Throw an Oscar Night Party This Sunday!

It's the "Biggest Movie Event of the Year" proclaims the official Oscar website--- so if you're all about the movies, it's not too late to throw together a last minute Academy Awards party. The show airs on ABC this Sunday, February 22nd at 8pm EST. Send out an email to your friends and get busy planning--- it's another one of those easy, affordable parties to host at the last minute. Here's the quick 411:

THEME: Movie Night Casual or Red Carpet Glamour  Guests can come dressed as a character from their favorite nominated movie, as their favorite actor, as a typical moviegoer, or they can up the glam factor by dressing in red carpet attire. This can be tough on guests at the last minute, but most girls have a cute cocktail dress and the guys can Brad Pitt it by wearing his signature dark suit and solid color tie.

 DECORATIONS: Party and craft stores all have movie night decorations so they are easy to find. For a casual movie night theme, popcorn boxes, boxed candy and director's clapboards are perfect. For red carpet style, take a tip from the big event itself and go all gold. Raid your holiday decorations to see what you may be able to use. Anything with stars or gold will work. You can find those large or small golden statues to use--- they are also fun to give as party favors. Use lots of them on your table or buffet. Popcorn box red is also an easy decorating theme. Serve red signature cocktails. Accent with stars in silver, gold, black or white. 

MENU: Who knows Oscar better than Wolfgang Puck? That's where I started when I thought about an Oscar party menu. If you like to cook, he's got last year's Oscar menu and other recipes right online. Since it is last minute, you may not have a lot of time to prep and cook. Just head to Whole Foods and grab some of Wolfgang's frozen pizzas. Doctor those up with freshly grated Parmsean, a splash of olive oil and toss on some fresh basil to make it look like you did the work. For casual grazing, serve easy to manage food. Always serve hot appetizers in stages and select plenty of items that can sit out without worry so you can enjoy the party. Fondue is always easy and fun. Wolfgang has a recipes for Gouda Cheese Fondue and more Oscar-worthy recipes you can download. If you want a super casual menu, go with the celebs favorite---hot dogs! Pink's Hot Dogs are the "hot dogs to the stars" but if you can't get them where you live, here's their menu.

THE FUN: Check out the catty comments and Monday morning's watercooler gossip during the legendary Oscar"pre-game" shows--- guests can bet on who will make the best and worst dressed lists and vote on winners with an official Oscar ballot. Set up a snack bar with big bowls of popcorn, candies, cookies and other treats for guests to snack on as they watch the show. Give out prizes like movie tickets and DVD's for best costume and best dressed. Make a red carpet photo booth so every guest gets a photo with their own trophy to take home.

PRINT OUT AN OFFICIAL OSCAR BALLOT    

Check out the Official Academy Awards site or MSN's Guide to the Academy Awards for all of the nominees, Oscar buzz and more.

It's Mardi Gras! Or as I prefer to call it---- Martie Gras

 The final days and parades of Mardi Gras are happening in Mobile and New Orleans right now so what are you doing this weekend? Road trip!!! Just kidding. If you're like me and didn't see even one of the nominated movies this year, why not skip the annual Oscar party and invite a few friends over for a Mardi Gras party instead? It's one of the fastest parties to pull together. All you need is gumbo, lots of gold, green and purple decorations and tons of beads. Almost every dollar store or party supply store has Mardi Gras decorations or drag the green and gold tinsel or garland down from the attic, add a little purple, a few beads, some Louis Armstrong on the iPod and you're half way there.

To host your own Mardi Gras party, check out the pics and how-to from our MSN article. 

Want up to the moment coverage and pictures? NOLA.com has photos, videos, schedules, articles plus all the FAQ's you'll need to become an expert on the subject.   

Fab and Frugal for Valentine's Day: Plan a Romantic Dinner for 2 at Home!

Trying to cut back on expenses right now? Me too! But that doesn't mean I want to skip important celebrations. You can plan a totally fab and frugal party at home this V-day by creating your own romantic restaurant right at home. One soooo easy theme is old-school Italian---and what's more romantic than a cheesy Italian restaurant?

Set the Mood: It's very simple to create with items you may already have. Start by hanging white holiday lights around the room. Next, drape the table with a red and white checked tablecloth; add a cheap red jar candle. Make a playlist of crooners like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. Push back the furniture to create a dance floor and your romantic restaurant scene is set.

The Menu: The menu is even easier--- it’s not gourmet by any measure but this always gets rave reviews and it is super easy and super fast, too. For a quick salad, slice a tomato and a nice, fresh piece of mozzarella. Stack---alternating the slices. Red, white, red, white.... drizzle with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. If you have fresh basil, you can tuck a leaf in between each slice--- all the colors of the Italian flag! 

Okay, I am going to confess a little secret. My best go-to Italian dish starts with frozen butternut squash ravioli from an organic grocery store like Whole Foods. Topped with burnt butter sauce, this dish will rival any restaurant favorite! Burnt butter sauce is d-i-v-i-n-e and not hard to make but you have to watch it like a hawk because it burns easily. It is not meant to be burned, just browned to a lovely caramel color. To-do: Place a stick of room temp butter into a saucepan over a low heat. It will quickly start to bubble and turn brown around the sides of the pan. Let it cook to a caramel color and add a tiny dash of olive oil--- take care not to burn! Remove from the heat and immediately pour over your cooked pasta. Finish with a dash of nutmeg and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.See picture--- don't you want to eat this right now? Need a wine suggestion? Try Ruffino's Chianti Classico Aziano--- about $12.99. Very smooth and drinkable.

For dessert, I love-love-love (triple love) profiteroles but I don't really want to spend the day baking on Valentine's Day so a plate of mini cream puffs (from the bakery or frozen food section) with a little warm chocolate sauce is the perfect ending to your fast, fabulous and frugal romantic dinner. Now it's time to take a spin around your faux dance floor or settle in with a movie like Cher and Nick Cage in the Italian romantic comedy classic, Moonstruck. Pour up some after dinner drinks like Frangelico, Amaretto or Limoncello to get the real party started--- now that's amore. 

Martie Party on the Road: Food and Entertaining Shows in Atlanta and Palm Beach!

Yippee! We're taking the Martie Party on the road for the Metropolitan Food and Entertaining Shows in Palm Beach March 28 & 29 and then on to Atlanta April 18 & 19. We're in for two days chock full of food, recipes and entertaining tips from lots of big names--- there will be a celebrity theatre and cooking stage, a kid's area, beer, wine and spirits tasting area, tasting and entertaining workshops and a huge expo where you can find everything you might ever need for cooking at home.    

And best of all, we're in some pretty good company! We'll be there with some of my favorite celebs from the Food Network.Paula Deen, Bobby Flay and those barbecuing Neelys from Memphis will be in Palm Beach. My ultimate favorite, Tyler Florence will be on board for Atlanta as will that crazy, funny Guy Fieri--- the guy from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. If you find yourself in either one of these cities, please stop in for my workshop on entertaining secrets from the pros. You can buy tickets online.

OK, all of you in Palm Beach--- Break away from the polo long enough to come over to the Americraft Expo Center at 11:30 am or 4 pm on Saturday or 4:00 pm on Sunday. All you Birmingham folks--- get up a road trip to Atlanta! Hope to see you all there!

Valentine's Day Treats for Kids: Sugar Cookie Lollipops

I got a couple of requests for ideas for children's Valentine's party treats this week--- not candy and not cupcakes. I was momentarily stumped!

These lollipop cookies are the perfect solution--- and if you use refrigerated sugar cookie dough, they're not only easy, they're inexpensive and fast, too. I think the entire project cost me $20 but that was only because I bought a special $9 cookie-pop pan. (yes, there is such a thing) I did some with the fancy pan and some without and they turned out just as good without the pan. Kids love to personalize things so let them decorate their own cookie pop with icing, sprinkles and small candies. The decorating part is easier for the kids if you ice the cookies first. Let the icing dry overnight for best results.

Get a piece of Styrofoam to display the cookies and your party treats also become pretty party decorations. Here's a picture from my iPhone for the how-to. If you think this took a long time, it didn't-- I baked and iced 12 big sugar cookies in less than an hour. BTW- the small cookie lollipops are just Oreo Cakesters in strawberry--- for the stick, I used those funny Poky biscuit sticks in strawberry creme.