. On every round a picture is removed and the child with no spooky picture to stand by when the music stops will have to sit out the rest of the game. Carry on with until there is only one child left who will be the winner.

Halloween party game 4

Candy Corn Catch

Items needed: Candy corn, plastic pumpkins and string.

Divide the children into groups of 3 teams, 3-4 per team depending on how many kids are at the party. The Candy Corn Catch game will have the players toss candy corns from about 7 to 10 feet away into a pumpkin that will be tied around a team member’s waist. Each player will have the same amount of candy corn. The child wearing the pumpkin can move around to try to catch the candy corn as it is thrown. Once everyone has thrown the candy corn, take the pumpkin and count how many went in so a winner can be picked. This is determined on how many candy corns are in the pumpkin. Pick up any corn that missed the target from the floor to avoid accidents.

When playing games safety is major concern. Some kids are prone to accidents so have a first aid kit close to hand to fix up scrapes and grazes (plasters, bandages, and antiseptic cream.) Have an emergency contact number you can call in case something more serious happens.

Halloween party game 5

The Tragic Witch, Halloween Story Game

Items needed: cooked spaghetti or cooked cauliflower, peeled tomato, peeled grapes, popcorn kernels, baby carrots, spam, pen and paper, bags or basins

To play the game you need to be in a darkened room (not pitch black.)Dim the lights or use candles, think about safety when using candles. Before telling the story about the Tragic Witch who apparently died in an accident…explain to the kids they are to be the investigators. The children will have to identify the remains found at the scene of the accident. In a bag you will have the items mentioned above. The bag will be passed around and the kids without them peeking inside where they will be asked to guess the parts of the witch’s body inside the bag, and write them down.

Witches brain (cooked spaghetti or cooked cauliflower)

Heart (peeled tomato)

Eyes (peeled grapes)

Teeth (un-popped popcorn)

Fingers (baby carrots)

Liver (slice Spam in eerie shapes) the child with the most correct answers wins. You can make the story as gross as you like, however be careful you don’t scare the kids.

Ghoul Food Recipes

Eyeball Eggs

Ingredients:

Hard boiled eggs

Cream cheese

Stuffed olives

Tomato sauce

Remove yolks from halved eggs and mash with cream cheese. Refill the white gap with the mashed mixture and add an olive (eye ball). Dip a cocktail stick in the tomato ketchup and draw squiggly lines on the whites to make them look blood shot.

Witchy Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Mint ice cream (green)

Ice cream cones

Smarties

Strawberry laces.

Scoop a ball of ice cream onto a plate and put strawberry laces on top for hair, use the wafer cone for a hat, and the smarties for eyes & nose and a lace string for the mouth.

Witches Hats

Ingredients:

375g unsweetened cooking chocolate

1 handful marshmallows

15g butter

450g rice crispies

Melt 25g of the chocolate in a basin over a pot of hot water. Add marshmallows and stir until melted then add butter. Add rice crispies to the chocolate and marshmallows and stir to coat evenly. Allow to cool and shape into eight cones shapes. Flatten the large end to make a wide brim. Allow to cool and stiffen. Melt the rest of the chocolate. Dip the cones into the chocolate. Place on tinfoil to cool and harden.

Goodie bags should contain better goodies like a mini toothbrush and tube of tooth paste to clean their teeth after their slap up meal of devilish yummies.

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Catering Equipment and Party Hire

Catering Equipment and Party Hire can provide a range of items to hire for an upcoming event or function.  Australian Caterers has local party suppliers in your area. 

Working with a great Party Hire business can really help make your function setup run smoothly and look great.  They hire everything from the basics including tables, chairs and covers, tablecloths, to larger items for self catering.

Catering Equipment is perfect for Weddings and Functions that require items you don’t generally require at home.  Items can range from urns, Mobile Spit Hire, Heating Bays and Cooling Devices and Serving Platters.  When catering for a larger group of guests, hiring equipment to suit will make life much easier.

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Glass and table ware is an important part of any function.  When planning for your event, think about what type of drinks you would like to serve and the number of guests that will be in attendance.  Water, wine and champagne glasses are options available. 

Marquees, Isle Runners and Mobile Dance floors are all available for hire.  They are great additions to your function that help create the WOW factor.  If you have time, make sure to visit your local Party Hire Specialist.  They will have plenty of information on their products for hire, pricing and information regarding pickup/delivery.

 Some Party Suppliers and larger suppliers may have the technology and expertise to assist in function planning.  This is crucial for large scale events, requiring imagery and expertise in dealing with and serving large number of guests.

Speak to your Party Hire and Catering Equipment Specialist about pick and delivery services, as this can save you time and money if you don’t have transportation to fit larger items.

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With produce, meats, flowers, and spirits under one roof, bulk-store markets make food party planning for last-minute holiday party planning a cinch!

Shopping at warehouse stores like Costco, Sam’s, and BJs make holiday party planning easy, affordable, and fun. Buy a few yummy foods in larger quantities. Plan for about 8-12 different items. Grab some beautiful blooms from the floral display, and a case of good wine from the liquor section and you are on your way to a real celebration! This can be a great strategy whether you have lots of time to plan your party or if it’s a spur of the moment gathering.

This kind of food party planning is great for large groups in particular. A buffet party for 70 people doesn’t have to be a chore if you break it down into groups and make an allowance for at least four trips to the table for the men and three for the ladies.  The object is to have plenty for all these trips, and bulk food stores are a blessing for buffet food party planning.

What to Buy?

Look for variety in ingredients, food textures, hot and cold items, and flavors. You don’t want to have a table full of dips or have every food item have dill or eggs in it.
A good “formula” for a buffet is 1-2 seafood items, 1-2 meats, one meat or seafood salad, a cheese and cracker assortment – one soft cheese, one hard cheese, and one blue cheese, one fruit – whole or cut goes will with the cheese assortment, one dip or spread with crackers, one dip with chips, one dip with cold crudités, bread that goes with the meat and meat or seafood salad, devilled eggs, 2-3 heat and serve type puff canapés, and an assortment of sweets – cookies, mini-brownies, candy, and dried fruit.
Choose your items so about ½ are hot foods and ½ are cold foods.
Choose items that don’t require more than bake and serve for the greatest ease.
If you plan to make some of the items yourself, choose recipes with few ingredients – hot dips, grilled lamb chops, mini sausages in a sauce, meatballs in a special sauce, chicken tenders marinated and skewered can all be simple items to prepare.
Just be sure you buy enough. Plan an average of 12-14 canapés or “bites” per guest if your buffet party is taking the place of dinner.

Dress Up Your Buffet and Make it Look Inviting

Make the presentation of the food special – don’t use the containers the foods come packaged in – even if they are already plated for service. Re-plate all of your purchased items on holiday service ware or just some of your own nice buffet sized service ware. Stay away from plastic, unless it’s really nice.
To make your buffet look professional and interesting spend a little on garnishes for the buffet plates and create levels with stacks of books or sturdy boxes under the buffet table cloth. Footed cake plates can come in handy for buffet food party planning also.
Put some fresh flowers or foliage that fits with your holiday in a large pitcher or vase and place it on the buffet to add to the color and beauty.
Pick up some colorful cocktail napkins, nice holiday canapé plates, and glassware to reduce the clean-up process to a toss in a garbage bag.

Serve Up Some Cheer!

To keep things simple and affordable, choose one regular beer, one lite beer, one red wine, and one white wine. To make it even simpler, make a signature holiday punch or drink with no more than 3 ingredients. Be sure to have an assortment of soft drinks for the designated drivers also. Sparkling cider can be kind of special for those who have offered to abstain from alcohol for the evening.

Plan for an average of three 6-8 ounce beverages per guest.

Whip Up Something Elegant But Easy

Here are a couple of different and tasty recipe ideas that take little to no effort.

Lamb Chop Appetizer

Purchase mini lamb chops in bulk to make a savory, plate-free appetizer for guests. Season chops with salt and pepper and chopped rosemary, then grill or broil. Serve with small napkins.

Brie Bites

Purchase mini quiche cups. Put a small chunk of Brie cheese in each cup and top it with a dollop of your favorite preserve – cherry or pear are my favorites. Top the preserves with a few chopped almond pieces and bake at 350F until the cheese is soft, warm, and melted – about 8-10 minutes. Serve hot – and delicious!

Buffet food party planning is a breeze when you rely on the convenience and variety you can find at the bulk warehouse stores. There’s nothing like a huge table, laden with plenty of food to make guests feel like there is a serious holiday party underway!

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A catering service isn’t just for fancy dinner parties or lavish social events. Business meetings at the office often require food, and who’s going to cook? How about a small gathering where the focus is on socializing? What about the Holiday event where the number of people are too big for the oven? And your wedding? Hiring a catering service is the answer.

Corporate catering

A lot of time is spent at the office. Providing employees with a hearty, catered breakfast and lunch allows you to work through meetings without missing a meal.

Breakfast catering usually offers pastries, fresh fruit and savory breakfast sandwiches. Lunch caterers usually offer choices of sanwiches, salads, soups, and few hot meals. For this type of everyday catering time, convenience, and prices are the main considerations.

By the way, you can save some money by picking up your order on your way to work. Of course, food can be delivered to the office for a nominal fee, along with condiments, disposable plates, utensils and napkins to make cleaning up simple.

Catering services is more than delivering meals. There are promotional events, product launch parties, awards and retirement banquets and holiday parties. A catering expert can help you create the menu and décor, and how you would like your guests served, either by buffet or by waiters and waitresses. Making the event work also usually requires kitchen staff to set-up, prepare and serve food, and then clean up.

Wedding receptions

Weddings are a big deal, especially the reception. Food and fun just seem to go together. Wedding reception caterers work with you to help you get exactly what you want for your big day.

Even if you are on a budget seeking the most affordable wedding reception ideas, the best catering services can help you plan a beautiful party that won’t be forgotten. The key is to have specifics ready for the wedding caterer about what you want with your budget.

Restaurant catering

Having a restaurant cater your business, baby shower, wedding reception, or any special event is often a good idea. If your favorite restaurant has private dining or banquet facilities that you can rent, this can be ideal. Since everything that’s needed to cater your event successfully is right there, you can’t go wrong.

If you want your favorite restaurant’s food served at another location, discuss this option with your caterer. This can usually be easily arranged with a little planning.

Party Catering

Catering is all about convenience first and foremost. Planning a menu, shopping all over town for ingredients, cooking, preparing, delivering and then serving food seems crazy when catering services have become so affordable.

Besides, anyone who has ever hosted a party knows that you barely get to relax and enjoy time with your guests when you’re in charge of doing it all. Hiring a catering company allows you to feed everyone good food and enjoy your own party.

Let caterers do it for you

As you well know, the most important job for a caterer is creating delicious food that everyone will enjoy. Whether it’s a simple box meal containing a sandwich and salad or fine dining cuisine, the best caterers will make your catered meeting, wedding or event a success.

Still today, many people consider a catering service to be a luxury that only the wealthy enjoy, or something you’re forced to cough up cash to pay for like a wedding reception, anniversary, bar mitzvah or other special event. That’s just not true anymore. In short, you will find that any occasion can be catered at an affordable price.

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Catering for a party or wedding

Sometimes the food at your function is done by the hosts, this can take up much time as you the host must think of all the needs of your guests. Drinks are always time consuming travelling to source the beer and wine, finding the glasses and of course the serving at your function.  Also a lot of time is spent organising all of the little jobs.

If your function is at home than this may be easy for you as you do not have to travel to far and all of the equipment you may need is at home. But if you decide to have your function at a hall or venue, they may not have everything you need, this way you may need to visit your local party hire shop.

Another way of getting around all of this extra work and headaches is to hire a party planner and a mobile caterer who can take all of the stress of you to enjoy the function you have.

Finding any service provider for your function is easy these days with the internet and website, instead of looking in the phone book or going through the local papers you can search for business on the internet. Most function providers will at least have a webpage where you can view menus and pricing. It is such an easy way to find the newest ideas for your event, most website will have a gallery page where you can view photos of the work and products that they use in there business.

Party planners will have information and photos of things like chair covers to all of the party and decorating needs you need. Other products you may need are always available and can be hired to make your event the best it can be.

Catering companies are great as they will always have all of the equipment they need to prepare and serve you guests, try to know the menu you would like and the budget you will be working with, telling this to your caterer will always make the job easier and the end result great food. Menus for the event can be seen in advance of contacting the business, this give you more time to think and choose a menu that is right, some venues will have not such a big sitting area, this good as your menu could involve finger foods served on platters and walked around by service staff.

If your venue has plenty of seating than a buffet may be the way to go, as your guest can choose what they like of the buffet, most buffets will have salads, bread, roast meats and vegetables. The guest will be able to take as much food as they will like and return to the seating area and the service staff will collect the plates.  Also a 3 course meal could be the good as the meals will be served to each guest, you can as your caterer weather it is one choice per course or have it as an alternative drop which means when the meals are served the guest can choose between 2 different meals per course.

When it comes to drinks you can buy the beer and wine yourself or and have an open bar or you can hire bar staff to do this, some drinks catering companies can hire you bar staff at an hourly rate or you can organise them to buy serve and clean everything.

Most business will spend time with you as the host to find out how you will like the function to go. So when contacting the business always as for a quote and it is best to get 3 from different companies to find which one will be best for your day. If you have larger numbers of guest over 100 it is good to ask if they give a discount or if they can upgrade you menu for the same price.

With all of the hard work taken on by the business you hire you can spend more time on yourself and get ready for the big event, try contacting a Stylist, Mobile Hairdresser and Make Up Artist   to pamper you. Some will travel to you and save you time. You can also hire Dresses and Suits for the day. Another great idea is to find a Photographer to capture your day for you, then all you have to do is enjoy your day.

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Selecting a Caterer

Ideas to help you choose the perfect caterer for your function

Selecting a caterer can be overwhelming and confusing at times, especially if you are not sure what type of catering will suit your function.  Here are a few ideas to help you decide on a menu, and then caterer to suit.

Selecting a date, location and approximate guest numbers are the best place to start when planning a function.  This will give you an idea of the space and facilities available, and any restrictions on guest numbers.

Date: Choose a date that will suit you and your family and friends.  Caterers may be booked out on certain dates, so make a few enquiries to see who is available.  Saturdays seem to be the most popular for functions, especially when most people work during the week.  Fridays are quite popular also, and do tend to be more available and at times cheaper when hiring venues.  Sundays are great for BBQ’s and relaxed events.  Long weekends are very popular, and it does help to plan ahead. 

Location: Hired venue or private location.  This will depend on the space available to you.  Hired venues are great for larger functions that require more space for guests.  Hired venues may have an onsite caterer that provides all catering needs.  Halls and venues can be great as they provide space, cover and parking for guests.  You may be required or want to use the services of a mobile caterer.  Mobile caterers can be quite flexible with space and facilities available, and can sometimes be a cost effective and delicious option!   If you are planning to have your venue at home or private residence, this may save you time and money, and gives you some flexibility with catering options.

Approximate Guest Numbers:  Making a list of who you would like to invite will help determine an approximate number of guests.  It is very common that 10-15% of people invited will be unable to attend due to date clashes or travel involved.  If guest numbers are quite high, it may help to get a few quotes to determine if your budget will suit.

Plated meals, buffets and Talk & Fork options are great catering options.  Plated meals can be best suited to more formal functions that have a larger budget and space.  Buffets are great for all occasions and can be casual or formal.  Buffets are increasingly popular at weddings as they provide great value and choice for guests.  Talk & Fork menus are perfect for functions with limited seating.

With basic details including a time frame on dates, possible location and approximate number of guests, it will help you to get accurate quotes from caterers and suppliers.  If you are unsure about which menu may best suit, ask your caterer for menu ideas and their speciality.

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