For the last few months my friend Kim & I have been working hard planning our "Back to School Feast" for gourmet club. It's always so much work, but I love the night of, seeing everything fall into place and all your hard work paying off. It turned out really great. Kim & I agreed that this one went more smoothly than any other we've done, which was nice (no blown fuses, no skewers catching fire, etc..). And since we served the school lunch tray, rather than doing all the separate dishes (appetizer, soup, salad, entree, dessert) and so much of it was plated at the same time we actually got to sit and enjoy dinner with the ladies, which never happens. Needless to say, I'm glad to have it over. When it's your turn to host, it's a crazy amount of work, but then every other month you get to go and experience an incredible evening hosting by incredibly talented women. I just love it. And I love everyone in the group, SUCH a fun group! Anyway, thanks to all my friends/family who let me borrow stuff (the desks are my mother-in-laws, we borrowed tons of books from people, ramekins, the lunch trays, etc...). And thanks to Dan for trying not complaining when I made him try a bazillion different kinds of chicken and mac-n-cheese. I don't know if I'll ever make mac-n-cheese again. Oh, and thanks to Sienna and Luke for not holding a grudge on their mom, who has been an absent-minded mom the last few weeks!
SO, remember these notes from grade school & junior high? This is what we did for the invitation. I have one somewhere, so maybe I'll find the time to take a picture and post it. Maybe not. :) Anyway, we printed the invitation out on one-sided chevron-print paper that was blank on the outside and folded it like this and wrote the girls names in a child's handwriting and wrote "pull" on it. Then at our last gourmet club, we passed them around like we were passing notes in class. We thought we were pretty funny. :)
BTW,
I need to remember how great Pebbles in My Pocket is in Orem. It's on
state street, by the mall. I went there just looking for scrapbook
paper for our book garland and invitation and they now have lots of great
party supplies. They have quite a selection of smaller packaging, the
stripey straws, bakers twine, all different sizes of cellophane and paper bags (the brown chevron & striped ones our take-home gift was in were only .25 a piece), skewers, picks, etc...I was
able to get a bunch of things we needed there, rather than having to
drive to SLC or buy online. So great!
Oh, and I thought I'd post the page of links that we created to help give people some ideas for Back-To-School parties and teacher appreciation ideas, etc... There are so many amazing ideas out there, so I thought it'd be great to have a page of links. Here they are!
BACK TO SCHOOL
FAVORITES
LUNCH IDEAS
LUNCHBOX PRINTABLES
AFTERSCHOOL TALK/SNACKS
FUN SCHOOL TRADITIONS
TEACHER APPRECIATION GIFTS
BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY PRINTABLES
BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY (FOR ADULTS! J)
I
didn't even worry about breaking out my camera, since I knew that Annika (our blogger extraordinaire!) would be taking
some great pictures, and I trusted that she'd get all the little details
that I'd want, which she did. She does a great job updating our blog,
so instead of waiting to write my own version, I just thought I'd take
the lazy route and re-post hers (otherwise it might be another 6 months before I got to posting this!).
Holly and Kim put on such a fun "Back
to School Feast" this Month. They hosted at Kim's new house and it was
the perfect setting. Her house is beautiful and we were all glad to get
to finally see it!
As we entered there was this darling old school desk. We were all dying at how perfect and how cute! Love the color.
The room was set all perfect for our "first day of class".
A
darling chalkboard decorated with a book garland and an OLD school picture of each of us hanging.
That was a good laugh for sure trying to pick out who was who!
There was another desk which housed our class pet.
So cute!
The table was darling. Super simple. Just books, globes, some chalkboards in frames and apples. It was perfect.
Our
place settings rocked! School lunch trays to match the desks. For
real. Loved it and loved the chalkboard name tag in an apple.
The menu was printed on a chalkboard and framed on the take home table.
The appetizer table was clean and simple and we all dug right in to the goods.
If you want any of the recipes, you can find them on our gourmet club blog. Here is the link. http://www.slcgourmetgals.blogspot.com/
Apple Dippers with Toffee Caramel Dip
Chicken Nuggets
(Buffalo Chicken Bites)
Peanut Butter Sandwich
(PB and Nutella with caramelized Bananas)
Um, need we say more?!
Pizza
(Chicken Artichoke Pizza Puffs)
The Pesto Alfredo Sauce went with the Pizza Bites and it was delicious!
The blue cheese yogurt dip went with the chicken nuggets and it made them!
The Main Course was:
Ham and Cheese (black forest ham and swiss cheese drizzled with poppy seed dressing) TDF!
Fries (garlicky potato wedges with Rosemary mayo) Yum!
Mac and cheese (Beecher's "World's Best" Mac N Cheese)
Fruit snacks (fruit kabob drizzled with vanilla bean honey yogurt dip) Delish!
Juice Box (Mango Peach Pineapple Punc) to drink. Awesome!
After school snack was milk and cookies!
These darling little milk shots to wash down...
a toffee chocolate chip pizookie and vanilla bean ice cream.
Everything was awesome and we were stuffed to the brim.
We played a fun 80's fact game and the winner was Sunny. Amber won a lucky prize too and they each got a fun teacher appreciation gift. Here are some links to these particular ones, if you're looking for a simple, cute idea.
Here is the quiz. See how you do! I'll put the answers at the end of the post. :)
BACK TO
SCHOOL QUIZ
1.
In the 80’s what did the game MASH stand for?
_______________
, ____________________, ______________________, __________________
2.
Name all five of the NKOTB
_______________,
_________________, ________________, ________________ , _____________
3.
Fill in the blank…. Shot through the heart, and
________________________________
4.
1986 Billboard hits included “That's What Friends Are For,” “Invisible
Touch,” “Papa don’t preach” AND
A.
Eternal Flame
B. Total Eclipse of the Heart
C. Maniac
D. True Colors
5.
What was E.T.’s favorite kind of candy?
A.
Raisinettes
B. M&M’s
C. Reese’s Pieces
D. Whoppers
6. “I feel the need, the need for
speed” is a popular line from which film from 1986?
A.
Top Gun
B.
Breakfast Club
C.
Commando
D. Manhunter
7.
Which of the following films won a Best Picture Oscar in the 1980’s?
A.
Silence
of the Lambs
B.
The
Color Purple
C.
Terms
of Endearment
D.
ET
|
8. I ____ the fool
|
|
9. Gag me with a _____
|
10. If you _____ it, he will come
|
11. Heroes in a half-shell. ______ power!
|
|
12. What was the name
of Michael Knight's car?
______________________
13. Who was the head villian on "The Smurfs" and what was his cat's name?
________________________ & ___________________________
14. Name THREE of the
six members of the Brat Pack.
___________________, _____________________,
__________________________
15. Name 5 muppets from “the muppet show”
_________________.
______________, _________________, _________________, _______________
16. What were the names of the four Golden Girls?
_________________,
_________________, ___________________, ____________________
17. What was Michael J Fox’s name in Back to the
Future
____________________________
18. Name the four
girls from the Facts of Life? (Bonus point if you can name their leader)
______________,
________________, __________________, ___________________
19. Who was the teen heart-throb who starred in
Growing Pains?
A. Michael J. Fox
B. Kirk Cameron
C. AC Slater
D. Ricky Shroeder
20. What was your favorite fashion trend from the
80’s
A. Side pony tail (with
scrunchie, of course)
B. Units
C. Stir-up pants
D. Banana clip
E. Pegged pants
F. Hammer pants
G. Big bangs
G. All of the above!
Take homes were these darling framed chalkboards
***We just bought dollar store wooden frames and painted the glass with chalkboard paint, so they were cheap! Then the little baggy has a piece of chalk and some school lunch printables.
...And a delicious school lunch peanut butter bar. Talk about a trip down memory lane.
We had a great evening and as usual had some great laughs!
Thanks for a fun night back to the good old school days girls!
back row: Holly, Sunny, Kristy, Heather, Annika, Kim
front row: Shelly, Lindsay, Michelle, Amber
BACK TO
SCHOOL QUIZ (with answers!)
1.
In the 80’s what did the game MASH stand for?
(Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House)
2.
Who were the NKOTB? Danny, Donny, Joey, Jonathan, Jordan
3.
Fill in the blank…. Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame
4.
1986 Billboard hits included “That's What Friends Are For,” “Invisible
Touch,” “Papa don’t preach”
A.
Eternal Flame
B. Total Eclipse of the Heart
C. Maniac
D. True Colors (1986)
5.
What was E.T.’s favorite kind of candy?
A.
Raisanette
B. M&M’s
C. Reese’s Pieces
D. Whoppers
6. “I feel the need, the need for
speed” is a popular line from which film from 1986?
A. Top
Gun
B.
Breakfast Club
C.
Commando
D. Manhunter
7.
Which of the following films won a Best Picture Oscar in the 1980’s?
A. Silence of the Lambs
B. The Color Purple
C.
Terms of Endearment
D. ET
"Terms
of Endearment" was released in 1983 and won at the 1984 cermony.
"Silence of the Lambs" (1991) won at the 1992 Oscar ceremony.
"The Color Purple"(1985) was nominated at the 1986 ceremony but did
not win. "The Breakfast Club"(1985) was not even nominated.
|
8. I ____ the fool (PITY)
|
|
9. Gag me with a _____ (SPOON)
|
10. If you _____ it, he will come (BUILD)
|
11. Heroes in a half-shell. ______ power! (TURTLE)
|
|
12. What was the name
of Michael Knight's car? (KIT)
13. Who was the head villian on "The Smurfs" and what was his cat's name? Gargamel and Azrael
14. Name THREE of the
six members of the Brat Pack.
Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Rob
Lowe
15. Name 5 muppets from “the muppet show”
Miss piggy, animal, scooter Kermit, Ralph, gonzo, the
swedish chef, fozzie, beaker
16. What were the names of the four Golden Girls?
Dorothy, Rose, Sophia, Blanche
17. What was Michael J Fox’s name in Back to the
Future
Marty
18. Name the four
girls from the Facts of Life?
Tudy, Blaire, Joe, Natalie
& Edna Garrett
19. Who was the teen heart-throb who starred in
Growing Pains?
A. Michael J. Fox
B.
Kirk Cameron
C. AC Slater
D. Ricky Shroeder
20. What was your favorite fashion trend from the
80’s?
A. Side pony tail/big bangs
B. Units
C. Stir-up pants
D. Banana clip
E. Pegged pants
F. Hammer pants
G. All of the above!
