Entertaining Etiquette

Over the weekend I hosted a baby shower for our friend Christy. It was only the second time I had done a shower on my own (first one being here).  I am sure you are thinking I was crazy for hosting a shower 5 months pregnant, but the truth is, I love doing them and have the energy for it, so why not? Christy had a sweet little girl a year and a half ago and welcomes her son in June.

My sweet husband was my official Shower Assistant, and ran errands, vacuumed the house, and played bartender for my cocktail drink. All had a wonderful time, and I  have to say, my tried and true shower menu was a success. My secret to being able to host these get-togethers is choosing room temperature food that can be prepared the night before and purchase the rest ready-made, but equally tasty. As a child, I noticed that my mother insisted on enjoying all occasions she hosted, and that trait has been instilled in me ever since.

Fool Proof Make Head Shower Menu:

Fried Chicken from Harris Teeter 

Carolina Caviar (Recipe here, made night before)

Crudites with Green Goddess Dressing (Recipe here, made night before)

Fruit Salad (Cut up strawberries and tossed with grapes, blueberries and raspberries night before).

Ham Rolls (Recipe here, prepared morning of, baked off just before guests arrived)

Cake from Whole Foods or Guest's favorite dessert (Christy's is Krispy Kreme Dougnuts)

White Wine, Water, Lemonade

Punch or Cocktail Optional (I used Raspberry Champagne Punch from the Raleigh Junior League cookbook, HUGE hit).

I worked Friday evening on party favors and table setup to ensure plenty of time on Saturday for cleaning and last minute food prep.

I love to stuff these beautiful gold bags from Cassandra's Kitchen with various candies, depending on the type of shower. These blue wrapped cookies and cream Hershey's kisses were perfect for favors and apothecary jars for centerpiece.

My husband teases me on this strange habit of mine, but I tend to label all my bowls and platters the evening before so when I am rushing around just before "showtime," I can quickly fill food in the correct platter.

I love to frame all invitations and display them at parties. It just makes the whole event come full circle.

I found the cutest little baby boy shoes and carriages from Dollar Tree and sprinkled them around centerpiece and bar.

Table laid out for Saturday morning!

Straws, ice and garnishes for drinks are always critical for self-serve bars.

I tend to shy away from awkward games at showers, but  I figured filling out a name, birthdate, hair and eye color was easy and low-pressure. Christy got a kick out of reading all the guesses.

And most important, prepping food the evening before. There is nothing worse in this world than chopping, mixing, and cleaning up when you should be getting YOURSELF ready for your guests.

Carolina Caviar! A winner every time!

As you can see, fruits, vegetables, dressing and Carolina Caviar were ready to go for Saturday morning.

My one regret with the purchase of my sideboard is not choosing one with a a marble top. You can serve hot and cold items without worry of ruining the finish. As a makeshift buffer, I use silver trays.

Raspberry Champagne Punch from the JLR cookbook. I modified it with strawberry sorbet and prosecco, and taste was still delicious!  Recipe calls for 1 liter of Lemon-Lime Soda, 2 bottles of Champagne, 1 gallon of raspberry sorbet, and raspberries for garnish. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

Green Goddess dressing with crudites. Since the recipe calls for basil I inserted a couple of leaves in the top for garnish.

One of my favorite desserts I've done to date. The Daddy-to be was so sweet and dropped these off the morning of. I purchased the little carriage toothpicks off Etsy 

Not half bad!

I took our little girl's giraffe rocker out of her nursery and tied a baby boy ribbon around it to welcome guests at the front porch. Guest of  Honor and Hostess together!

What are some of your entertaining tricks?