Secrets to Success- Décor can include: top hats and feather boas, movie poster, trophies and awards, fresh flowers, and of course, the ubiquitous Red Carpet.
- Event planner Tracy Rose Denham suggests the addition of a small TV in the guest bath so that no one misses a moment of awards fun during a bathroom break.
- Consider mixing your awards party with a costume party theme: have guests dress as favorite actors or recording artists.
Menu
Consider clever items that will enhance the evening;s theme: California rolls and champagne cocktails for the Oscars; New York-style cheesecake and Manhattans for the Tony Awards. This is the time to go a little over the top with your entertaining theme -- don't be afraid to be imaginative!
Hors d'oeuvres are an elegant and cost-effective way to feed a crowd. Check out these recipes from the DIY Recipe Archive!
Endives with Gorgonzola
Makes: 64 hors d'oeuvres
Ingredients:
7-8 Belgian endives
1/2 lb. each cream cheese, gorgonzola
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
64 walnut pieces
Preparation:
Trim ends, then separate endive leaves; wash and dry. Blend cream cheese with Worcestershire; stir in the crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese. Spoon cheese at end of each leaf or spoon in a strip the length of each leaf. Top with walnuts.
Smoked Salmon Canapes
Serves: 20 to 36
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. smoked salmon, thinly sliced
8 slices pumpernickel bread, firm
Softened unsalted butter
1 Tbs. lemon juice
Capers
Shredded lemon zest
Preparation:
Spread bread with butter and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, 1-3/4 to 2-1/2 inches. Cut identical shapes from salmon. Lay over bread to fit; sprinkle with lemon and garnish with capers and a few shreds of zest. Or dab on sour cream, top with fennel leaves.
Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
Serves: 24 hors d'oeuvres
Ingredients:
24 cherry tomatoes or 48 grape tomatoes
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 small smoked trout, about 1/2 lb.
2 dashes hot sauce
Milled white pepper
1 bunch chives, finely chopped
Preparation:
Cut a tiny slice off the bottom of each tomato so it will stand up. Then cut about 1/4 of the top off each. Using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds. Drain tomatoes upside down on a paper towel.
Remove skin and bones from trout and put the fish in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add hot sauce and pepper; process until smooth. Beat the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Stir the fish into the cream. Chill for 1 to 24 hours.
Using a pastry bag, pipe a portion of the mousse into each tomato. Garnish with chives.
Prosciutto and Melon
Makes: 50 hors d'oeuvres
Ingredients:
1 ripe cantaloupe
1/2 pound sliced prosciutto (Italian cured ham)
2 cups ruby port (wine)
1/2 teaspoon milled pepper
Cut melon into 1-inch chunks or use a melon baller to scoop into balls. Cut the prosciutto into pieces just big enough to cover a piece of melon. For the sauce: Put port in a small saucepan with pepper and simmer until it is reduced by two-thirds. At the end it should measure 2/3 cup and should be almost syrupy.
Wrap each piece of melon with prosciutto and secure with wooden picks. Place a small bowl of the warm port sauce in center of a large platter and surround with the wrapped melon pieces.
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