Summer Entertaining: Host a Pirate Party with Island Decorations, Food and Drinks!

Ahoy maties.... Are you looking for a fun party theme? An island-inspired pirate party is the perfect way to kick off summer- or end it, for that matter! Use these ideas for a end of school party, a high school graduation, a backyard movie night party complete with a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean, a birthday party, a Luau---it's even perfect for your next supper club or a bridal shower! Tweak the decorations and the food to fit your crowd. I got the idea from a dear friend, Terri Merren, who lives in the Cayman Islands. Terri sent me her cookbook and explained that the Cayman Islands hosts a "pirate week" celebration each year. Her picture below inspired my pirate party theme. Thank you Terri!  

 

HERE'S THE PIRATE PARTY WE SHOWCASED DURING THE METROPOLITAN COOKING & ENTERTAINING SHOW IN ATLANTA!

PIRATE PARTY MENU

Signature Cocktail: GOOMBAY SMASH

I knew I wanted to use my Goombay Smash recipe as the signature cocktail for this party theme because it is a favorite drink in the islands. Since it has rum and pineapple, I decided to use those elements as a consistent theme throughout my menu and for decorations. To cut costs, eliminate the brandy and use Grand Marnier or whatever orange liqueur you have instead.  

MARTIE'S MOJITO MELON BOATS

Use honeydew or cantaloupe as your melon. I prefer cantaloupe. The marinade is exactly what you'd find in a mojito.... rum, mint, and lime.

For the marinade, mix a cup of rum, the juice of one lime, and 1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves for each melon. I don't use spiced rum for this recipe. If the melon isn't very sweet, I will add about 1/2 cup simple syrup that I have infused with mint to my marinade or a little drizzle of honey.

Cut your melon into "boats" and use a toothpick to poke small holes in the top of each slice. Fill the holes with the rum mixture and let it marinate in the refrigerator or cooler for an hour or more before guests arrive. Plate and insert your "pirate sails" or other nautical decoration. I used scrap paper and some pirate stickers from Oriental Trading Company and a wooden skewer to make the sails.

CARIBBEAN-SPICED SHRIMP with PINEAPPLE SALSA

I love this recipe from my great friends at MyRecipes.com and it's perfect for this party theme. I thought it would make it on skewers to make serving easier. The shrimp cook so quickly, it's an easy make-ahead dish. Make the salsa in advance and bring it all to room temp before serving. This recipe calls for a lot of spices but you don't have to use all of them.

BAYLEY'S WEST INDIES SALAD

Another great recipe from MyRecipes.com, also perfect for an island themed party. I make it ahead and store individual servings in jars (a mason jar works great) kept on ice in the cooler until party time. I like to add plantain chips as a garnish just before guests arrive.

PIRATE PARTY DECORATIONS

The decorations are so simple. You can get a lot of what you need from my friends at ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY. I made some of the decorations---- like the pineapple tree and the sails for my melon boats and filled in the rest with supplies from OTC. The pineapple tree only took about 30 minutes to make- start to finish. The sails were about 15 minutes. Use pirate hats, swords, coins, treasure chests, etc to fill in the rest. Here are the instructions for our fantastic pineapple tree:

You need a stable base--- a heavy piece of wood works. I told the guy at Lowe's what I wanted to do and he pointed me to the plumbing supplies for a flange and a short piece of pipe that screwed together. I attached it to the wood with Velcro but you can screw it down or glue it. Next, twist the top off the pineapples and cut the top and bottom to make them level. Cut out the inner core of each pineapple. I used an apple corer to do this, but a long, thin knife will also work. Stack the pineapples on top of each other to form the trunk of your tree. Add some foliage (you can even take cuttings from your own plants) by sticking the stems into the cut pineapple. Add a flag if you want to like we did. You can also use the pineapples to serve your shrimp skewers by inserting them into the pineapple! Everyone loved this idea! 

Get party decorations from Oriental Trading Company. You can get a huge box of pirate party booty and supplies for very little money. Check out the awesome pirate hats; you can double duty them by turning them into table decorations and serving bowls like we did for our Pirates of the Caribbean candy bar! Special shout out to all of our friends from the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Atlanta for having so much fun with us at our pirate party!    

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More Backyard Getaways: Go Camping!

If you love to camp but really can't find the time or money to go this year, why not bring the elements of a camping trip to the backyard! Pop up a tent, roll out your sleeping bags and build a campfire (if you can) and you're just one ghost story away from really camping!

We talked about backyard camping on our recent Better.tv appearanceand have been delighted at the response! Wooohoo! In case you missed the segment, here are some easy, peasy ideas you can use to create a faux-camping trip right in your backyard!

Hobo packs make cooking easy and are easy serve and easy clean-up, too! If you can't build a fire, you can do these on the grill or in the oven. Take two 12" squares of aluminum foil; one for the top of the pack and one for the bottom. Put your "fixins" onto the bottom square and put the top square on and fold the edges to seal and throw them on the fire or grill. Shrimp, chicken, hamburger patties, sausage--- you are almost unlimited with options for ingredients for your hobo packs.

If you need seating, ask your friends to bring a lawn chair or if you have enough room, ask everyone to set up a campsite and give a prize for the best!

Make sure to have a “summer survival” kit handy for backyard entertaining: include bug spray, sunscreen, wipes, cheap sunglasses and flip-flops so your guests can be comfortable.

You HAVE to have s'mores at a camping party. We exchanged Nutella for the traditional Hershey bars and added raspberries to create super s'mores that are so addictive, you'll be making them over the kitchen stove! Here's the recipe:

• Cookies or Graham Crackers (I love using Biscoff cookies-- the kind they serve you on Delta. You can find them at Costco and Kroger!)
• Nutella (most grocery stores have Nutella these days-- it's chocolate hazelnut spread. Look for it close to the peanut butter and jelly)
• Marshmallows--- only Jet Puffed will do. I like them very toasted but not burned, but to each his own.
• Fresh raspberries (strawberries are also very good but you have to slice them)

Spread Nutella on your cookie. Add raspberry. Toast your marshmallow. Assemble. YUM.